International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Liu Xiaochen; Sweeney, John
2012-01-01
This study aims to investigate the relationship between household space heating energy use and urban form (land use characteristics) for the Greater Dublin Region. The geographical distributions of household energy use are evaluated at the Enumeration Districts (ED) level based on the building thermal balance model. Moreover, it estimates the impact of possible factors on the household space heating consumption. Results illustrate that the distribution profile of dwellings is a significant factor related to overall heating energy demand and individual dwelling energy consumption for space heating. Residents living in compact dwellings with small floor areas consume less energy for space heating than residents living in dwellings with big floor areas. Moreover, domestic heating energy demand per household was also estimated for two extreme urban development scenarios: the compact city scenario and the dispersed scenario. The results illustrate that the compact city scenario is likely to decrease the domestic heating energy consumption per household by 16.2% compared with the dispersed city scenario. Correspondingly, the energy-related CO 2 emissions could be significantly decreased by compact city scenario compared with the dispersed city scenario. - Highlights: ► A method was developed to investigate urban form impacts on energy demand. ► This study estimates impacts of possible factors on the household energy consumption. ► Household heating energy demand is sensitive to dwelling distribution profile. ► The compact case could reduce domestic energy demand compared with the dispersed case.
Elasticities of electricity demand in urban Indian households
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Filippini, Massimo; Pachauri, Shonali
2004-01-01
In the past, several electricity demand studies have been published for India based on aggregate macro data at the country or sub-national/state level. Since the underlying theory of consumer demand is based on the behaviour of individual agents, the use of micro data, which reflects individual and household behaviour, more closely, can shed greater light on the nature of consumer responses. In this paper, seasonal price and income elasticities of electricity demand in the residential sector of all urban areas of India are estimated for the first time using disaggregate level survey data for about 30,000 households. Three electricity demand functions have been econometrically estimated using monthly data for the winter, monsoon and summer season in order to understand the extent to which factors like income, prices, household size and other household specific characteristics, influence variations observed in individual households' electricity demand. The results show electricity demand is income and price inelastic in all three seasons, and that household, demographic and geographical variables are significant in determining electricity demand
Urban fuel demand in Ethiopia: an almost‐ideal demand system ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
This paper investigates the opportunities for reducing the pressure of urban centers on rural forest areas, using a dataset of 350 urban households in Tigrai in northern Ethiopia. We applied an almost‐ideal demand system to fuels. The results suggest that reducing the pressure of urban centers on local forests cannot be ...
FOOD DEMAND PATTERNS IN GHANAIAN URBAN HOUSEHOLDS
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Bernard SAKYIAMAH
2018-03-01
Full Text Available This paper analysed food consumption patterns in Ghanaian urban households by comparing food commodity budget shares and estimating price and expenditure elasticities for eleven food commodity groups across different income groups. The Linear Approximation Almost Ideal Demand System (LA/AIDS was applied to the data. Demand for most of the food commodity groups was found to be elastic. The study concluded that generally, across income groups, food commodities respond negatively to changes in food prices and that cereals/bread, roots/tubers, vegetables, meat and fish will remain an important component of urban household food expenditure. Generally, household demographic characteristics such as age, gender and household size had significant effects on urban food demand patterns.
Estimating the effect of urban density on fuel demand
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Karathodorou, Niovi; Graham, Daniel J. [Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Noland, Robert B. [Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 (United States)
2010-01-15
Much of the empirical literature on fuel demand presents estimates derived from national data which do not permit any explicit consideration of the spatial structure of the economy. Intuitively we would expect the degree of spatial concentration of activities to have a strong link with transport fuel consumption. The present paper addresses this theme by estimating a fuel demand model for urban areas to provide a direct estimate of the elasticity of demand with respect to urban density. Fuel demand per capita is decomposed into car stock per capita, fuel consumption per kilometre and annual distance driven per car per year. Urban density is found to affect fuel consumption, mostly through variations in the car stock and in the distances travelled, rather than through fuel consumption per kilometre. (author)
intra-urban traffic and parking demand in uyo urban area
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Admin
In Nigeria, the dominant mode of intra-urban mobility is the automobile motor vehicle. However, ... models were employed to measure the relationship between parking demand and parking space ... The spatial organization of a city defines.
Forecasting urban water demand: A meta-regression analysis.
Sebri, Maamar
2016-12-01
Water managers and planners require accurate water demand forecasts over the short-, medium- and long-term for many purposes. These range from assessing water supply needs over spatial and temporal patterns to optimizing future investments and planning future allocations across competing sectors. This study surveys the empirical literature on the urban water demand forecasting using the meta-analytical approach. Specifically, using more than 600 estimates, a meta-regression analysis is conducted to identify explanations of cross-studies variation in accuracy of urban water demand forecasting. Our study finds that accuracy depends significantly on study characteristics, including demand periodicity, modeling method, forecasting horizon, model specification and sample size. The meta-regression results remain robust to different estimators employed as well as to a series of sensitivity checks performed. The importance of these findings lies in the conclusions and implications drawn out for regulators and policymakers and for academics alike. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
MODELLING CHALLENGES TO FORECAST URBAN GOODS DEMAND FOR RAIL
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Antonio COMI
2015-12-01
Full Text Available This paper explores the new research challenges for forecasting urban goods demand by rail. In fact, the growing interest to find urban logistics solutions for improving city sustainability and liveability, mainly due to the reduction of urban road accessibility and environmental constraints, has pushed to explore solutions alternative to the road. Multimodal urban logistics, based on the use of railway, seem an interesting alternative solution, but it remained mainly at conceptual level. Few studies have explored the factors, that push actors to find competitive such a system with respect to the road, and modelling framework for forecasting the relative demand. Therefore, paper reviews the current literature, investigates the factors involved in choosing such a mode, and finally, recalls a recent modelling framework and hence proposes some advancements that allow to point out the rail transport alternative.
Travel and urban form in the Greater Copenhagen region
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick
of the economic upturn – with a later point in time where the financial crisis had radically changed the economic climate. It follows from the specificity of the historical events that an analysis of what happened to urban form and transport over the financial crisis is to be seen as a case study......Research into the associations between urban form and travel in the capital areal has focussed on subcenters and the stability of urban form correlates over time. A trend towards de-concentration and formation of subcenters in metropolitan areas has been acknowledged for decades. Studies have...... analyzed the new urban structure by identifying subcenters and their land value impacts. Others have focused on subcenters as a location attribute or ‘intervention’ that affects travel patterns and therefore may be employed in the context of urban and transportation demand management. The research has...
Self-Organization, Urban Transformation, and Spatial Planning in Greater Jakarta, Indonesia
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yovi Dzulhijjah Rahmawati
2015-09-01
Full Text Available Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi peran sistem perencanaan tata ruang dalam menghadapi proses perorganisasian diri, sebagaimana dibuktikan oleh transformasi perkotaan yang kompleks di wilayah Jakarta. Wilayah Jakarta adalah salah satu wilayah megapolitan di Asia Tenggara yang mengalami proses transformasi yang cepat. Sangat disayangkan bahwa sistem perencanaan tata ruang yang ada sekarang di wilayah Jakarta belum mampu merespon transformasi kota secara non-linier. Kekurangan ini terbukti dari ketidaksinkronan antara dokumen-dokumen perencanaan tata ruang dan perubahan tata guna lahan perkotaan yang diperkuat dengan proses pengorganisasian diri. Perbedaan antara situasi empiris dan dokumen-dokumen perencanaan tata ruang yang ada telah menghasilkan ketidakcocokan antara sistem perencanaan tata ruang dengan sistem tata ruang di wilayah Jakarta. Ketidakcocokan ini terjadi karena sistem perencanaan tata ruang saat ini tidak mempertimbangkan ketidakpastian di masa depan. Situasi ini mengindikasikan adanya ‘fuzziness’ dalam implementasi sistem dan proses perencanaan tata ruang, sementara transformasi perkotaan telah berkembang sedemikian kompleksnya dan membutuhkan respon yang cepat dan tepat. Untuk dapat merespon ketidakcocokan ini, sistem perencanaan tata ruang di wilayah Jakarta harus lebih memperhatikan sistem perkotaan yang berkembang dalam proses yang tidak linear.Kata kunci. Pengorganisasian diri, transformasi perkotaan, ketidaklinieran, sistem perencanaan, Megapolitan Jakarta. This study aimed to identify the role of spatial planning in facing self-organizing processes as evidenced by a complex urban transformation in Greater Jakarta. Greater Jakarta is one of the mega urban-regions in Southeast Asia that are undergoing a rapid urban transformation process. This urban transformation has been developing through a non-linear transition. Unfortunately, the current spatial planning system in Greater Jakarta is not yet adequately
Economic Analysis of Urban Fuelwood Demand - The case of Harare in Zimbabwe
Chambwera, M.
2004-01-01
This study carries out an economic analysis of the demand for fuelwood in urban areas using Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe, as a case study. The demand for fuelwood in urban areas is one of the causes of several environmental and health problems in Africa, where the up to 90% of energy
Wong, Ho Ting; Lin, Teng-Kang; Lin, Jen-Jia
2018-06-13
This study aims to assess rural-urban differences in the predictors of emergency ambulance service (EAS) demand and misuse in New Taipei City. Identifying the predictors of EAS demand will help the EAS service managing authority in formulating focused policies to maintain service quality. Over 160,000 electronic EAS usage records were used with a negative binomial regression model to assess rural-urban differences in the predictors of EAS demand and misuse. The factors of 1) ln-transformed population density, 2) percentage of residents who completed up to junior high school education, 3) accessibility of hospitals without an emergency room, and 4) accessibility of EAS were found to be predictors of EAS demand in rural areas, whereas only the factor of percentage of people aged above 65 was found to predict EAS demand in urban areas. For EAS misuse, only the factor of percentage of low-income households was found to be a predictor in rural areas, whereas no predictor was found in the urban areas. Results showed that the factors predicting EAS demand and misuse in rural areas were more complicated compared to urban areas and, therefore, formulating EAS policies for rural areas based on the results of urban studies may not be appropriate. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Assessing the significance of climate and community factors on urban water demand
Md Mahmudul Haque; Prasanna Egodawatta; Ataur Rahman; Ashantha Goonetilleke
2015-01-01
Ensuring adequate water supply to urban areas is a challenging task due to factors such as rapid urban growth, increasing water demand and climate change. In developing a sustainable water supply system, it is important to identify the dominant water demand factors for any given water supply scheme. This paper applies principal components analysis to identify the factors that dominate residential water demand using the Blue Mountains Water Supply System in Australia as a case study. The resul...
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Zona Bhuyan
2013-05-01
Full Text Available This article reflects the use of urban space by women in urban informal sectors in the city of Guwahati located in North East India. The population influx from across the borders in the aftermath of the partition has huge implications both on polity and on economy of the northeastern states in general and Assam in particular. Importantly, the urban informal sectors have a sizeable share in terms of its significant contributions towards Gross Domestic Product (GDP as well as generation of employment opportunities largely. Using a feminist perspective, the research is an attempt to investigate the engagement of women in the informal sector in greater Guwahati. Research findings reveal that the occupations of the women workers are location-specific, that is, the manufacturing sectors (textiles, food preparation, printing and skilled service are mainly home/shop based production (fixed locations whereas the service sectors (leisure, caring, elementary construction, elementary sales and cleaning occupation operate at variable locations (construction sites, street pavements, marketplaces and other various locations. Further analysis shows that the informal sector is highly demand dependent and such demands are in the central business areas of the city, therefore informal sector services (skilled services and elementary services are found to be located in and around the central areas of Guwahati city. Women operators in the informal sector are attracted to the central business district because of the many advantages that it enjoys relative to other parts of a city. The paper concludes by calling on policy makers and physical planning agencies to evolve more pragmatic strategies for urban development matters in order that urban informal sector activities can be integrated into urban development plans. Finally, further research is called for on how urban planners could redesign the urban space with appropriate consideration of the informal sector
Management of groundwater in urban centers: A case study; Greater Dammam Metropolitan Area
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Abderrahman, Walid A.; Elamin, Abdalla S.; Al-Harazin, Ibrahim M.; Eqnaibi, Badie S.
2007-01-01
Effective management of groundwater resources in urban centers of arid regions is vital for sustainable development and groundwater protection especially with rapid growth of water demands under water stress conditions. Greater Dammam Metropolitan Area is a good example of rapid growing urban center due to comprehensive development and population growth. The water demand has increased by many times during the last three decades. Groundwater from local aquifers namely Dammam and Umm Er Radhuma, supplies more than 85% of the total water demands. The aquifers have been subjected to extensive and increasing groundwater pumping especially during last three decades. Negative impacts such as significant decline in water levels have been experienced in the area. A new groundwater management scheme in terms of improving the long-term water pumping policies is required for protection of the aquifers groundwater productivity. A special numerical simulation model of the multi-aquifer system including Dammam and Umm Er Radhuma aquifers has been developed to assess the behavior of the aquifer system under long term water stresses in Dammam Metropolitan Area. The developed numerical simulation model has been utilized to predict the responses of the aquifer system in terms of decline in terms of water level under different pumping schemes from the two aquifers during the next 30 years. The model results have postulated the importance of Umm Er Radhuma (UER) aquifer as a major water supply source to Dammam Metropolitan Area, as well as potential recharge source of more than 30% of the total water pumped from Dammam aquifer. These findings have been utilized in improving present and future groundwater management and conservation for the study area. Similar techniques can be used to improve the groundwater management in other parts of the country as well as other arid regions. (author)
Urban compaction vs city sprawl: impact of road traffic on air quality in the greater Paris
Etuman Arthur, Elessa; Isabelle, Coll; Vincent, Viguie; Nicolas, Coulombel; Julie, Prud'homme
2017-04-01
Urban pollution remains a major sanitary and economic concern. In France, particulate pollution is known to cause 48,000 premature deaths every year (Santé Publique France, 2016), while the economic cost of air pollution reaches almost 25 billion euros per year (CGDD, 2012). In the Greater Paris, despite strengthened emission standards, restricted traffic areas, car-sharing and incentives for electric vehicle use, road transport plays a substantial role in the exposure of inhabitants to high levels of pollutants. In this context, urban planning could possibly constitute an innovative strategy to reduce emissions from road traffic, through its actions on transport demand, travel distances, modal shift (public transportation, cycling, walking...) or even proximity to emitters. We have developed a multi-scalar modeling of urban pollution by coupling an urban economic growth model NEDUM (CIRED), a model for urban mobility (LISA), a traffic emission model (LISA) and the CHIMERE Chemistry-Transport model (CTM) for air quality simulation (LISA). The innovative aspect of this modeling system is to integrate into a classic CTM the mechanisms underlying the dynamics of an urban system. This way, we establish a quantitative and comprehensive link between a given urban scenario, the associated public and individual transport matrix, and local air quality. We then make it possible to highlight the levers of energy consumption reductions inside compact or sprawled cities. We have been working on the Ile de France region (centered on the Paris agglomeration) which relies on a broad urban structure of megacity, a high density of housing and an expanding urban peripheral zone, clearly raising the issue of transport demand, mobility and traffic congestion. Two scenarios, considering opposite urban development policies from the 1960s to 2010, have been simulated over the whole modelling chain. The first one promotes a dense and compact city while the second favors city spread
URBAN FUEL DEMAND IN ETHIOPIA: AN ALMOST-IDEAL ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Etsub [ ETSUB
The environmental impact of urban fuel demand in general and the reliance on solid ... The remaining of the paper is organized as follows. In the next ... presents the econometric model and section 5 describes the study area and the data.
China's energy demand and its characteristics in the industrialization and urbanization process
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Jiang Zhujun; Lin Boqiang
2012-01-01
China is currently in the process of industrialization and urbanization, which is the key stage of transition from a low-income country to a middle-income country and requires large amount of energy. The process will not end until 2020, so China's primary energy demand will keep high growth in the mid-term. Although each country is unique considering its particular history and background, all countries are sharing some common rules in energy demand for economic development. Based on the comparison with developed countries, here, we report some rules in the process of industrialization and urbanization as follows: (1) urbanization always goes along with industrialization; (2) the higher economic growth is, the higher energy demand is; (3) economic globalization makes it possible to shorten the time of industrialization, but the shorter the transition phase is, the faster energy demand grows; (4) the change of energy intensity presents as an “inverted U” curve, but whose shape can be changed for different energy policy. The above rules are very important for the Chinese government in framing its energy policy. - Highlights: ► China's energy demand will maintain high growth in mid-term. ► Urbanization always goes along with industrialization. ► Higher economic growth needs more energy. ► The energy intensity presents as an “inverted U” curve.
Holistic Analysis of the Urban Water Systems in Greater Cincinnati Region
Urban water and wastewater systems with two utilities in Greater Cincinnati region were evaluated as a case study to elucidates a bigger picture of a typical centralized urban water system. Two different integrated assessment metrics were used to analyze the same system. LCA an...
Alignment analysis of urban railways based on passenger travel demand
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Andersen, Jonas Lohmann Elkjær; Landex, Alex
2010-01-01
Planning of urban railways like Metro and especially Light Rail Transit often result in multiple alignment alternatives from where it can be difficult to select the best one. Travel demand is a good foundation for evaluating a railway alignment for its ability to attract passengers. Therefore...... and can be applied as decision support in different stages of the urban railway alignment planning....
Comprehensive Forecast of Urban Water-Energy Demand Based on a Neural Network Model
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ziyi Yin
2018-03-01
Full Text Available Water-energy nexus has been a popular topic of rese arch in recent years. The relationships between the demand for water resources and energy are intense and closely connected in urban areas. The primary, secondary, and tertiary industry gross domestic product (GDP, the total population, the urban population, annual precipitation, agricultural and industrial water consumption, tap water supply, the total discharge of industrial wastewater, the daily sewage treatment capacity, total and domestic electricity consumption, and the consumption of coal in industrial enterprises above the designed size were chosen as input indicators. A feedforward artificial neural network model (ANN based on a back-propagation algorithm with two hidden layers was constructed to combine urban water resources with energy demand. This model used historical data from 1991 to 2016 from Wuxi City, eastern China. Furthermore, a multiple linear regression model (MLR was introduced for comparison with the ANN. The results show the following: (a The mean relative error values of the forecast and historical urban water-energy demands are 1.58 % and 2.71%, respectively; (b The predicted water-energy demand value for 2020 is 4.843 billion cubic meters and 47.561 million tons of standard coal equivalent; (c The predicted water-energy demand value in the year 2030 is 5.887 billion cubic meters and 60.355 million tons of standard coal equivalent; (d Compared with the MLR, the ANN performed better in fitting training data, which achieved a more satisfactory accuracy and may provide a reference for urban water-energy supply planning decisions.
Price freezes, durables and residential electricity demand - Evidence from the Greater Buenos Aires
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Casarin, Ariel; Delfino, Maria Eugenia
2010-09-15
This paper examines the determinants of residential electricity demand in the Greater Buenos Aires between 1997 and 2006. During the second half of this period, residential tariffs remained nominally fixed, while an income boom boosted up the sales of durables. This study differs from previous works in that it explicitly considers the impact of the stock of air-conditioners on residential demand. The paper reports short- and long-run elasticities and examines the contribution of prices and durables to recent demand growth. Simulations illustrate the impact of prices and durables on future demand.
The Influence of Green Infrastructure on Urban Resilience in Greater London
Oh, Yukyung
2017-04-01
High population densities and diverse economic activities in urban areas create social issues as well as a range of environmental impacts including air pollution, soil contamination, loss of biodiversity and health problems (Alberti et al., 2003; Dobbs, Escobedo, & Zipperer, 2011; Grimm et al., 2008). The concept of urban resilience has been used for increasing the capacity of the entities and players to adapt to rapid changes, and urban green spaces play a crucial role in increasing urban resilience. Greater London has a good case for increasing urban green spaces and resilience under the London Plan. The relevance of urban open spaces and several socioeconomic indicators would provide researchers and policy makers with the information for managing green coverage. The correlation analysis of two quantitative data such as open space and socioeconomic data of Greater London was conducted with SPSS. The data for open spaces in Greater London was gained through Greenspace Information for Greater London. The data was converted from vector to raster in Geographic Information System (GIS), so as to calculate landscape metrics for open spaces in Greater London through a spatial pattern analysis program, FRAGSTATS 4.2. The socioeconomic data was obtained from "London Borough Profile", London Datastore. In addition, data on total carbon emissions from Industry and Commercial, Domestic, Transport, LULUCF Net Emissions, and per capita emissions were gained from UK local authority and regional carbon dioxide emissions national statistics: 2005-2014 released from Department of Energy and Climate Change. The indicators from open spaces are total area of open space and patch density or contagion of open spaces. The latter indicator allows to figure out the level of fragmentation of open spaces. The socioeconomic indicators cover number of jobs by workplace, jobs density, crime rates per thousand population, and several wellbeing indicators such as life satisfaction
Urban climate and energy demand interaction in Northern Eurasia
Kasilova, E. V.; Ginzburg, A. S.; Demchenko, P. F.
2017-11-01
The regional and urban climate change in Northern Eurasia is one of the main challenges for sustainable development of human habitats situated in boreal and temperate areas. The half of primary energy is spent for space heating even under quite a mild European climate. Implementation of the district heating in urban areas is currently seen as one of the key conditions of sustainable development. The clear understanding of main problems of the urban climateenergy demand interaction is crucial for both small towns and megacities. The specific features of the urban energy systems in Finland, Russia and China under the changing climate conditions were studied. Regional manifestations of the climate change were examined. The climate projections were established for urban regions of the Northern Eurasia. It was shown that the climate warming is likely to continue intensively there. History and actual development trends were discussed for the urban district heating systems in Russia, China and Finland. Common challenges linked with the climate change have been identified for the considered areas. Adaptation possibilities were discussed taking into account climate-energy interactions.
Estimation of urban residential electricity demand in China using household survey data
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Zhou, Shaojie; Teng, Fei
2013-01-01
This paper uses annual urban household survey data of Sichuan Province from 2007 to 2009 to estimate the income and price elasticities of residential electricity demand, along with the effects of lifestyle-related variables. The empirical results show that in the urban area of Sichuan province, the residential electricity demand is price- and income-inelastic, with price and income elasticities ranging from −0.35 to −0.50 and from 0.14 to 0.33, respectively. Such lifestyle-related variables as demographic variables, dwelling size and holdings of home appliances, are also important determinants of residential electricity demand, especially the latter. These results are robust to a variety of sensitivity tests. The research findings imply that urban residential electricity demand continues to increase with the growth of income. The empirical results have important policy implications for the Multistep Electricity Price, which been adopted in some cities and is expected to be promoted nationwide through the installation of energy-efficient home appliances. - Highlights: • We estimate price and income elasticities in China using household survey data. • The current study is the first such study in China at this level. • Both price and income are inelastic. • Behavior factors have important impact on electricity consumption
Product Quality and the Demand for Food: The Case of Urban China
Dong, Diansheng; Gould, Brian W.
2007-01-01
A Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System is used to examine the structure of food demand for a sample of urban Chinese households. The dual choice of product quality and quantity is accounted for in the econometric model via the inclusion of simultaneously estimated unit-value equations.
Deconstructing Demand: The Anthropogenic and Climatic Drivers of Urban Water Consumption.
Hemati, Azadeh; Rippy, Megan A; Grant, Stanley B; Davis, Kristen; Feldman, David
2016-12-06
Cities in drought prone regions of the world such as South East Australia are faced with escalating water scarcity and security challenges. Here we use 72 years of urban water consumption data from Melbourne, Australia, a city that recently overcame a 12 year "Millennium Drought", to evaluate (1) the relative importance of climatic and anthropogenic drivers of urban water demand (using wavelet-based approaches) and (2) the relative contribution of various water saving strategies to demand reduction during the Millennium Drought. Our analysis points to conservation as a dominant driver of urban water savings (69%), followed by nonrevenue water reduction (e.g., reduced meter error and leaks in the potable distribution system; 29%), and potable substitution with alternative sources like rain or recycled water (3%). Per-capita consumption exhibited both climatic and anthropogenic signatures, with rainfall and temperature explaining approximately 55% of the variance. Anthropogenic controls were also strong (up to 45% variance explained). These controls were nonstationary and frequency-specific, with conservation measures like outdoor water restrictions impacting seasonal water use and technological innovation/changing social norms impacting lower frequency (baseline) use. The above-noted nonstationarity implies that wavelets, which do not assume stationarity, show promise for use in future predictive models of demand.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Taher Osman
2016-06-01
Full Text Available This paper discusses the driving forces (DFs of informal urbanization (IU in the greater Cairo metropolitan region (GCMR using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP. The IU patterns in the GCMR have been extremely influenced by seven DFs: geographical characteristics, availability of life facilities, economic incentives, land demand and supply, population increase, administrative function, and development plans. This research found that these forces vary significantly in how they influence urban growth in the three study sectors, namely, the middle, north, and south areas in the western part of the GCMR. The forces with the highest influence were economic incentives in the middle sector, population increase in the north sector, and the administrative function in the south sector. Due to the lower availability of buildable land in the middle sector, the land demand and supply force had a lesser influence in this sector compared to in the north and south sectors. The development plans force had medium influence in all sectors. The geographical characteristics force had little influence in both the middle and the north sectors, but higher influence than economic incentives, availability of life facilities, and development plans in the south sector. Because of the spatial variances in life facilities organizations in the GCMR, the life facilities availability force had little effect on IU in the south sector.
Koutiva, Ifigeneia; Makropoulos, Christos
2015-04-01
The urban water system's sustainable evolution requires tools that can analyse and simulate the complete cycle including both physical and cultural environments. One of the main challenges, in this regard, is the design and development of tools that are able to simulate the society's water demand behaviour and the way policy measures affect it. The effects of these policy measures are a function of personal opinions that subsequently lead to the formation of people's attitudes. These attitudes will eventually form behaviours. This work presents the design of an ABM tool for addressing the social dimension of the urban water system. The created tool, called Urban Water Agents' Behaviour (UWAB) model, was implemented, using the NetLogo agent programming language. The main aim of the UWAB model is to capture the effects of policies and environmental pressures to water conservation behaviour of urban households. The model consists of agents representing urban households that are linked to each other creating a social network that influences the water conservation behaviour of its members. Household agents are influenced as well by policies and environmental pressures, such as drought. The UWAB model simulates behaviour resulting in the evolution of water conservation within an urban population. The final outcome of the model is the evolution of the distribution of different conservation levels (no, low, high) to the selected urban population. In addition, UWAB is implemented in combination with an existing urban water management simulation tool, the Urban Water Optioneering Tool (UWOT) in order to create a modelling platform aiming to facilitate an adaptive approach of water resources management. For the purposes of this proposed modelling platform, UWOT is used in a twofold manner: (1) to simulate domestic water demand evolution and (2) to simulate the response of the water system to the domestic water demand evolution. The main advantage of the UWAB - UWOT model
Constraints facing the implementation of the greater New Orleans urban water plan
Visschedijk, A.; Van de Ven, F.H.M.
2015-01-01
On September 6th of last year the Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan (UWP) was presented. A comprehensive plan which addresses flooding caused by heavy rainfall and soil subsidence caused by excessive drainage. Every year parts of the Greater New Orleans Area flood due to severe rainfall events in
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Lin, Boqiang; Ouyang, Xiaoling
2014-01-01
Highlights: • Energy demand characteristics of the US and China were compared. • Major factors affecting energy demand were examined based on the panel data and the cointegration models. • China’s energy demand would reach 5498.13 Mtce in 2020 and 6493.07 Mtce in 2030. • Urbanization can be an opportunity for low-carbon development in China. - Abstract: China’s energy demand has shown characteristics of rigid growth in the current urbanization stage. This paper applied the panel data model and the cointegration model to examine the determinants of energy demand in China, and then forecasts China’s energy demand based on the scenario analysis. Results demonstrate an inverted U-shaped relationship between energy demand and economic growth in the long term. In business as usual scenario, China’s energy consumption will reach 6493.07 million tons of coal equivalent in 2030. The conclusions can be drawn on the basis of the comparison of characteristics between the US and China. First, energy demand has rigid growth characteristics in the rapid urbanization stage. Second, coal-dominated energy structure of China will lead to the severe problems of CO 2 emissions. Third, rapid economic growth requires that energy prices should not rise substantially, so that energy conservation will be the major strategy for China’s low-carbon transition. Major policy implications are: first, urbanization can be used as an opportunity for low-carbon development; second, energy price reform is crucial for China’s energy sustainability
How Can China Lighten Up? Urbanization, Industrialization and Energy Demand Scenarios
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Aden, Nathaniel T.; Zheng, Nina; Fridley, David G.
2009-07-01
Urbanization has re-shaped China's economy, society, and energy system. Between 1990 and 2007 China added 290 million new urban residents, bringing the total urbanization rate to 45%. This population adjustment spurred energy demand for construction of new buildings and infrastructure, as well as additional residential use as rural biomass was replaced with urban commercial energy services. Primary energy demand grew at an average annual rate of 10% between 2000 and 2007. Urbanization's effect on energy demand was compounded by the boom in domestic infrastructure investment, and in the export trade following World Trade Organization (WTO) accession in 2001. Industry energy consumption was most directly affected by this acceleration. Whereas industry comprised 32% of 2007 U.S. energy use, it accounted for 75% of China's 2007 energy consumption. Five sub-sectors accounted for 78% of China's industry energy use in 2007: iron and steel, energy extraction and processing, chemicals, cement, and non-ferrous metals. Ferrous metals alone accounted for 25% of industry and 18% of total primary energy use. The rapid growth of heavy industry has led China to become by far the world's largest producer of steel, cement, aluminum, and other energy-intensive commodities. However, the energy efficiency of heavy industrial production continues to lag world best practice levels. This study uses scenario analysis to quantify the impact of urbanization and trade on industrial and residential energy consumption from 2000 to 2025. The BAU scenario assumed 67% urbanization, frozen export amounts of heavy industrial products, and achievement of world best practices by 2025. The China Lightens Up (CLU) scenario assumed 55% urbanization, zero net exports of heavy industrial products, and more aggressive efficiency improvements by 2025. The five dominant industry sub-sectors were modeled in both scenarios using a LEAP energy end-use accounting model. The results of
HOW TRAVEL DEMAND AFFECTS DETECTION OF NON-RECURRENT TRAFFIC CONGESTION ON URBAN ROAD NETWORKS
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
B. Anbaroglu
2016-06-01
Full Text Available Occurrence of non-recurrent traffic congestion hinders the economic activity of a city, as travellers could miss appointments or be late for work or important meetings. Similarly, for shippers, unexpected delays may disrupt just-in-time delivery and manufacturing processes, which could lose them payment. Consequently, research on non-recurrent congestion detection on urban road networks has recently gained attention. By analysing large amounts of traffic data collected on a daily basis, traffic operation centres can improve their methods to detect non-recurrent congestion rapidly and then revise their existing plans to mitigate its effects. Space-time clusters of high link journey time estimates correspond to non-recurrent congestion events. Existing research, however, has not considered the effect of travel demand on the effectiveness of non-recurrent congestion detection methods. Therefore, this paper investigates how travel demand affects detection of non-recurrent traffic congestion detection on urban road networks. Travel demand has been classified into three categories as low, normal and high. The experiments are carried out on London’s urban road network, and the results demonstrate the necessity to adjust the relative importance of the component evaluation criteria depending on the travel demand level.
2013-09-01
This project identifies and evaluatesstrategies to reduce the social costs associated with goods movement in urban areas by managing : transportation demand. Information about various freight transportation demand management (TDM) strategies was gath...
A multi-scale relevance vector regression approach for daily urban water demand forecasting
Bai, Yun; Wang, Pu; Li, Chuan; Xie, Jingjing; Wang, Yin
2014-09-01
Water is one of the most important resources for economic and social developments. Daily water demand forecasting is an effective measure for scheduling urban water facilities. This work proposes a multi-scale relevance vector regression (MSRVR) approach to forecast daily urban water demand. The approach uses the stationary wavelet transform to decompose historical time series of daily water supplies into different scales. At each scale, the wavelet coefficients are used to train a machine-learning model using the relevance vector regression (RVR) method. The estimated coefficients of the RVR outputs for all of the scales are employed to reconstruct the forecasting result through the inverse wavelet transform. To better facilitate the MSRVR forecasting, the chaos features of the daily water supply series are analyzed to determine the input variables of the RVR model. In addition, an adaptive chaos particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to find the optimal combination of the RVR model parameters. The MSRVR approach is evaluated using real data collected from two waterworks and is compared with recently reported methods. The results show that the proposed MSRVR method can forecast daily urban water demand much more precisely in terms of the normalized root-mean-square error, correlation coefficient, and mean absolute percentage error criteria.
Zhao, Chang; Sander, Heather A.
2015-01-01
Studies that assess the distribution of benefits provided by ecosystem services across urban areas are increasingly common. Nevertheless, current knowledge of both the supply and demand sides of ecosystem services remains limited, leaving a gap in our understanding of balance between ecosystem service supply and demand that restricts our ability to assess and manage these services. The present study seeks to fill this gap by developing and applying an integrated approach to quantifying the supply and demand of a key ecosystem service, carbon storage and sequestration, at the local level. This approach follows three basic steps: (1) quantifying and mapping service supply based upon Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) processing and allometric models, (2) quantifying and mapping demand for carbon sequestration using an indicator based on local anthropogenic CO2 emissions, and (3) mapping a supply-to-demand ratio. We illustrate this approach using a portion of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area of Minnesota, USA. Our results indicate that 1735.69 million kg carbon are stored by urban trees in our study area. Annually, 33.43 million kg carbon are sequestered by trees, whereas 3087.60 million kg carbon are emitted by human sources. Thus, carbon sequestration service provided by urban trees in the study location play a minor role in combating climate change, offsetting approximately 1% of local anthropogenic carbon emissions per year, although avoided emissions via storage in trees are substantial. Our supply-to-demand ratio map provides insight into the balance between carbon sequestration supply in urban trees and demand for such sequestration at the local level, pinpointing critical locations where higher levels of supply and demand exist. Such a ratio map could help planners and policy makers to assess and manage the supply of and demand for carbon sequestration. PMID:26317530
Zhao, Chang; Sander, Heather A
2015-01-01
Studies that assess the distribution of benefits provided by ecosystem services across urban areas are increasingly common. Nevertheless, current knowledge of both the supply and demand sides of ecosystem services remains limited, leaving a gap in our understanding of balance between ecosystem service supply and demand that restricts our ability to assess and manage these services. The present study seeks to fill this gap by developing and applying an integrated approach to quantifying the supply and demand of a key ecosystem service, carbon storage and sequestration, at the local level. This approach follows three basic steps: (1) quantifying and mapping service supply based upon Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) processing and allometric models, (2) quantifying and mapping demand for carbon sequestration using an indicator based on local anthropogenic CO2 emissions, and (3) mapping a supply-to-demand ratio. We illustrate this approach using a portion of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area of Minnesota, USA. Our results indicate that 1735.69 million kg carbon are stored by urban trees in our study area. Annually, 33.43 million kg carbon are sequestered by trees, whereas 3087.60 million kg carbon are emitted by human sources. Thus, carbon sequestration service provided by urban trees in the study location play a minor role in combating climate change, offsetting approximately 1% of local anthropogenic carbon emissions per year, although avoided emissions via storage in trees are substantial. Our supply-to-demand ratio map provides insight into the balance between carbon sequestration supply in urban trees and demand for such sequestration at the local level, pinpointing critical locations where higher levels of supply and demand exist. Such a ratio map could help planners and policy makers to assess and manage the supply of and demand for carbon sequestration.
Pollution source localization in an urban water supply network based on dynamic water demand.
Yan, Xuesong; Zhu, Zhixin; Li, Tian
2017-10-27
Urban water supply networks are susceptible to intentional, accidental chemical, and biological pollution, which pose a threat to the health of consumers. In recent years, drinking-water pollution incidents have occurred frequently, seriously endangering social stability and security. The real-time monitoring for water quality can be effectively implemented by placing sensors in the water supply network. However, locating the source of pollution through the data detection obtained by water quality sensors is a challenging problem. The difficulty lies in the limited number of sensors, large number of water supply network nodes, and dynamic user demand for water, which leads the pollution source localization problem to an uncertainty, large-scale, and dynamic optimization problem. In this paper, we mainly study the dynamics of the pollution source localization problem. Previous studies of pollution source localization assume that hydraulic inputs (e.g., water demand of consumers) are known. However, because of the inherent variability of urban water demand, the problem is essentially a fluctuating dynamic problem of consumer's water demand. In this paper, the water demand is considered to be stochastic in nature and can be described using Gaussian model or autoregressive model. On this basis, an optimization algorithm is proposed based on these two dynamic water demand change models to locate the pollution source. The objective of the proposed algorithm is to find the locations and concentrations of pollution sources that meet the minimum between the analogue and detection values of the sensor. Simulation experiments were conducted using two different sizes of urban water supply network data, and the experimental results were compared with those of the standard genetic algorithm.
Hungry for success: Urban consumer demand for wild animal products in Vietnam
Rebecca Drury
2011-01-01
Rising urban prosperity is escalating demand for wild animal products in Vietnam. Conservation interventions seek to influence consumer demand, but are based on a limited understanding of consumers and consumption behaviour. This report presents key findings of a structured survey (n=915) and semi-structured interviews (n=78) to investigate the social context of consumption of wild animal-derived products among the population of central Hanoi. Wildmeat is the product most commonly reported co...
Have Chinese water pricing reforms reduced urban residential water demand?
Zhang, B.; Fang, K. H.; Baerenklau, K. A.
2017-06-01
China continues to deal with severe levels of water scarcity and water pollution. To help address this situation, the Chinese central government initiated urban water pricing reforms in 2002 that emphasized the adoption of increasing block rate (IBR) price structures in place of existing uniform rate structures. By combining urban water use records with microlevel data from the Chinese Urban Household Survey, this research investigates the effectiveness of this national policy reform. Specifically, we compare household water consumption in 28 cities that adopted IBR pricing structures during 2002-2009, with that of 110 cities that had not yet done so. Based on difference-in-differences models, our results show that the policy reform reduced annual residential water demand by 3-4% in the short run and 5% in the longer run. These relatively modest reductions are consistent with the generous nature of the IBR pricing structures that Chinese cities have typically chosen to implement. Our results imply that more efforts are needed to address China's persistent urban water scarcity challenges.
Analytical optimization of demand management strategies across all urban water use sectors
Friedman, Kenneth; Heaney, James P.; Morales, Miguel; Palenchar, John
2014-07-01
An effective urban water demand management program can greatly influence both peak and average demand and therefore long-term water supply and infrastructure planning. Although a theoretical framework for evaluating residential indoor demand management has been well established, little has been done to evaluate other water use sectors such as residential irrigation in a compatible manner for integrating these results into an overall solution. This paper presents a systematic procedure to evaluate the optimal blend of single family residential irrigation demand management strategies to achieve a specified goal based on performance functions derived from parcel level tax assessor's data linked to customer level monthly water billing data. This framework is then generalized to apply to any urban water sector, as exponential functions can be fit to all resulting cumulative water savings functions. Two alternative formulations are presented: maximize net benefits, or minimize total costs subject to satisfying a target water savings. Explicit analytical solutions are presented for both formulations based on appropriate exponential best fits of performance functions. A direct result of this solution is the dual variable which represents the marginal cost of water saved at a specified target water savings goal. A case study of 16,303 single family irrigators in Gainesville Regional Utilities utilizing high quality tax assessor and monthly billing data along with parcel level GIS data provide an illustrative example of these techniques. Spatial clustering of targeted homes can be easily performed in GIS to identify priority demand management areas.
Addressing the minimum fleet problem in on-demand urban mobility.
Vazifeh, M M; Santi, P; Resta, G; Strogatz, S H; Ratti, C
2018-05-01
Information and communication technologies have opened the way to new solutions for urban mobility that provide better ways to match individuals with on-demand vehicles. However, a fundamental unsolved problem is how best to size and operate a fleet of vehicles, given a certain demand for personal mobility. Previous studies 1-5 either do not provide a scalable solution or require changes in human attitudes towards mobility. Here we provide a network-based solution to the following 'minimum fleet problem', given a collection of trips (specified by origin, destination and start time), of how to determine the minimum number of vehicles needed to serve all the trips without incurring any delay to the passengers. By introducing the notion of a 'vehicle-sharing network', we present an optimal computationally efficient solution to the problem, as well as a nearly optimal solution amenable to real-time implementation. We test both solutions on a dataset of 150 million taxi trips taken in the city of New York over one year 6 . The real-time implementation of the method with near-optimal service levels allows a 30 per cent reduction in fleet size compared to current taxi operation. Although constraints on driver availability and the existence of abnormal trip demands may lead to a relatively larger optimal value for the fleet size than that predicted here, the fleet size remains robust for a wide range of variations in historical trip demand. These predicted reductions in fleet size follow directly from a reorganization of taxi dispatching that could be implemented with a simple urban app; they do not assume ride sharing 7-9 , nor require changes to regulations, business models, or human attitudes towards mobility to become effective. Our results could become even more relevant in the years ahead as fleets of networked, self-driving cars become commonplace 10-14 .
Longitudinal study of urbanisation processes in peri-urban areas of Greater Copenhagen
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Busck, Anne Gravsholt; Fertner, Christian; Kristensen, Lone Søderkvist
Urbanisation processes increasingly influence the use of land and properties in rural areas. In peri-urban areas population composition changes as the areas offer attractive possibilities of other gainful activities than agriculture (OGA), and residential and recreational alternatives to both urban...... have become redundant because of structural changes in agriculture. As a consequence, the structural components of the areas (land cover and landscape elements) thus appear more resistant to changes than transition of the socio-economic system (declining number of full-time farmers and increasing...... property prices because of the attractiveness of land. This raises questions of the desired future of the peri-urban area of Greater Copenhagen, and about the effectiveness of the existing planning systems and its ability to protect agriculture land, which has been a main objective since the beginning...
Cominola, A.; Giuliani, M.; Castelletti, A.; Piga, D.; Rizzoli, A. E.
2015-12-01
Urban population growth, climate and land use change are expected to boost residential water demand in urban contexts in the next decades. In such a context, developing suitable demand-side management strategies is essential to meet future water demands, pursue water savings, and reduce the costs for water utilities. Yet, the effectiveness of water demand management strategies (WDMS) relies on our understanding of water consumers' behavior, their consumption habits, and the water use drivers. While low spatial and temporal resolution water consumption data, as traditionally gathered for billing purposes, hardly support this understanding, the advent of high-resolution, smart metering technologies allowed for quasi real-time monitoring water consumption at the single household level. This, in turn, is advancing our ability in characterizing consumers' behavior, modeling, and designing user-oriented residential water demand management strategies. Several water smart metering programs have been rolled-out in the last two decades worldwide, addressing one or more of the following water demand management phases: (i) data gathering, (ii) water end-uses characterization, (iii) user modeling, (iv) design and implementation of personalized WDMS. Moreover, the number of research studies in this domain is quickly increasing and big economic investments are currently being devoted worldwide to smart metering programs. With this work, we contribute the first comprehensive review of more than 100 experiences in the field of residential water demand modeling and management, and we propose a general framework for their classification. We revise consolidated practices, identify emerging trends and highlight the challenges and opportunities for future developments given by the use of smart meters advancing residential water demand management. Our analysis of the status quo of smart urban water demand management research and market constitutes a structured collection of information
On the demand for natural gas in urban China
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yu, Yihua; Zheng, Xinye; Han, Yi
2014-01-01
Using a set of unbalanced panel data for Chinese's cities during the period of 2006–2009, this study aims to estimate the price and income elasticities of residential demand for natural gas. Natural gas consumption is specified as a function of its own price; substitute prices; urban wages; and other supply, climate, and housing characteristics. Using a feasible generalised least squares (FGLS) technique, which controls for panel heteroskedasticity and panel correlation, we find that natural gas consumption is price elastic and income inelastic when other covariates (e.g., the supply of natural gas pipeline and heating degree days) are controlled. In addition, there are large variations in demand behaviours across China's regions. There is a substantial income effect on demand for natural gas in southern China, whereas the northern regions are found to have a higher price effect. In addition, the substitution effect between coal and natural gas is significant in North China but is not significant in South China. These findings have several important policy implications for natural gas pricing and supply cost analysis in the context of China. - Highlights: • We estimate the price and income elasticities of residential demand for natural gas. • We use a set of unbalanced panel data for Chinese's cities during 2006–2009. • We use a feasible generalised least squares approach. • We find that natural gas consumption is price elastic and income inelastic. • We find large variations in demand behaviours across China's regions
Chen, Gang; Yan, Xiao
2012-12-01
This paper investigates the key factors associated with the demand for Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URBMI), which was established in 2007 and aims to cover all Chinese urban residents. Two waves of longitudinal household survey data are used, and a three-level random-intercept logit model is used for the analysis. Two different sets of explanatory variables were identified for adults and children, separately. Results suggest for both the adult and the child samples that income, health status, age and health risk behaviours are key influencing factors for basic medical insurance demand. The household head's characteristics are also significantly related to other household members' medical insurance demands. Specifically, household heads who are more educated or retired are more likely to purchase medical insurance for their children. These findings suggest that an expansion of the special subsidy to the poor or, probably more important, a risk-adjusted benefit package may be needed for voluntary basic medical insurance in China. In addition, adverse selection consistently exists and is a major challenge for the sustainability of medical insurance financing. To expand insurance coverage for children, especially those under school age, special efforts (possibly through health education or health promotion) should be focused on the household head, particularly those engaging in risky health behaviours.
Unintended de-marketing manages visitor demand in Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area
Burgin, Shelley; Hardiman, Nigel
2014-01-01
Kotler and Levy (1971, p.76) introduced the term ‘de-marketing’, defined as ‘that aspect of marketing that deals with discouraging customers in general or a certain class of customers in particular on either a temporary or permanent basis’. Subsequently, Groff (1998) interpreted the concept in the context of parks and recreation administration. Recently, Armstrong and Kern (2011) used the concept to underpin their investigation of visitor demand management within the Greater Blue Mountains Wo...
Hungry for success: Urban consumer demand for wild animal products in Vietnam
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rebecca Drury
2011-01-01
Full Text Available Rising urban prosperity is escalating demand for wild animal products in Vietnam. Conservation interventions seek to influence consumer demand, but are based on a limited understanding of consumers and consumption behaviour. This report presents key findings of a structured survey (n=915 and semi-structured interviews (n=78 to investigate the social context of consumption of wild animal-derived products among the population of central Hanoi. Wildmeat is the product most commonly reported consumed-predominantly by successful, high-income, high-status males of all ages and educational levels-and is used as a medium to communicate prestige and obtain social leverage. As Vietnam′s economy grows and its population ages, demand for wildmeat and medicinal products is likely to rise. Given the difficulties of acting on personal rather than collective interests and the symbolic role of wildmeat in an extremely status-conscious society, reducing demand is challenging. Influencing consumer behaviour over the long term requires social marketing expertise and has to be informed by an in-depth understanding, achieved using appropriate methods, of the social drivers of consumer demand for wild animal products. In the meantime, strengthened enforcement is needed to prevent the demand being met from consumers prepared to pay the rising costs of finding the last individuals of a species.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Shabbir, Rabia; Ahmad, Sheikh Saeed [Department of Environmental Sciences, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi (Pakistan)
2010-05-15
A research associated with urban transportation was carried out in Rawalpindi and Islamabad to analyze the status of emission of air pollutants and energy demands. The study included a discussion of past trends and future scenarios in order to reduce the future emissions. A simple model of passenger transport has been developed using computer based software called Long-Range Energy Alternatives Planning System (LEAP). The LEAP model was used to estimate total energy demand and the vehicular emissions for the base year 2000 and extrapolated till 2030 for the future predictions. Transport database in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, together with fuel consumption values for the vehicle types and emission factors of NO{sub x}, SO{sub 2} and PM{sub 10} corresponding to the actual vehicle types, formed the basis of the transport demand, energy consumption and total emission calculations. Apart from base scenario, the model was run under three alternative scenarios to study the impact of different urban transport policy initiatives that would reduce energy demand and emissions in transport sector of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The prime objective was to arrive at an optimal transport policy, which limits the future growth of fuel consumption as well as air pollution. (author)
Land use scenarios for greater Copenhagen
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Fertner, Christian; Jørgensen, Gertrud; Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick
2011-01-01
development plans. Land use scenarios based on empirically derived dynamics of urban growth are practically never applied. This may be explained by the in-consistency between the logic of spatial master planning - and the organic or driver-dependent character of urban growth assumed by land use modelling...... approaches. However, modelling approaches do offer a methodology to explore the pressures in an urban region, as well as an approach to understand urban development patterns outside the ‘spatial masterplan’. In this context we will present the results of a modelling exercise addressing future land use change......Urban planning and development in Denmark can be characterised by a relatively strong planning framework. Projections of the future demand for urban development as well as decisions on how and where to accommodate this demand is part of the planning process and reflected in strategic- and local...
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yanrong Zhao
2017-03-01
Full Text Available This study aims to examine whether the urban elderly in the Zhejiang Province of China signed contracts with their general practitioner (GP based on their health service needs, and to further identify the determinants of their demand and signing decisions. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in 16 community health service (CHS institutions in Zhejiang Province, China. The urban elderly over 60 years of age were enrolled when visiting the sampled CHS. Baseline characteristics were compared between participants using Chi-Square tests for categorical variables. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify determinants of the GP contract service demand and signing decisions, respectively. Among the 1440 urban elderly, 56.67% had signed contracts with their GP, and 55.35% had a demand of the GP contract service. The influencing factors of demand were a history of diabetes or cardiovascular disease (OR = 1.33, 95% CI, 1.05–1.68; urban resident basic medical insurance (URBMI vs. urban employee basic medical insurance (UEBMI (OR = 1.96, 95% CI, 1.46–2.61; and middle-income vs. low-income (OR = 0.67, 95% CI, 0.50–0.90 for RMB 1001–3000; OR = 0.59, 95% CI, 0.39–0.90 for RMB 3001–5000. Having a demand for the GP contract service was the strongest determinant of signing decisions (OR = 13.20, 95% CI, 10.09–17.27. Other factors also contributed to these decisions, including gender, caregiver, and income. The urban elderly who had signed contracts with GPs were mainly based on their health care needs. Elderly people with a history of diabetes or cardiovascular disease, as well as those with URBMI, were found to have stronger needs of a GP contract service. It is believed that the high-income elderly should be given equal priority to those of low-income.
Urban acid deposition in Greater Manchester
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Lee, D.S.; Longhurst, J.W.S.; Gee, D.R.; Hare, S.E. (Manchester Polytechnic, Manchester (UK). Acid Rain Information Centre)
1989-08-01
Data are presented from a monitoring network of 18 bulk precipitation collectors and one wet-only collector in the urban area of Greater Manchester, in the north west of England. Weekly samples were analysed for all the major ions in precipitation along with gaseous nitrogen dioxide concentrations from diffusion tubes. Statistical analysis of the data shows significant spatial variation of non marine sulphate, nitrate, ammonium, acidity and calcium concentrations, and nitrogen dioxide concentrations. Calcium is thought to be responsible for the buffering of acidity and is of local origin. Wet deposition is the likely removal process for calcium in the atmosphere and probably by below cloud scavenging. Nitrate and ammonium concentrations and depositions show close spatial, temporal and statistical association. Examination of high simultaneous episodes of nitrate and ammonium deposition shows that these depositions cannot be explained in terms of trajectories and it is suggested that UK emissions of ammonia may be important. Statistical analysis of the relationships between nitrate and ammonium depositions, concentrations and precipitation amount suggest that ammonia from mesoscale sources reacts reversibly with nitric acid aerosol and is removed by below cloud scavenging. High episodes of the deposition of non marine sulphate are difficult to explain by trajectory analysis alone, perhaps suggesting local sources. In a comparison between wet deposition and bulk deposition, it was shown that only 15.2% of the non marine sulphur was dry deposited to the bulk precipitation collector. 63 refs., 86 figs., 31 tabs.
Considerations for reducing food system energy demand while scaling up urban agriculture
Mohareb, Eugene; Heller, Martin; Novak, Paige; Goldstein, Benjamin; Fonoll, Xavier; Raskin, Lutgarde
2017-12-01
There is an increasing global interest in scaling up urban agriculture (UA) in its various forms, from private gardens to sophisticated commercial operations. Much of this interest is in the spirit of environmental protection, with reduced waste and transportation energy highlighted as some of the proposed benefits of UA; however, explicit consideration of energy and resource requirements needs to be made in order to realize these anticipated environmental benefits. A literature review is undertaken here to provide new insight into the energy implications of scaling up UA in cities in high-income countries, considering UA classification, direct/indirect energy pressures, and interactions with other components of the food-energy-water nexus. This is followed by an exploration of ways in which these cities can plan for the exploitation of waste flows for resource-efficient UA. Given that it is estimated that the food system contributes nearly 15% of total US energy demand, optimization of resource use in food production, distribution, consumption, and waste systems may have a significant energy impact. There are limited data available that quantify resource demand implications directly associated with UA systems, highlighting that the literature is not yet sufficiently robust to make universal claims on benefits. This letter explores energy demand from conventional resource inputs, various production systems, water/energy trade-offs, alternative irrigation, packaging materials, and transportation/supply chains to shed light on UA-focused research needs. By analyzing data and cases from the existing literature, we propose that gains in energy efficiency could be realized through the co-location of UA operations with waste streams (e.g. heat, CO2, greywater, wastewater, compost), potentially increasing yields and offsetting life cycle energy demands relative to conventional approaches. This begs a number of energy-focused UA research questions that explore the
Urban-rural solar radiation loss in the atmosphere of Greater Cairo region, Egypt
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Robaa, S.M.
2009-01-01
A comparative study for measured global solar radiation, G, during the period (1969-2006) and the corresponding global radiation loss in the atmosphere, R L %, over urban and rural districts in Greater Cairo region have been performed. The climatic variabilities of G radiation at the urban and rural sites are also investigated and discussed. Monthly, seasonal and annual mean values of extraterrestrial radiation, Go, and R L % during four successive periods, (1969-1978), (1979-1988), (1989-1998) and (1999-2006) at the above two sites have been calculated and investigated. The results revealed that urban area was always received lower amount of solar radiation due to urbanization factors. The yearly mean values of G radiation were distinctly decreased from maximum value 21.93 and 22.62 MJ m -2 during 1970 year to minimum value 17.57 and 17.87 MJ m -2 during 2004 and 2006 years with average decrease rate 0.09 and 0.10 MJ m -2 per year for the urban and rural areas, respectively. Also, the seasonal and annual mean anomalies of G radiation have been also gradually decreased from maximum values during the eldest period (1969-1978) to minimum values during the recent period (1999-2006). R L % over the urban area was always higher than that rural area. The urban-rural R L % differences range from 0.61% in 1999 year to 4.19% in 2002 year and 2.20% as average value. The yearly mean of R L % values distinctly gradually increase from minimum value 29.47% and 27.28% during 1970 year to maximum value 43.50% and 42.60% during 2004 and 2006 years with average increase rate 0.28% and 0.32% per year for the urban and rural areas, respectively. The minimum value of R L % (26.88%) occurred at rural area during summer season of the eldest period (1969-1978) while the maximum value of R L % (51.27%) occurred at the urban area during winter season of the last recent urbanized period (1999-2006). The linear trend of the yearly variations of R L % revealed that G values will reach zero
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Sun, Chuanwang; Ouyang, Xiaoling
2016-01-01
Urbanization, one of the most obvious characteristics of economic growth in China, has an apparent “lock-in effect” on residential energy consumption pattern. It is expected that residential sector would become a major force that drives China's energy consumption after urbanization process. We estimate price and expenditure elasticities of residential energy demand using data from China's Residential Energy Consumption Survey (CRECS) that covers households at different income levels and from different regional and social groups. Empirical results from the Almost Ideal Demand System model are in accordance with the basic expectations: the demands for electricity, natural gas and transport fuels are inelastic in the residential sector due to the unreasonable pricing mechanism. We further investigate the sensitivities of different income groups to prices of the three types of energy. Policy simulations indicate that rationalizing energy pricing mechanism is an important guarantee for energy sustainable development during urbanization. Finally, we put forward suggestions on energy pricing reform in the residential sector based on characteristics of China's undergoing urbanization process and the current energy consumption situations.
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
赵历男
2002-01-01
This article analyzes the demands of the sustainable development and Chinese urban environmental protection for the management plan of intelligent transportation systems. The article also comments on how to work out the management plan of intelligent transportation systems with China's own characteristics.
Petit-Boix, Anna; Devkota, Jay; Phillips, Robert; Vargas-Parra, María Violeta; Josa, Alejandro; Gabarrell, Xavier; Rieradevall, Joan; Apul, Defne
2018-04-15
Water management plays a major role in any city, but applying alternative strategies might be more or less feasible depending on the urban form and water demand. This paper aims to compare the environmental performance of implementing rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems in American and European cities. To do so, two neighborhoods with a water-stressed Mediterranean climate were selected in contrasting cities, i.e., Calafell (Catalonia, Spain) and Ukiah (California, US). Calafell is a high-density, tourist city, whereas Ukiah is a typical sprawled area. We studied the life cycle impacts of RWH in urban contexts by using runoff modeling before (i.e. business as usual) and after the implementation of this system. In general, cisterns were able to supply >75% of the rainwater demand for laundry and toilet flushing. The exception were multi-story buildings with roofs smaller than 200m 2 , where the catchment area was insufficient to meet demand. The implementation of RWH was environmentally beneficial with respect to the business-as-usual scenario, especially because of reduced runoff treatment needs. Along with soil features, roof area and water demand were major parameters that affected this reduction. RWH systems are more attractive in Calafell, which had 60% lower impacts than in Ukiah. Therefore, high-density areas can potentially benefit more from RWH than sprawled cities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Geo-information for sustainable urban development of Greater Dhaka City, Bangladesh
Günther, Andreas; Asaduzzaman, Atm; Bahls, Rebecca; Ludwig, Rüdiger; Ashraful Kamal, Mohammad; Nahar Faruqa, Nurun
2015-04-01
Greater Dhaka City (including Dhaka and five adjacent municipal areas) is one of the fastest developing urban regions in the world. Densely build-up areas in the developed metropolitan area of Dhaka City are subject to extensive restructuring as common six-storied buildings are replaced by higher and heavier constructions. Additional stories are built on existing houses, frequently exceeding the allowable bearing pressure on the subsoil as supported by the foundations. In turn, newly developing areas are projected in marshy areas modified by extensive, largely unengineered landfills. In many areas, these terrains bear unfavorable building ground conditions, and reliable geospatial information is a major prerequisite for risk-sensitive urban planning. Within a collaborative technical cooperation project between Bangladesh and Germany, BGR supports GSB in the provision of geo-information for the Capital Development authority (RAJUK). For general urban planning, RAJUK successively develops a detailed area plan (DAP) at scale 1 : 50000 for the whole Greater Dhaka City area. Geospatial information have not been considered in the present DAP. Within the project, GSB prepared a detailed geomorphologic map matching the DAP both in areal extent and scale. The geomorphological setting can be used as an important spatial proxy for the characterization of the subsurface since highly segmented, elevated terraces consisting of consolidated sandy Pliocene deposits overlain by stiff Plio-Pleistocene sediments are sharply bordered by low lying-areas. The floodplain and marsh areas are consisting of thick, mechanically weak Holocene fluvial sandy-silty sediments that are sometimes alternated by organic layers. A first expert-based engineering geological reclassification of the geomorphological map resulting in five building ground suitability classes is highly supported by the spatial analysis of extensive archive borehole information consisting of depth-continuous standard
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yasmine Megahed
2015-09-01
Full Text Available This study modeled the urban growth in the Greater Cairo Region (GCR, one of the fastest growing mega cities in the world, using remote sensing data and ancillary data. Three land use land cover (LULC maps (1984, 2003 and 2014 were produced from satellite images by using Support Vector Machines (SVM. Then, land cover changes were detected by applying a high level mapping technique that combines binary maps (change/no-change and post classification comparison technique. The spatial and temporal urban growth patterns were analyzed using selected statistical metrics developed in the FRAGSTATS software. Major transitions to urban were modeled to predict the future scenarios for year 2025 using Land Change Modeler (LCM embedded in the IDRISI software. The model results, after validation, indicated that 14% of the vegetation and 4% of the desert in 2014 will be urbanized in 2025. The urban areas within a 5-km buffer around: the Great Pyramids, Islamic Cairo and Al-Baron Palace were calculated, highlighting an intense urbanization especially around the Pyramids; 28% in 2014 up to 40% in 2025. Knowing the current and estimated urbanization situation in GCR will help decision makers to adjust and develop new plans to achieve a sustainable development of urban areas and to protect the historical locations.
Identifying water price and population criteria for meeting future urban water demand targets
Ashoori, Negin; Dzombak, David A.; Small, Mitchell J.
2017-12-01
Predictive models for urban water demand can help identify the set of factors that must be satisfied in order to meet future targets for water demand. Some of the explanatory variables used in such models, such as service area population and changing temperature and rainfall rates, are outside the immediate control of water planners and managers. Others, such as water pricing and the intensity of voluntary water conservation efforts, are subject to decisions and programs implemented by the water utility. In order to understand this relationship, a multiple regression model fit to 44 years of monthly demand data (1970-2014) for Los Angeles, California was applied to predict possible future demand through 2050 under alternative scenarios for the explanatory variables: population, price, voluntary conservation efforts, and temperature and precipitation outcomes predicted by four global climate models with two CO2 emission scenarios. Future residential water demand in Los Angeles is projected to be largely driven by price and population rather than climate change and conservation. A median projection for the year 2050 indicates that residential water demand in Los Angeles will increase by approximately 36 percent, to a level of 620 million m3 per year. The Monte Carlo simulations of the fitted model for water demand were then used to find the set of conditions in the future for which water demand is predicted to be above or below the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power 2035 goal to reduce residential water demand by 25%. Results indicate that increases in price can not ensure that the 2035 water demand target can be met when population increases. Los Angeles must rely on furthering their conservation initiatives and increasing their use of stormwater capture, recycled water, and expanding their groundwater storage. The forecasting approach developed in this study can be utilized by other cities to understand the future of water demand in water-stressed areas
Aggregate supply and demand modeling using GIS methods for the front range urban corridor, Colorado
Karakas, Ahmet; Turner, Keith
2004-07-01
The combined use of allocation modeling and geographical information system (GIS) technologies for providing quantitative assessments of aggregate supply and demand is evaluated using representative data for the Front Range Urban Corridor (FRUC) in Colorado. The FRUC extends from the Colorado-Wyoming border to south of Colorado Springs, and includes Denver and the major urban growth regions of Colorado. In this area, aggregate demand is high and is increasing in response to population growth. Neighborhood opposition to the establishment of new pits and quarries and the depletion of many deposits are limiting aggregate supplies. Many sources are already covered by urban development or eliminated from production by zoning. Transport of aggregate by rail from distant resources may be required in the future. Two allocation-modeling procedures are tested in this study. Network analysis procedures provided within the ARC/INFO software, are unsatisfactory. Further aggregate allocation modeling used a model specifically designed for this task; a modified version of an existing Colorado School of Mines allocation model allows for more realistic market analyses. This study evaluated four scenarios. The entire region was evaluated with a scenario reflecting the current market and by a second scenario in which some existing suppliers were closed down and new potential suppliers were activated. The conditions within the Denver metropolitan area were studied before and after the introduction of three possible rail-to-truck aggregate distribution centers. GIS techniques are helpful in developing the required database to describe the Front Range Urban Corridor aggregate market conditions. GIS methods allow the digital representation of the regional road network, and the development of a distance matrix relating all suppliers and purchasers.
Medeiros, Adriane Mesquita de; Assunção, Ada Ávila; Santos, Juliana Nunes
2015-09-01
This study analyzed the association between self-reported diagnosis of hearing loss and individual and occupational factors among urban transportation workers in Greater Metropolitan Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The sample size was calculated by quotas and stratified by occupation (drivers and fare collectors) in the urban transportation companies in Belo Horizonte, Betim, and Contagem. Data were collected with face-to-face interviews and recorded by the interviewers on netbooks. The dependent variable was defined as an affirmative response to the question on prevailing medical diagnosis of hearing loss. The independent variables were organized in three blocks: social and demographic characteristics, lifestyle, and work aspects. Diagnosis of hearing loss was reported by 213 of the 1,527 workers and was associated with age and diagnosis of tinnitus. At the occupational level, hearing loss was associated with history of sick leave, time-on-the-job, and two environmental risks, unbearable noise and whole-body vibration. Measures to prevent hearing loss are needed for urban transportation workers.
Duan, Jinli; Jiao, Feng; Zhang, Qishan; Lin, Zhibin
2017-08-06
The sharp increase of the aging population has raised the pressure on the current limited medical resources in China. To better allocate resources, a more accurate prediction on medical service demand is very urgently needed. This study aims to improve the prediction on medical services demand in China. To achieve this aim, the study combines Taylor Approximation into the Grey Markov Chain model, and develops a new model named Taylor-Markov Chain GM (1,1) (T-MCGM (1,1)). The new model has been tested by adopting the historical data, which includes the medical service on treatment of diabetes, heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease from 1997 to 2015 in China. The model provides a predication on medical service demand of these three types of disease up to 2022. The results reveal an enormous growth of urban medical service demand in the future. The findings provide practical implications for the Health Administrative Department to allocate medical resources, and help hospitals to manage investments on medical facilities.
Integrated water design for a decentralized urban landscape: [text and figures
Ranzato, Marco
2011-01-01
In the Veneto Città Diffusa, the decentralized urban landscape of the Veneto Region, Northeast Italy, the economic growth of recent decades brought about increased urbanization and agricultural intensification. The process of change has been accompanied by the extension and/or maximization of centralized services of drinking water, irrigation, waste water and drainage to meet greater demands for the provision and disposal of water. Accordingly, the structure of a formerly poor rural landscape...
Furberg, Dorothy; Ban, Yifang
2012-12-01
This research investigates urban sprawl in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) between 1985 and 2005 and the nature of the resulting landscape fragmentation, particularly with regard to the Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM), an ecologically important area for the region. Six scenes of Landsat TM imagery were acquired in summer of 1985, 1995, and 2005. These images and their texture measures were classified into eight land cover classes with very satisfactory final overall accuracies (93-95 %). Analysis of the classifications indicated that urban areas grew by 20 % between 1985 and 1995 and by 15 % between 1995 and 2005. Landscape fragmentation due to spatio-temporal land cover changes was evaluated using urban compactness indicators and landscape metrics, and results from the latter were used to draw conclusions about probable environmental impact. The indicator results showed that urban proportions increased in nearly all areas outside of the metropolitan center, including on portions of the ORM. The landscape metrics reveal that low density urban areas increased significantly in the GTA between 1985 and 2005, mainly at the expense of agricultural land. The metric results indicate increased vulnerability and exposure to adverse effects for natural and semi-natural land cover through greater contrast and lowered connectivity. The degree of urban perimeter increased around most environmentally significant areas in the region. Changes like these negatively impact species and the regional water supply in the GTA. Further investigation into specific environmental impacts of urban expansion in the region and which areas on the ORM are most at risk is recommended.
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Hegetschweiler, K. Tessa; de Vries, Sjerp; Arnberger, Arne
2017-01-01
and supply factors together. The aim was to provide an overview of this highly interdisciplinary research, to describe how these linkages are being made and to identify which factors significantly influence dependent variables such as levels of use, activities or health and well-being benefits. Commonly used......Urban green infrastructure provides a number of cultural ecosystem services that are greatly appreciated by the public. In order to benefit from these services, actual contact with the respective ecosystem is often required. Furthermore, the type of services offered depend on the physical...... characteristics of the ecosystem. We conducted a review of publications dealing with demand or social factors such as user needs, preferences and values as well as spatially explicit supply or physical factors such as amount of green space, (bio)diversity, recreational infrastructure, etc. and linking demand...
Understanding Urban Demand for Wild Meat in Vietnam: Implications for Conservation Actions.
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Rachel Shairp
Full Text Available Vietnam is a significant consumer of wildlife, particularly wild meat, in urban restaurant settings. To meet this demand, poaching of wildlife is widespread, threatening regional and international biodiversity. Previous interventions to tackle illegal and potentially unsustainable consumption of wild meat in Vietnam have generally focused on limiting supply. While critical, they have been impeded by a lack of resources, the presence of increasingly organised criminal networks and corruption. Attention is, therefore, turning to the consumer, but a paucity of research investigating consumer demand for wild meat will impede the creation of effective consumer-centred interventions. Here we used a mixed-methods research approach comprising a hypothetical choice modelling survey and qualitative interviews to explore the drivers of wild meat consumption and consumer preferences among residents of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Our findings indicate that demand for wild meat is heterogeneous and highly context specific. Wild-sourced, rare, and expensive wild meat-types are eaten by those situated towards the top of the societal hierarchy to convey wealth and status and are commonly consumed in lucrative business contexts. Cheaper, legal and farmed substitutes for wild-sourced meats are also consumed, but typically in more casual consumption or social drinking settings. We explore the implications of our results for current conservation interventions in Vietnam that attempt to tackle illegal and potentially unsustainable trade in and consumption of wild meat and detail how our research informs future consumer-centric conservation actions.
Understanding Urban Demand for Wild Meat in Vietnam: Implications for Conservation Actions
Shairp, Rachel; Veríssimo, Diogo; Fraser, Iain; Challender, Daniel; MacMillan, Douglas
2016-01-01
Vietnam is a significant consumer of wildlife, particularly wild meat, in urban restaurant settings. To meet this demand, poaching of wildlife is widespread, threatening regional and international biodiversity. Previous interventions to tackle illegal and potentially unsustainable consumption of wild meat in Vietnam have generally focused on limiting supply. While critical, they have been impeded by a lack of resources, the presence of increasingly organised criminal networks and corruption. Attention is, therefore, turning to the consumer, but a paucity of research investigating consumer demand for wild meat will impede the creation of effective consumer-centred interventions. Here we used a mixed-methods research approach comprising a hypothetical choice modelling survey and qualitative interviews to explore the drivers of wild meat consumption and consumer preferences among residents of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Our findings indicate that demand for wild meat is heterogeneous and highly context specific. Wild-sourced, rare, and expensive wild meat-types are eaten by those situated towards the top of the societal hierarchy to convey wealth and status and are commonly consumed in lucrative business contexts. Cheaper, legal and farmed substitutes for wild-sourced meats are also consumed, but typically in more casual consumption or social drinking settings. We explore the implications of our results for current conservation interventions in Vietnam that attempt to tackle illegal and potentially unsustainable trade in and consumption of wild meat and detail how our research informs future consumer-centric conservation actions. PMID:26752642
Understanding Urban Demand for Wild Meat in Vietnam: Implications for Conservation Actions.
Shairp, Rachel; Veríssimo, Diogo; Fraser, Iain; Challender, Daniel; MacMillan, Douglas
2016-01-01
Vietnam is a significant consumer of wildlife, particularly wild meat, in urban restaurant settings. To meet this demand, poaching of wildlife is widespread, threatening regional and international biodiversity. Previous interventions to tackle illegal and potentially unsustainable consumption of wild meat in Vietnam have generally focused on limiting supply. While critical, they have been impeded by a lack of resources, the presence of increasingly organised criminal networks and corruption. Attention is, therefore, turning to the consumer, but a paucity of research investigating consumer demand for wild meat will impede the creation of effective consumer-centred interventions. Here we used a mixed-methods research approach comprising a hypothetical choice modelling survey and qualitative interviews to explore the drivers of wild meat consumption and consumer preferences among residents of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Our findings indicate that demand for wild meat is heterogeneous and highly context specific. Wild-sourced, rare, and expensive wild meat-types are eaten by those situated towards the top of the societal hierarchy to convey wealth and status and are commonly consumed in lucrative business contexts. Cheaper, legal and farmed substitutes for wild-sourced meats are also consumed, but typically in more casual consumption or social drinking settings. We explore the implications of our results for current conservation interventions in Vietnam that attempt to tackle illegal and potentially unsustainable trade in and consumption of wild meat and detail how our research informs future consumer-centric conservation actions.
ANALISIS PERMINTAAN (DEMAND ANALYSIS PELAYANAN KESEHATAN PUSKESMAS DI KABUPATEN MOJOKERTO
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Wasis Budiarto
2012-09-01
Full Text Available A study on demand for health centre was carried out at Mojokerto Regency, East Java. The study convered 300 respondents (15 years old and over which were collected from two areas, urban (Kecamatan Bangsal and rural (Kecamatan Puri. The objectives of this study were to measure the demand for health centre services and to determine the influencing factors. A household survey was conducted in this study, using household and individual as unit of analysis and a multiple linier regression technique was used as analysis. In general, the result showed that needs were the most important factor affecting demand. In the urban health centres positive factor affecting individual demand were distance, family size and need, however in the rural health centre were cost, time and need were factors affecting demand. Factors affecting family demand for health services is different from individual demand. In urban and rural areas, family demand for health center was substitute alternative of the demand for the phycisian services.
Papo, Jacqueline K; Bauni, Evasius K; Sanders, Eduard J; Brocklehurst, Peter; Jaffe, Harold W
2011-01-14
to explore the extent of the condom gap, investigating the relative roles of supply-side and demand-side factors in determining condom use. GPS mapping of condom outlets, and population-based survey. an urban and a rural site were selected within the Epidemiological and Demographic Surveillance Site in Kilifi district, Kenya. Potential condom outlets (n = 281) were mapped and surveyed, and questionnaires on condom access and use (n = 630) were administered to a random sample of men and women aged 15-49. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to assess the relative roles of supply-side and demand-side barriers on condom use. the median straight-line distance to free condoms was 18-fold higher in the rural versus urban site. Among sexually active respondents, 42% had ever used a condom, and 23% had used a condom over the past 12 months, with lower levels among rural versus urban respondents (P supply-side or demand-side barriers, compared with individuals experiencing both types of barriers. Despite low levels of usage and the presence of supply-side and demand-side barriers, reported unmet need for condoms was low. there is an urgent need for renewed condom promotion efforts aimed at building demand, in addition to improving physical access, in resource-limited settings with generalized HIV epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa. 2011 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Urban agriculture: a global analysis of the space constraint to meet urban vegetable demand
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Martellozzo, F; Landry, J-S; Plouffe, D; Seufert, V; Ramankutty, N; Rowhani, P
2014-01-01
Urban agriculture (UA) has been drawing a lot of attention recently for several reasons: the majority of the world population has shifted from living in rural to urban areas; the environmental impact of agriculture is a matter of rising concern; and food insecurity, especially the accessibility of food, remains a major challenge. UA has often been proposed as a solution to some of these issues, for example by producing food in places where population density is highest, reducing transportation costs, connecting people directly to food systems and using urban areas efficiently. However, to date no study has examined how much food could actually be produced in urban areas at the global scale. Here we use a simple approach, based on different global-scale datasets, to assess to what extent UA is constrained by the existing amount of urban space. Our results suggest that UA would require roughly one third of the total global urban area to meet the global vegetable consumption of urban dwellers. This estimate does not consider how much urban area may actually be suitable and available for UA, which likely varies substantially around the world and according to the type of UA performed. Further, this global average value masks variations of more than two orders of magnitude among individual countries. The variations in the space required across countries derive mostly from variations in urban population density, and much less from variations in yields or per capita consumption. Overall, the space required is regrettably the highest where UA is most needed, i.e., in more food insecure countries. We also show that smaller urban clusters (i.e., <100 km 2 each) together represent about two thirds of the global urban extent; thus UA discourse and policies should not focus on large cities exclusively, but should also target smaller urban areas that offer the greatest potential in terms of physical space. (letters)
Characterising Wildlife Trade Market Supply-Demand Dynamics
Rowcliffe, M.; Cowlishaw, G.; Alexander, J. S.; Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y.; Brenya, A.; Milner-Gulland, E. J.
2016-01-01
The trade in wildlife products can represent an important source of income for poor people, but also threaten wildlife locally, regionally and internationally. Bushmeat provides livelihoods for hunters, traders and sellers, protein to rural and urban consumers, and has depleted the populations of many tropical forest species. Management interventions can be targeted towards the consumers or suppliers of wildlife products. There has been a general assumption in the bushmeat literature that the urban trade is driven by consumer demand with hunters simply fulfilling this demand. Using the urban bushmeat trade in the city of Kumasi, Ghana, as a case study, we use a range of datasets to explore the processes driving the urban bushmeat trade. We characterise the nature of supply and demand by explicitly considering three market attributes: resource condition, hunter behaviour, and consumer behaviour. Our results suggest that bushmeat resources around Kumasi are becoming increasingly depleted and are unable to meet demand, that hunters move in and out of the trade independently of price signals generated by the market, and that, for the Kumasi bushmeat system, consumption levels are driven not by consumer choice but by shortfalls in supply and consequent price responses. Together, these results indicate that supply-side processes dominate the urban bushmeat trade in Kumasi. This suggests that future management interventions should focus on changing hunter behaviour, although complementary interventions targeting consumer demand are also likely to be necessary in the long term. Our approach represents a structured and repeatable method to assessing market dynamics in information-poor systems. The findings serve as a caution against assuming that wildlife markets are demand driven, and highlight the value of characterising market dynamics to inform appropriate management. PMID:27632169
Quilty, J.; Adamowski, J. F.
2015-12-01
Urban water supply systems are often stressed during seasonal outdoor water use as water demands related to the climate are variable in nature making it difficult to optimize the operation of the water supply system. Urban water demand forecasts (UWD) failing to include meteorological conditions as inputs to the forecast model may produce poor forecasts as they cannot account for the increase/decrease in demand related to meteorological conditions. Meteorological records stochastically simulated into the future can be used as inputs to data-driven UWD forecasts generally resulting in improved forecast accuracy. This study aims to produce data-driven UWD forecasts for two different Canadian water utilities (Montreal and Victoria) using machine learning methods by first selecting historical UWD and meteorological records derived from a stochastic weather generator using nonlinear input variable selection. The nonlinear input variable selection methods considered in this work are derived from the concept of conditional mutual information, a nonlinear dependency measure based on (multivariate) probability density functions and accounts for relevancy, conditional relevancy, and redundancy from a potential set of input variables. The results of our study indicate that stochastic weather inputs can improve UWD forecast accuracy for the two sites considered in this work. Nonlinear input variable selection is suggested as a means to identify which meteorological conditions should be utilized in the forecast.
Gui, Kun-Peng; Xu, Jian-Gang; Zhang, Xiang
2013-05-01
Urban green space has the functions of ecological and social services, and the two services levels are decided by the supply-demand relationship. However, the supply-demand of green space not only involves in quantity, but also refers to spatial distribution. Therefore, only greening indicators can not wholly reflect the true levels of green space services. Based on the supply-demand analysis and supported by the ArcGIS, this paper examined the ecological and social services levels of the urban green spaces in Nanjing City by using the evenness indicator and the rate the people could enjoy the public green space in their accessible area. Accordingly, the ecological and social services levels of the green space in the City were investigated. The results showed that in the east of Nanjing City, green spaces were rich, but high accessible ones were lack, which resulted in a moderate social service level. In the center of the City, green spaces were lack and distributed unevenly, resulting in the low levels of ecological and social services. In Hexi area, due to the shortage in ecological green space and its uneven distribution, the green spaces had a high level social service but a low level ecological service. In the southern and northern areas of the City, green spaces were in deficiency, uneven distribution, and lack in high accessible.
Urban blight and urban redesign
Zsilincsar, Walter
2018-01-01
The phenomenon of urban blight dates back to the 19th century when industrialisation starting in Europe and North America initiated an uncontrolled urban growth in combination with strong demand in cheap an quickly constructed housing. Ghettoisation of mainly the working-class population and other “marginal groups” were the consequence together with a constant decay of single buildings, whole blocks and quarters. These general aspects of urban blight with its additional facettes or aspects re...
Crime in relation to urban design. Case study: The Greater Cairo Region
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Heba Adel
2016-09-01
Full Text Available Crime is a part of any social system and known to human communities since its origins. It differs from community to another, even within one community it doesn’t occur equally in all places and nor by the same way. It is also concentrated in some places more than others, sometimes increases, sometimes decreases, etc. Previous researches have proved that crime rate has significant correlation with different social factors: education levels, poverty rates and lack of social organization, while others have drawn the attention to its relation with the built environment. They proposed that crime occurs in places where both opportunities and criminals are available. The role of this paper is to identify urban circumstances related to crime occurrence within the Greater Cairo Region, and to propose different ways to reduce these crimes. Consecutively, agglomeration’s main districts were scrutinized according to social analysis, street-network pattern and land-use.
Lee, David S.; Longhurst, James W. S.
Precipitation chemistry data from a dense urban monitoring network in Greater Manchester, northwest England, were compared with interpolated values from the U.K. secondary national acid deposition monitoring network for the year 1988. Differences were found to be small. However, when data from individual sites from the Greater Manchester network were compared with data from the two nearest secondary national network sites, significant differences were found using simple and complex statistical analyses. Precipitation chemistry at rural sites could be similar to that at urban sites, but the sources of some ions were thought to be different. The synoptic-scale gradients of precipitation chemistry, as shown by the secondary national network, also accounted for some of the differences.
Patel, Ronak; Walker, Garrett; Bhatt, Mihir; Pathak, Vishal
2017-03-01
Small informal businesses make up the core markets for many poor urban communities, providing essential goods, services, and livelihoods. Many of these communities and businesses exist in hazardous locations. In most cases, these business owners do not have access to proper coping mechanisms including risk transfer and lack resilience to shocks. Access to risk-transfer in the form of insurance for these small businesses is extremely limited. This demand survey is the first phase of an intervention to test disaster microinsurance for these businesses. Previous research has examined the demand for and value of microinsurance to protect poor households but not micro- and medium-sized informal urban businesses. This study investigates knowledge about and demand for microinsurance among small informal business owners in three different cities of India. Survey of all informal business owners (n=4919) identified through purposive sampling of the most vulnerable in three proposed study sites: Guwahati in Assam (n=1622), Puri in Odisha (n=1551) and Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu (n=1746). Our findings reflect that while small business owners largely did not know about disaster microinsurance, after describing it, a vast majority wanted to subscribe to such a program. Without it, they often rely on personal savings, forgo basic necessities, or take out costly loans that trap them in debt to cope with disasters. This research supports the need for more experiments on actual adoption patterns, feasibility studies, and innovative trial programs by governments, non-governmental organizations, and insurance providers.
Scott, A.; Kelley, C.; Azdoud, Y.; Ambikapathi, R.; Hobson, M.; Lehman, A.; Ghugare, P.; He, C.; Zaitchik, B. F.; Waugh, D.; McCormack, M.; Baja, K.
2017-12-01
Anthropogenic activities alter the urban surface and surface atmosphere, generating heat and pollutants that have known detrimental impacts on health. Monitoring these environmental variables in urban environments is made difficult by the spatial heterogeneity of urban environments, meaning that two nearby locations may have significantly different temperatures, humidities, or gas concentrations. Thus, urban monitoring often requires more densely placed monitors than current standards or budgets allow. Recent advances in low-cost sensors and Internet of Things (IoT) enabled hardware offer possible solutions. We present an autonomous wireless, open-source, IoT-enabled environmental monitor called a WeatherCube, developed for the Greater Baltimore Open Air project, funded in part by the EPA SmartCity Challenge. The WeatherCube is suitable for urban monitoring and capable of measuring meteorological variables (temperature and humidity) as well as air quality (ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide). The WeatherCube devices were built in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, local government, and community members, including through an innovative job training program. Monitors are hosted by community partners and libraries throughout Baltimore city and surrounding communities. We present the first wave of data collected by the Greater Baltimore Open Air project and compare it to data collected by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). Additionally, we will provide an overview of our experience engaging with the local makers, citizen scientists, and environmental groups to improve their urban environmental monitoring. By developing low-cost devices tailored for urban environmental monitoring, we present an innovative model for both conducting research and community outreach.
Fuel switching in Harare : An almost ideal demand system approach
Chambwera, Muyeye; Folmer, Henk
In urban areas several energy choices are available and the amount of (a given type of) fuel consumed is based on complex household decision processes. This paper analyzes urban fuel (particularly firewood) demand in an energy mix context by means of an Almost Ideal Demand System based on a survey
Fuel switching in Harare: An almost ideal demand system approach
Chambwera, M.; Folmer, H.
2007-01-01
In urban areas several energy choices are available and the amount of (a given type of) fuel consumed is based on complex household decision processes. This paper analyzes urban fuel (particularly firewood) demand in an energy mix context by means of an Almost Ideal Demand System based on a survey
Energy Demand Forecasting: Combining Cointegration Analysis and Artificial Intelligence Algorithm
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Junbing Huang
2018-01-01
Full Text Available Energy is vital for the sustainable development of China. Accurate forecasts of annual energy demand are essential to schedule energy supply and provide valuable suggestions for developing related industries. In the existing literature on energy use prediction, the artificial intelligence-based (AI-based model has received considerable attention. However, few econometric and statistical evidences exist that can prove the reliability of the current AI-based model, an area that still needs to be addressed. In this study, a new energy demand forecasting framework is presented at first. On the basis of historical annual data of electricity usage over the period of 1985–2015, the coefficients of linear and quadratic forms of the AI-based model are optimized by combining an adaptive genetic algorithm and a cointegration analysis shown as an example. Prediction results of the proposed model indicate that the annual growth rate of electricity demand in China will slow down. However, China will continue to demand about 13 trillion kilowatt hours in 2030 because of population growth, economic growth, and urbanization. In addition, the model has greater accuracy and reliability compared with other single optimization methods.
the determinants of demand for public transport services in kumasi
African Journals Online (AJOL)
dmosman.admin
The objective of the study was to establish the major factors influencing demand as well as de- velop a demand model for urban passenger transport services in Kumasi, Ghana. ... Cities in developing countries often spend be- ... the total urban road network was in “Good” ... several other functions of a national, regional.
Intercity Travel Demand Analysis Model
Ming Lu; Hai Zhu; Xia Luo; Lei Lei
2014-01-01
It is well known that intercity travel is an important component of travel demand which belongs to short distance corridor travel. The conventional four-step method is no longer suitable for short distance corridor travel demand analysis for the time spent on urban traffic has a great impact on traveler's main mode choice. To solve this problem, the author studied the existing intercity travel demand analysis model, then improved it based on the study, and finally established a combined model...
Ponizy, Lidia; Majchrzak, Weronika; Zwierzchowska, Iwona
2017-12-01
The quality of life of big city dwellers depends on the use of green infrastructure. The idea of a compact city, opposed to urban sprawl, can lead to reduced access to green areas and increased demand for cultural services provided through urban green infrastructure. Considering the above, the aim of the paper was to identify the supply of and demand for cultural ecosystem services related to the urban green spaces in densely built-up urban areas. To find out how important the ability to use green areas for dwellers of the densely built-up areas is, the questionnaire interviews with the residents of the area of the Old Town of Poznan were conducted. Questions in the survey concerned the amount of green spaces and their availability, the way of use, types of activity, factors limiting the use and factors encouraging to visit green spaces and the motives for using green areas away from inhabitants’ place of residence. Respondents claim that there is not enough greenery, especially associated with housing and street side greenery; the amount of parks (which they use most) is slightly higher, in their opinion. Limitations that influence utilising green spaces concern both greenery itself (e.g. insufficient recreational infrastructure, neglected green areas) as well as respondent’s issues (e.g. lack of free time). Improvements to recreational infrastructure and more well-kept green spaces would encourage respondents to utilise it more often. Active participation of inhabitants in developing and maintaining their closest neighbourhood would allow to enlarge green spaces in housing areas and make them more customized to the residents’ needs and requirements in terms of functionality and aesthetic.
HOUSEHOLD FOOD DEMAND IN INDONESIA: A TWO-STAGE BUDGETING APPROACH
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Agus Widarjono
2016-05-01
Full Text Available A two-stage budgeting approach was applied to analyze the food demand in urban areas separated by geographical areas and classified by income groups. The demographically augmented Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS was employed to estimate the demand elasticity. Data from the National Social and Economic Survey of Households (SUSENAS in 2011 were used. The demand system is a censored model because the data contains zero expenditures and is estimated by employing the consistent two-step estimation procedure to solve biased estimation. The results show that price and income elasticities become less elastic from poor households to rich households. Demand by urban households in Java is more responsive to price but less responsive to income than urban households outside of Java. Simulation policies indicate that an increase in food prices would have more adverse impacts than a decrease in income levels. Poor families would suffer more than rich families from rising food prices and/or decreasing incomes. More importantly, urban households on Java are more vulnerable to an economic crisis, and would respond by reducing their food consumption. Economic policies to stabilize food prices are better than income policies, such as the cash transfer, to maintain the well-being of the population in Indonesia
Informal sector labour demand: Evidence from Zimbabwe's urban ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Siphambe H (Prof)
during the country's economic structural adjustment programme (ESAP) and the ... The study of informal labour demand is important for Zimbabwe which faces .... is assumed to be identically and independently distributed, that is, ..... The labour demand equation's low Chi-square statistic (1.91) and its probability value of.
Doucet, Brian; Smit, Edske
2016-01-01
Downtown Detroit has been undergoing a renaissance in recent years which is in stark contrast to the economic and social situation in much of the rest of the city. This renaissance has been taking place despite the city's ability to provide good municipal services such as streetlights, security, public space and transport. This article focuses on how four areas which constitute part of Greater Downtown Detroit have relied on different combinations of actors to create and provide the services and amenities deemed necessary for capital investment and middle-class consumption. Each area has its own initiatives and actors who implement them, further fragmenting the city between its core and periphery. Renewed public spaces, private police forces and resident initiatives in middle-class neighborhoods have been created to serve specific needs of the small areas they serve. Rather than being unique, Detroit is an extreme example of fragmented and polarized urbanism which is part and parcel of contemporary cities. We argue that rather than passively reflecting existing socio-spatial divides, these private initiatives in Greater Downtown Detroit actively contribute to the production of sociospatial inequalities across the city.
Nguyen Quang, P.
2015-01-01
Urbanization often goes hand in hand with a growing demand for housing, urban infrastructure and other facilities that are necessary for sustainable urban development. This has created numerous pressures on land, especially in peri-urban areas where land, traditionally used for agriculture, is still
Demand for healthcare in India
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Brijesh C. Purohit
2013-03-01
Full Text Available In a developing country like India, allocation of scarce fiscal resources has to be based on a clear understanding of how investments in the heath sector are going to affect demand. Three aspects like overall healthcare demand, consumer decisions to use public and/or private care and role of price/quality influencing poor/rich consumer’s decisions are critical to assessing the equity implications of alternative policies. Our paper addresses these aspects through examining the pattern of healthcare demand in India. Data from the National Family Health Survey are used to model the healthcare choices that individuals make. We consider what these behavioral characteristics imply for public policy. This analysis aims to study disparities between rural and urban areas from all throughout India to five Indian states representing three levels of per capita incomes (all-India average, rich and poor. Results evidence that healthcare demand both in rural and urban areas is a commodity emerging as an essential need. Choices between public or private provider are guided by income and quality variables mainly with regard to public healthcare denoting thus a situation of very limited alternatives in terms of availing private providers. These results emphasize that existing public healthcare facilities do not serve the objective of providing care to the poor in a satisfactory manner in rural areas. Thus, any financing strategy to improve health system and reduce disparities across rich-poor states and rural-urban areas should also take into account not only overcoming inadequacy but also inefficiency in allocation and utilization of healthcare inputs.
Modeling the Effects of Future Growing Demand for Charcoal in the Tropics
Ferreira Dos Santos, M.J.; Dekker, S.C.; Daioglou, Vasileios; Braakhekke, M.C.; van Vuuren, Detlef
Global demand for charcoal is increasing mainly due to urban population in developing countries. More than half the global population now lives in cities, and urban-dwellers are restricted to charcoal use because of easiness of production, access, transport, and tradition. Increasing demand for
Conceptual Framework and Computational Research of Hierarchical Residential Household Water Demand
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Baodeng Hou
2018-05-01
Full Text Available Although the quantity of household water consumption does not account for a huge proportion of the total water consumption amidst socioeconomic development, there has been a steadily increasing trend due to population growth and improved urbanization standards. As such, mastering the mechanisms of household water demand, scientifically predicting trends of household water demand, and implementing reasonable control measures are key focuses of current urban water management. Based on the categorization and characteristic analysis of household water, this paper used Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to establish a level and grade theory of household water demand, whereby household water is classified into three levels (rigid water demand, flexible water demand, and luxury water demand and three grades (basic water demand, reasonable water demand, and representational water demand. An in-depth analysis was then carried out on the factors that influence the computation of household water demand, whereby equations for different household water categories were established, and computations for different levels of household water were proposed. Finally, observational experiments on household water consumption were designed, and observation and simulation computations were performed on three typical households in order to verify the scientific outcome and rationality of the computation of household water demand. The research findings contribute to the enhancement and development of prediction theories on water demand, and they are of high theoretical and realistic significance in terms of scientifically predicting future household water demand and fine-tuning the management of urban water resources.
Integrating Infrastructure and Institutions for Water Security in Large Urban Areas
Padowski, J.; Jawitz, J. W.; Carrera, L.
2015-12-01
Urban growth has forced cities to procure more freshwater to meet demands; however the relationship between urban water security, water availability and water management is not well understood. This work quantifies the urban water security of 108 large cities in the United States (n=50) and Africa (n=58) based on their hydrologic, hydraulic and institutional settings. Using publicly available data, urban water availability was estimated as the volume of water available from local water resources and those captured via hydraulic infrastructure (e.g. reservoirs, wellfields, aqueducts) while urban water institutions were assessed according to their ability to deliver, supply and regulate water resources to cities. When assessing availability, cities relying on local water resources comprised a minority (37%) of those assessed. The majority of cities (55%) instead rely on captured water to meet urban demands, with African cities reaching farther and accessing a greater number and variety of sources for water supply than US cities. Cities using captured water generally had poorer access to local water resources and maintained significantly more complex strategies for water delivery, supply and regulatory management. Eight cities, all African, are identified in this work as having water insecurity issues. These cities lack sufficient infrastructure and institutional complexity to capture and deliver adequate amounts of water for urban use. Together, these findings highlight the important interconnection between infrastructure investments and management techniques for urban areas with a limited or dwindling natural abundance of water. Addressing water security challenges in the future will require that more attention be placed not only on increasing water availability, but on developing the institutional support to manage captured water supplies.
Balancing urban and peri-urban exchange: water geography of rural livelihoods in Mexico.
Díaz-Caravantes, Rolando E
2012-01-01
The peri-urban area is the region where there is a more dynamic interaction between the urban and rural. The peri-urban area supplies natural resources, such as land for urban expansion and agricultural products to feed the urban population. In arid and semi-arid lands, such as northern Mexico, these areas may also be the source of water for the city's domestic demand. In addition, scholars argue that peri-urban residents may have a more advantageous geographical position for selling their labour and agricultural products in cities and, by doing so, sustaining their livelihoods. A considerable number of studies have examined the peri-urban to urban natural resources transfer in terms of land annexation, housing construction, and infrastructure issues; however, the study of the effects of the reallocation of peri-urban water resources to serve urban needs is critical as well because the livelihoods of peri-urban residents, such as those based on agriculture and livestock, depend on water availability. In the case of Hermosillo there is a tremendous pressure on the water resources of peri-urban small farm communities or ejidos because of urban demand. Based on interviews and structured surveys with producers and water managers, this paper examines how peri-urban livelihoods have been reshaped by the reallocation of the city's natural resources in many cases caused some ejido members or ejidatarios to lose livelihoods.
A blueprint for strategic urban research: the urban piazza.
Kourtit, Karima; Nijkamp, Peter; Franklin, Rachel S; Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés
2014-01-01
Urban research in many countries has failed to keep up with the pace of rapidly and constantly evolving urban change. The growth of cities, the increasing complexity of their functions and the complex intra- and inter-urban linkages in this 'urban century' demand new approaches to urban analysis, which, from a systemic perspective, supersede the existing fragmentation in urban studies. In this paper we propose the concept of the urban piazza as a framework in order to address some of the inefficiencies associated with current urban analysis. By combining wealth-creating potential with smart urban mobility, ecological resilience and social buzz in this integrated and systemic framework, the aim is to set the basis for a ' New Urban World ' research blueprint, which lays the foundation for a broader and more integrated research programme for strategic urban issues.
Main Determinants of Supplementary Health Insurance Demand: (Case of Iran)
Motlagh, Soraya Nouraei; Gorji, Hassan Abolghasem; Mahdavi, Ghadir; Ghaderi, Hossein
2015-01-01
Introduction: In the majority of developing countries, the volume of medical insurance services, provided by social insurance organizations is inadequate. Thus, supplementary medical insurance is proposed as a means to address inadequacy of medical insurance. Accordingly, in this article, we attempted to provide the context for expansion of this important branch of insurance through identification of essential factors affecting demand for supplementary medical insurance. Method: In this study, two methods were used to identify essential factors affecting choice of supplementary medical insurance including Classification and Regression Trees (CART) and Bayesian logit. To this end, Excel® software was used to refine data and R® software for estimation. The present study was conducted during 2012, covering all provinces in Iran. Sample size included 18,541 urban households, selected by Statistical Center of Iran using 3-stage cluster sampling approach. In this study, all data required were collected from the Statistical Center of Iran. Results: In 2012, an overall 8.04% of the Iranian population benefited from supplementary medical insurance. Demand for supplementary insurance is a concave function of age of the household head, and peaks in middle-age when savings and income are highest. The present study results showed greater likelihood of demand for supplementary medical insurance in households with better economic status, higher educated heads, female heads, and smaller households with greater expected medical expenses, and household income is the most important factor affecting demand for supplementary medical insurance. Conclusion: Since demand for supplementary medical insurance is hugely influenced by households’ economic status, policy-makers in the health sector should devise measures to improve households’ economic or financial access to supplementary insurance services, by identifying households in the lower economic deciles, and increasing their
[Urban ecosystem services: A review].
Mao, Qi-zheng; Huang, Gan-lin; Wu, Jian-guo
2015-04-01
Maintaining and improving ecosystem services in urban areas and human well-being are essential for sustainable development and therefore constitute an important topic in urban ecology. Here we reviewed studies on ecosystem services in urban areas. Based on the concept and classification of urban ecosystem services, we summarized characteristics of urban ecosystem services, including the human domination, high demand of ecosystem services in urban areas, spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamics of ecosystem services supply and demand in urban areas, multi-services of urban green infrastructures, the socio-economic dimension of ecosystem services supply and ecosystem disservices in urban areas. Among different urban ecosystem services, the regulating service and cultural service are particularly indispensable to benefit human health. We pointed out that tradeoffs among different types of ecosystem services mostly occur between supportive service and cultural service, as well as regulating service and cultural service. In particular, we emphasized the relationship between landscape design (i.e. green infrastructure) and ecosystem services supply. Finally, we discussed current gaps to link urban ecosystem services studies to landscape design and management and pointed out several directions for future research in urban ecosystem services.
Li, B.; Huang, F.; Chang, S.; Qi, H.; Zhai, H.
2018-04-01
Indentifying the spatio-temporal patterns of ecosystem services supply and demand and the driving forces is of great significance to the regional ecological security and sustainable socio-economic development. Due to long term and high-intensity development, the ecological environment in central and southern Liaoning urban agglomerations has been greatly destroyed thereafter has restricted sustainable development in this region. Based on Landsat ETM and OLI images, land use of this urban agglomeration in 2005, 2010 and 2015 was extracted. The integrative index of multiple-ecosystem services (IMES) was used to quantify the supply (IMESs), demand (IMESd) and balance (IMESb) of multiple-ecosystem services, The spatial patterns of ecosystem services and its dynamics for the period of 2005-2015 were revealed. The multiple regression and stepwise regression analysis were used to explore relationships between ecosystem services and socioeconomic factors. The results showed that the IMESs of the region increased by 2.93 %, whereas IMESd dropped 38 %. The undersupplied area was reduced to 2. The IMESs and IMESb were mainly negatively correlated with gross domestic product (GDP), population density, foreign investment and industrial output, while GDP per capita and the number of teachers had significant positive impacts on ecosystem services supply. The positive correlation between IMESd and GDP, population density and foreign investment were found. The ecosystem services models were established. Supply and balance of multiple-ecosystem services were positively correlated with population density, but the demand was the opposite. The results can provide some reference value for the coordinately economic and ecological development in the study area.
Gender and rural-urban migration in China.
Davin, D
1996-02-01
Many men and women in China are migrating in search of better economic opportunities. Young women who migrate to urban centers in search of opportunity may stay away from their home villages for several years. At some point, however, they are likely to return home. This article considers the effect which such circular migration is having upon gender relations in China. The author's argument is presented in sections on China's 1990 census, migration and the sexual division of labor, migration and child care, the influence of returning migrants, the influence of young female returnees, and the fertility of returnees. She speculates that the demands and expectations of young women who return to their villages after spending some time earning high wages in urban areas will be affected by urban norms. While their return may lead to initial conflict, it is likely that the women will retain greater personal autonomy from their urban experience. Their return is also likely to lead to a higher degree of material consumption in the rural areas. Present circular migration in China has the potential to return human and financial resources to the villages, thereby helping to prevent the urban-rural gap between economic, social, cultural, and educational factors from growing even wider.
Rafael, S; Martins, H; Marta-Almeida, M; Sá, E; Coelho, S; Rocha, A; Borrego, C; Lopes, M
2017-05-01
Climate change and the growth of urban populations are two of the main challenges facing Europe today. These issues are linked as climate change results in serious challenges for cities. Recent attention has focused on how urban surface-atmosphere exchanges of heat and water will be affected by climate change and the implications for urban planning and sustainability. In this study energy fluxes for Greater Porto area, Portugal, were estimated and the influence of the projected climate change evaluated. To accomplish this, the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) and the Surface Urban Energy and Water Balance Scheme (SUEWS) were applied for two climatological scenarios: a present (or reference, 1986-2005) scenario and a future scenario (2046-2065), in this case the Representative Concentration Pathway RCP8.5, which reflects the worst set of expectations (with the most onerous impacts). The results show that for the future climate conditions, the incoming shortwave radiation will increase by around 10%, the sensible heat flux around 40% and the net storage heat flux around 35%. In contrast, the latent heat flux will decrease about 20%. The changes in the magnitude of the different fluxes result in an increase of the net all-wave radiation by 15%. The implications of the changes of the energy balance on the meteorological variables are discussed, particularly in terms of temperature and precipitation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Understanding congested travel in urban areas
Çolak, Serdar; Lima, Antonio; González, Marta C.
2016-03-01
Rapid urbanization and increasing demand for transportation burdens urban road infrastructures. The interplay of number of vehicles and available road capacity on their routes determines the level of congestion. Although approaches to modify demand and capacity exist, the possible limits of congestion alleviation by only modifying route choices have not been systematically studied. Here we couple the road networks of five diverse cities with the travel demand profiles in the morning peak hour obtained from billions of mobile phone traces to comprehensively analyse urban traffic. We present that a dimensionless ratio of the road supply to the travel demand explains the percentage of time lost in congestion. Finally, we examine congestion relief under a centralized routing scheme with varying levels of awareness of social good and quantify the benefits to show that moderate levels are enough to achieve significant collective travel time savings.
Houtman, I.L.D.
2004-01-01
In the past 10 years, workers in the Netherlands increasingly report more decision-making power in their work. This is important for an economy in recession and where workers face greater work demands. It makes work more interesting, creates a healthier work environment, and provides opportunities
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Rafael, S., E-mail: sandra.rafael@ua.pt [CESAM & Department of Environment and Planning, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro (Portugal); Martins, H. [CESAM & Department of Environment and Planning, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro (Portugal); Rossby Centre, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), SE-60176 Norrköping (Sweden); Marta-Almeida, M. [Centro Oceanográfico A Coruña, Instituto Español de Oceanografía, A Coruña (Spain); Sá, E.; Coelho, S. [CESAM & Department of Environment and Planning, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro (Portugal); Rocha, A. [CESAM & Department of Physics, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro (Portugal); Borrego, C.; Lopes, M. [CESAM & Department of Environment and Planning, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro (Portugal)
2017-05-15
Climate change and the growth of urban populations are two of the main challenges facing Europe today. These issues are linked as climate change results in serious challenges for cities. Recent attention has focused on how urban surface-atmosphere exchanges of heat and water will be affected by climate change and the implications for urban planning and sustainability. In this study energy fluxes for Greater Porto area, Portugal, were estimated and the influence of the projected climate change evaluated. To accomplish this, the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) and the Surface Urban Energy and Water Balance Scheme (SUEWS) were applied for two climatological scenarios: a present (or reference, 1986–2005) scenario and a future scenario (2046–2065), in this case the Representative Concentration Pathway RCP8.5, which reflects the worst set of expectations (with the most onerous impacts). The results show that for the future climate conditions, the incoming shortwave radiation will increase by around 10%, the sensible heat flux around 40% and the net storage heat flux around 35%. In contrast, the latent heat flux will decrease about 20%. The changes in the magnitude of the different fluxes result in an increase of the net all-wave radiation by 15%. The implications of the changes of the energy balance on the meteorological variables are discussed, particularly in terms of temperature and precipitation. - Highlights: • Assessment of energy fluxes behaviour under past period and medium-term climate change projection. • Evaluation of climate change at urban scale. • Meteorological variables alters the partitioning of the energy fluxes. • Changes in the partition of the annual energy balance are found between the two analysed periods. • Increase in the magnitude of sensible and storage heat fluxes.
A PSO–GA optimal model to estimate primary energy demand of China
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yu Shiwei; Wei Yiming; Wang Ke
2012-01-01
To improve estimation efficiency for future projections, the present study has proposed a hybrid algorithm, Particle Swarm Optimization and Genetic Algorithm optimal Energy Demand Estimating (PSO–GA EDE) model, for China. The coefficients of the three forms of the model (linear, exponential, and quadratic) are optimized by PSO–GA using factors, such as GDP, population, economic structure, urbanization rate, and energy consumption structure, that affect demand. Based on 20-year historical data between 1990 and 2009, the simulation results of the proposed model have greater accuracy and reliability than other single optimization methods. Moreover, it can be used with optimal coefficients for the energy demand projections of China. The departure coefficient method is applied to get the weights of the three forms of the model to obtain a combinational prediction. The energy demand of China is going to be 4.79, 4.04, and 4.48 billion tce in 2015, and 6.91, 5.03, and 6.11 billion tce (“standard” tons coal equivalent) in 2020 under three different scenarios. Further, the projection results are compared with other estimating methods. - Highlights: ► A hybrid algorithm PSO–GA optimal energy demands estimating model for China. ► Energy demand of China is estimated by 2020 in three different scenarios. ► The projection results are compared with other estimating methods.
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Hansen, Carsten Jahn; Jacobsen, Lars; Möller, Michael
2000-01-01
The urban environment is usually associated with a variety of activities, which involve matching the demand for goods, commerce, services, rules and laws, culture and intellectual exchange. Proximity and congregation are essential factors when it comes to the economic efficiency of urban society....... However, the attractiveness of urban environments has caused cites to expand without control in many areas, causing congestion, and environmental and social problems. This session deals with the complexity of urban settings, including the impact of large infrastructure projects relating to safety, noise...
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Dasaraden Mauree
2018-04-01
Full Text Available Building more energy-efficient and sustainable urban areas that will both mitigate the effects of climate change and anticipate living conditions in future climate scenarios requires the development of new tools and methods that can help urban planners, architects and communities achieve this goal. In the current study, we designed a workflow that links different methodologies developed separately, to derive the energy consumption of a university school campus for the future. Three different scenarios for typical future years (2039, 2069, 2099 were run, as well as a renovation scenario (Minergie-P. We analyzed the impact of climate change on the heating and cooling demand of buildings and determined the relevance of taking into account the local climate in this particular context. The results from the simulations confirmed that in the future, there will be a constant decrease in the heating demand, while the cooling demand will substantially increase. Significantly, it was further demonstrated that when the local urban climate was taken into account, there was an even higher rise in the cooling demand, but also that a set of proposed Minergie-P renovations were not sufficient to achieve resilient buildings. We discuss the implication of this work for the simulation of building energy consumption at the neighborhood scale and the impact of future local climate on energy system design. We finally give a few perspectives regarding improved urban design and possible pathways for future urban areas.
Estimating elasticity for residential electricity demand in China.
Shi, G; Zheng, X; Song, F
2012-01-01
Residential demand for electricity is estimated for China using a unique household level dataset. Household electricity demand is specified as a function of local electricity price, household income, and a number of social-economic variables at household level. We find that the residential demand for electricity responds rather sensitively to its own price in China, which implies that there is significant potential to use the price instrument to conserve electricity consumption. Electricity elasticities across different heterogeneous household groups (e.g., rich versus poor and rural versus urban) are also estimated. The results show that the high income group is more price elastic than the low income group, while rural families are more price elastic than urban families. These results have important policy implications for designing an increasing block tariff.
Urban simulation evaluation with study case of the Singapore Management University, Singapore
Seanders, O.
2018-01-01
This paper reports and discusses about the urban simulation evaluation with a study case, The Singapore Managemant University (SMU), the first major university to be located in the city centre. It is located in Bras Basah District, with some controversy on the geographical establishment, the physical realization of the University in the original plan required some demolishes, urban historical building, a public park and in the end will impact the lose of some certain qualities of the urban space. From this case we can see that the urban design and cultural heritage principles could come into conflicts with the more practical concerns of space constraints and transportation efficiency. This SMU case reflect the problem of the developing countries that have to decide between conservation of buildings and green spaces and space demands. In this case, for Singapore, it marks a progress in the step of greater community involvement in the planning process.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Donghui Wang
2015-12-01
Full Text Available Accurately predicting short-term transport demand for an individual logistics company involved in a competitive market is critical to make short-term operation decisions. This article proposes a combined grey–periodic extension model with remnant correction to forecast the short-term inter-urban transport demand of a logistics company involved in a nationwide competitive market, showing changes in trend and seasonal fluctuations with irregular periods different to the macroeconomic cycle. A basic grey–periodic extension model of an additive pattern, namely, the main combination model, is first constructed to fit the changing trends and the featured seasonal fluctuation periods. In order to improve prediction accuracy and model adaptability, the grey model is repeatedly modelled to fit the remnant tail time series of the main combination model until prediction accuracy is satisfied. The modelling approach is applied to a logistics company engaged in a nationwide less-than-truckload road transportation business in China. The results demonstrate that the proposed modelling approach produces good forecasting results and goodness of fit, also showing good model adaptability to the analysed object in a changing macro environment. This fact makes this modelling approach an option to analyse the short-term transportation demand of an individual logistics company.
Tapping Alternatives: The Benefits of Managing Urban Water Demands.
Dziegielewski, Benedykt; Baumann, Duane D.
1992-01-01
Presents the California plan for water demand management. Water conservation techniques are used to balance demand with supply. Discusses the implementation process: (1) water-use and service area analysis; (2) water-use forecasts; (3) benefit-cost analysis; (4) and development of a long-term water management plan. (17 references) (MCO)
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Martin Noltze
2008-01-01
Full Text Available The urban agglomeration of the Vietnamese southeast industrial driving force Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC has become the most outstanding benefi ciary of the remarkable economic growth and foreign investments in the Vietnamese economy since the start of a comprehensive economic reform process in the mid 1980s. The notable development towards the foremost economic centre led to a high influx of migrant workers. In the course of an ongoing expansion process towards a megacity of tomorrow, the defi cient provision of adequate housing remains one of the most challenging problems of rural migrants in Greater HCMC. However, a future-oriented sustainable megacity concept is strongly dependent on the successful integration of migrants into the urban society. Within this context, the housing market is considered to be a key aspect of comprehensive urban planning. Hereby, housing microfinance (HMF will be presented as an alternative housing finance scheme meeting the demand of a noteworthy number of poor and low-income people. Thereby HMF can do both: focus on specifi c needs of migrants with respect to their current life situation and enhance its outreach to a potential target group.
INDUSTRIAL LAND DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURING DECONCENTRATION IN GREATER JAKARTA
Hudalah, Delik; Viantari, Dimitra; Firman, Tommy; Woltjer, Johan
2013-01-01
Industrial land development has become a key feature of urbanization in Greater Jakarta, one of the largest metropolitan areas in Southeast Asia. Following Suharto's market-oriented policy measures in the late 1980s, private developers have dominated the land development projects in Greater Jakarta.
Environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology: in greater demand than ever.
Scheringer, Martin
2017-01-01
Environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology have been losing support, resources, and recognition at universities for many years. What are the possible causes of this process? A first problem may be that the need for research and teaching in environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology is no longer seen because chemical pollution problems are considered as largely solved. Second, environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology may be seen as fields dominated by routine work and where there are not many interesting research questions left. A third part of the problem may be that other environmental impacts such as climate change are given higher priority than chemical pollution problems. Here, several cases are presented that illustrate the great demand for innovative research and teaching in environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology. It is crucial that environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology are rooted in academic science and are provided with sufficient equipment, resources, and prospects for development.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Lufthansa Kanta
2015-11-01
Full Text Available Urban water supply systems may be managed through supply-side and demand-side strategies, which focus on water source expansion and demand reductions, respectively. Supply-side strategies bear infrastructure and energy costs, while demand-side strategies bear costs of implementation and inconvenience to consumers. To evaluate the performance of demand-side strategies, the participation and water use adaptations of consumers should be simulated. In this study, a Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS framework is developed to simulate consumer agents that change their consumption to affect the withdrawal from the water supply system, which, in turn influences operational policies and long-term resource planning. Agent-based models are encoded to represent consumers and a policy maker agent and are coupled with water resources system simulation models. The CAS framework is coupled with an evolutionary computation-based multi-objective methodology to explore tradeoffs in cost, inconvenience to consumers, and environmental impacts for both supply-side and demand-side strategies. Decisions are identified to specify storage levels in a reservoir that trigger: (1 increases in the volume of water pumped through inter-basin transfers from an external reservoir; and (2 drought stages, which restrict the volume of water that is allowed for residential outdoor uses. The proposed methodology is demonstrated for Arlington, Texas, water supply system to identify non-dominated strategies for an historic drought decade. Results demonstrate that pumping costs associated with maximizing environmental reliability exceed pumping costs associated with minimizing restrictions on consumer water use.
Mohanty, A. K.
2009-12-01
SURFACE WATER AND GROUND WATER QUALITY MONITORING FOR RESTORATION OF URBAN LAKES IN GREATER HYDERABAD, INDIA A.K. Mohanty, K. Mahesh Kumar, B. A. Prakash and V.V.S. Gurunadha Rao Ecology and Environment Group National Geophysical Research Institute, (CSIR) Hyderabad - 500 606, India E-mail:atulyakumarmohanty@yahoo.com Abstract: Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority has taken up restoration of urban lakes around Hyderabad city under Green Hyderabad Environment Program. Restoration of Mir Alam Tank, Durgamcheruvu, Patel cheruvu, Pedda Cheruvu and Nallacheruvu lakes have been taken up under the second phase. There are of six lakes viz., RKPuramcheruvu, Nadimicheruvu (Safilguda), Bandacheruvu Patelcheruvu, Peddacheruvu, Nallacheruvu, in North East Musi Basin covering 38 sq km. Bimonthly monitoring of lake water quality for BOD, COD, Total Nitrogen, Total phosphorous has been carried out for two hydrological cycles during October 2002- October 2004 in all the five lakes at inlet channels and outlets. The sediments in the lake have been also assessed for nutrient status. The nutrient parameters have been used to assess eutrophic condition through computation of Trophic Status Index, which has indicated that all the above lakes under study are under hyper-eutrophic condition. The hydrogeological, geophysical, water quality and groundwater data base collected in two watersheds covering 4 lakes has been used to construct groundwater flow and mass transport models. The interaction of lake-water with groundwater has been computed for assessing the lake water budget combining with inflow and outflow measurements on streams entering and leaving the lakes. Individual lake water budget has been used for design of appropriate capacity of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) on the inlet channels of the lakes for maintaining Full Tank Level (FTL) in each lake. STPs are designed for tertiary treatment i.e. removal of nutrient load viz., Phosphates and Nitrates. Phosphates are
Energy performance assessment in urban planning competitions
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Eicker, Ursula; Monien, Dirk; Duminil, Éric; Nouvel, Romain
2015-01-01
Highlights: • Quantification of energy efficiency in urban planning. • Analysis based on 3D (city) model. • Impact evaluation of urban form on energy demand, supply and building costs. • Primary energy balance with and without inclusion of shadowing effects. - Abstract: Many cities today are committed to increase the energy efficiency of buildings and the fraction of renewables especially in new urban developments. However, quantitative data on building energy performance as a function of urban density, building compactness and orientation, building use and supply options are rarely available during the design of new cities or early scenario analysis for existing city quarters, making it difficult for cities to effectively evaluate which concepts work today and in the future. The paper proposes a methodology to assess the energy demand and supply options as a function of the availability of geometry, building standard and use data. An automated procedure was implemented to identify each building’s geometry and volume and transfer the information to a simulation tool, which then calculates heating demand and solar energy generation on roofs and facades. The simulation includes shading calculations for each segment of the façades and roofs and thus allows a very detailed quantification of the building energy demand. By applying the methodology to a case study city quarter designed in an urban competition in Munich, it could be shown how the urban design influences the energy demand of the quarter and which fractions of renewable energy can be integrated into the roofs. While the building insulation standard and use are the is most important criteria for building energy efficiency (with an impact of more than a factor 2), the exact geometrical form, compactness and urban shading effects influences the energy demand by 10–20%. On the other hand, the detailed roof geometry and orientation influences the possible solar coverage of electricity or thermal
Global analysis of urban surface water supply vulnerability
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Padowski, Julie C; Gorelick, Steven M
2014-01-01
This study presents a global analysis of urban water supply vulnerability in 71 surface-water supplied cities, with populations exceeding 750 000 and lacking source water diversity. Vulnerability represents the failure of an urban supply-basin to simultaneously meet demands from human, environmental and agricultural users. We assess a baseline (2010) condition and a future scenario (2040) that considers increased demand from urban population growth and projected agricultural demand. We do not account for climate change, which can potentially exacerbate or reduce urban supply vulnerability. In 2010, 35% of large cities are vulnerable as they compete with agricultural users. By 2040, without additional measures 45% of cities are vulnerable due to increased agricultural and urban demands. Of the vulnerable cities in 2040, the majority are river-supplied with mean flows so low (1200 liters per person per day, l/p/d) that the cities experience ‘chronic water scarcity’ (1370 l/p/d). Reservoirs supply the majority of cities facing individual future threats, revealing that constructed storage potentially provides tenuous water security. In 2040, of the 32 vulnerable cities, 14 would reduce their vulnerability via reallocating water by reducing environmental flows, and 16 would similarly benefit by transferring water from irrigated agriculture. Approximately half remain vulnerable under either potential remedy. (letter)
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Lee, D.S.; Longhurst, J.W.S. (Manchester Polytechnic, Manchester (United Kingdom). Acid Rain Information Centre, Dept. of Environmental and Graphical Studies)
1992-11-01
Precipitation chemistry data from a dense urban monitoring network in Greater Manchester, northwest England, were compared with interpolated values from the U.K. secondary national acid deposition monitoring network for the year 1988. Differences were found to be small. However, when data from individual sites from the Greater Manchester network were compared with data from the two nearest secondary national network sites, significant differences were found using simple and complex statistical analyses. Precipitation chemistry at rural sites could be similar to that at urban sites, but the sources of some ions were thought to be different. The synoptic-scale gradients of precipitation chemistry, as shown by the secondary national network, also accounted for some of the differences. 34 refs., 7 figs., 8 tabs.
Empirical Analysis Of The Determinants Of Demand For Children In ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Using cross-section data on urban households from Jimma city, Southwestern Ethiopia, in this paper we apply the economic theory of consumer choice and examine some endogenous household characteristics that affect the demand for children among urban households in Ethiopia. Based on parameter estimates derived ...
Measuring Money Demand Function in Pakistan
Hassan, Shahid; Ali, Umbreen; Dawood, Mamoon
2016-01-01
This study investigates the factors such as interest rate, GDP per capita, exchange rate, fiscal deficit, urban and rural population to determine money demand function for Pakistan over the period from 1972-2013. We use ARDL Bound Testing approach in order to test long run relation between money demand and its factors whereas both long and short run coefficients will be found using similar approach. The results show that real interest rate exerts significant and negative effect upon money dem...
Peter J. Ince; David B. McKeever
2011-01-01
At times in history, there have been concerns that demand for wood (timber) would be greater than the ability to supply it, but that concern has recently dissipated. The wood supply and demand situation has changed because of market transitions, economic downturns, and continued forest growth. This article provides a concise overview of this change as it relates to the...
Price Elasticity of Alcohol Demand in India.
Kumar, Santosh
2017-05-01
Using a household survey conducted in 2014, this study estimates price elasticity of demand (PED) for beer, country liquor and spirits in India. Ordinary least-square models were used to estimate the responsiveness in alcohol demand due to price change. A large number of control variables were included to adjust for potential confounding in the model. Inter-district variation in alcohol consumption is adjusted for by including district fixed effects. Alcohol prices are negatively associated with demand for alcoholic beverages. The PED ranged from -0.14 for spirits to -0.46 for country liquor. Low level of education was positively associated with spirits consumption. The magnitude of elasticity varied by rural-urban, education and gender. Results indicate that a policy mix of price controls and awareness campaigns would be most effective in tackling the adverse effects of harmful drinking in India. The demand for beer, country liquor and spirits is negatively associated with its own price. The elasticity estimates ranged from -0.14 for spirits to -0.44 for country liquor. The elasticity estimates varied by rural-urban, gender and by education levels of the drinkers. © The Author 2017. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved
Modeling the Effects of Future Growing Demand for Charcoal in the Tropics
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M. J. Santos
2017-06-01
Full Text Available Global demand for charcoal is increasing mainly due to urban population in developing countries. More than half the global population now lives in cities, and urban-dwellers are restricted to charcoal use because of easiness of production, access, transport, and tradition. Increasing demand for charcoal, however, may lead to increasing impacts on forests, food, and water resources, and may even create additional pressures on the climate system. Here we assess how different charcoal scenarios based on the Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSP relate to potential biomass supply. For this, we use the energy model TIMER to project the demand for fuelwood and charcoal for different socio-economic pathways for urban and rural populations, globally, and for four tropical regions (Central America, South America, Africa and Indonesia. Second, we assess whether the biomass demands for each scenario can be met with current and projected forest biomass estimated with remote sensing and modeled Net Primary Productivity (NPP using a Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (LPJ-GUESS. Currently one third of residential energy use is based on traditional bioenergy, including charcoal. Globally, biomass needs by urban households by 2100 under the most sustainable scenario, SSP1, are of 14.4 mi ton biomass for charcoal plus 17.1 mi ton biomass for fuelwood (31.5 mi ton biomass in total. Under SSP3, the least sustainable scenario, we project a need of 205 mi tons biomass for charcoal plus 243.8 mi ton biomass for fuelwood by 2100 (total of 450 mi ton biomass. Africa and South America contribute the most for this biomass demand, however, all areas are able to meet the demand. We find that the future of the charcoal sector is not dire. Charcoal represents a small fraction of the energy requirements, but its biomass demands are disproportionate and in some regions require a large fraction of forest. This could be because of large growing populations moving to urban areas
Population in urban development and the practical problems of urban planning policy in Africa
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Joseph Uyanga
2013-07-01
Full Text Available The paper analyses the pattern of recent growth in African towns, examines the population component in this growth process and discusses the attendant urban planning problems. The contention in the study is that there are problems of definition. policy enunciation, and organisational co-ordination in the conceptualization. planning. orchestration and implementation of urban development and service systems. The magnitude of African urban developmental problems, and its multi-faceted nature demands that the latest in scientific knowledge and technological innovations should be integrated and incorporated into the urban planning and implementation processes.
Ribeiro Neto, A.; Scott, C. A.; Lima, E. A.; Montenegro, S. M. G. L.; Cirilo, J. A.
2014-09-01
Water availability for a range of human uses will increasingly be affected by climate change, especially in the arid and semiarid tropics. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the infrastructure sufficiency in meeting water demand under climate-induced socio-hydrological transition in the Capibaribe River basin (CRB). The basin has experienced spatial and sectoral (agriculture-to-urban) reconfiguration of water demands. Human settlements that were once dispersed, relying on intermittent sources of surface water, are now larger and more spatially concentrated, which increases water-scarcity effects. Based on the application of linked hydrologic and water-resources models using precipitation and temperature projections of the IPCC SRES (Special Report: Emissions Scenarios) A1B scenario, a reduction in rainfall of 26.0% translated to streamflow reduction of 60.0%. We used simulations from four members of the HadCM3 (UK Met Office Hadley Centre) perturbed physics ensemble, in which a single model structure is used and perturbations are introduced to the physical parameterization schemes in the model (Chou et al., 2012). We considered that the change of the water availability in the basin in the future scenarios must drive the water management and the development of adaptation strategies that will manage the water demand. Several adaptive responses are considered, including water-loss reductions, wastewater collection and reuse, and rainwater collection cisterns, which together have potential to reduce future water demand by 23.0%. This study demonstrates the vulnerabilities of the infrastructure system during socio-hydrological transition in response to hydroclimatic and demand variabilities in the CRB and also indicates the differential spatial impacts and vulnerability of multiple uses of water to changes over time. The simulations showed that the measures proposed and the water from interbasin transfer project of the São Francisco River had a positive
Kalichman, Seth; Katner, Harold; Banas, Ellen; Kalichman, Moira
2017-07-01
AIDS stigmas delay HIV diagnosis, interfere with health care, and contribute to mental health problems among people living with HIV. While there are few studies of the geographical distribution of AIDS stigma, research suggests that AIDS stigmas are differentially experienced in rural and urban areas. We conducted computerized interviews with 696 men and women living with HIV in 113 different zip code areas that were classified as large-urban, small-urban, and rural areas in a southeast US state with high-HIV prevalence. Analyses conducted at the individual level (N = 696) accounting for clustering at the zip code level showed that internalized AIDS-related stigma (e.g., the sense of being inferior to others because of HIV) was experienced with greater magnitude in less densely populated communities. Multilevel models indicated that after adjusting for potential confounding factors, rural communities reported greater internalized AIDS-related stigma compared to large-urban areas and that small-urban areas indicated greater experiences of enacted stigma (e.g., discrimination) than large-urban areas. The associations between anticipated AIDS-related stigma (e.g., expecting discrimination) and population density at the community-level were not significant. Results suggest that people living in rural and small-urban settings experience greater AIDS-related internalized and enacted stigma than their counterparts living in large-urban centers. Research is needed to determine whether low-density population areas contribute to or are sought out by people who experienced greater AIDS-related stigma. Regardless of causal directions, interventions are needed to address AIDS-related stigma, especially among people in sparsely populated areas with limited resources.
Urban physics : effect of the micro-climate on comfort, health and energy demand
Moonen, P.; Defraeye, T.W.J.; Dorer, V.; Blocken, B.J.E.; Carmeliet, J.E.
2012-01-01
The global trend towards urbanization explains the growing interest in the study of the modification of the urban climate due to the heat island effect and global warming, and its impact on energy use of buildings. Also urban comfort, health and durability, referring respectively to pedestrian
COORDINATES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM IN URBAN AREA
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Carmen-Maria IORDACHE
2012-01-01
Full Text Available Internationally, urban tourism began to develop gradually from the '80s, nowadays being a distinct form of tourism whose importance is increasing. Thus, there were concerns about specific facilities for different categories of visitors and their harmonization with the demands of caring for the smooth functioning of urban settlements. By adding tourism to the local economy inventory activities of an urban area, it can be considered a catalyst and a reviving factor for strengthening urban cities especially because it represents an important source of income and it is responsible for creating thousands of jobs. Given the need to adapt to the demands of tourists, this paper attempts to clarify some issues related to content, characteristics and influencing factors of urban tourism, but also the adoption of policies for exploitation through tourism of the specific elements of urban space and urban tourism prospects.
Understanding Urban Regeneration in Turkey
Candas, E.; Flacke, J.; Yomralioglu, T.
2016-06-01
In Turkey, rapid population growth, informal settlements, and buildings and infrastructures vulnerable to natural hazards are seen as the most important problems of cities. Particularly disaster risk cannot be disregarded, as large parts of various cities are facing risks from earthquakes, floods and landslides and have experienced loss of lives in the recent past. Urban regeneration is an important planning tool implemented by local and central governments in order to reduce to disaster risk and to design livable environments for the citizens. The Law on the Regeneration of Areas under Disaster Risk, commonly known as the Urban Regeneration Law, was enacted in 2012 (Law No.6306, May 2012). The regulation on Implementation of Law No. 6306 explains the fundamental steps of the urban regeneration process. The relevant institutions furnished with various authorities such as expropriation, confiscation and changing the type and place of your property which makes urban regeneration projects very important in terms of property rights. Therefore, urban regeneration projects have to be transparent, comprehensible and acceptable for all actors in the projects. In order to understand the urban regeneration process, the legislation and projects of different municipalities in Istanbul have been analyzed. While some steps of it are spatial data demanding, others relate to land values. In this paper an overview of the urban regeneration history and activities in Turkey is given. Fundamental steps of the urban regeneration process are defined, and particularly spatial-data demanding steps are identified.
Governance for Urban Health Equity: Mobilizing Demand for Primary ...
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)
Home · What we do ... New research will identify opportunities to improve health care for the urban poor and involve communities ... Addressing this governance crisis will be paramount to improving service delivery for slum residents and to ...
Intercity Travel Demand Analysis Model
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ming Lu
2014-01-01
Full Text Available It is well known that intercity travel is an important component of travel demand which belongs to short distance corridor travel. The conventional four-step method is no longer suitable for short distance corridor travel demand analysis for the time spent on urban traffic has a great impact on traveler's main mode choice. To solve this problem, the author studied the existing intercity travel demand analysis model, then improved it based on the study, and finally established a combined model of main mode choice and access mode choice. At last, an integrated multilevel nested logit model structure system was built. The model system includes trip generation, destination choice, and mode-route choice based on multinomial logit model, and it achieved linkage and feedback of each part through logsum variable. This model was applied in Shenzhen intercity railway passenger demand forecast in 2010 as a case study. As a result, the forecast results were consistent with the actuality. The model's correctness and feasibility were verified.
Urban water sustainability: framework and application
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Wu Yang
2016-12-01
Full Text Available Urban areas such as megacities (those with populations greater than 10 million are hotspots of global water use and thus face intense water management challenges. Urban areas are influenced by local interactions between human and natural systems and interact with distant systems through flows of water, food, energy, people, information, and capital. However, analyses of water sustainability and the management of water flows in urban areas are often fragmented. There is a strong need to apply integrated frameworks to systematically analyze urban water dynamics and factors that influence these dynamics. We apply the framework of telecoupling (socioeconomic and environmental interactions over distances to analyze urban water issues, using Beijing as a demonstration megacity. Beijing exemplifies the global water sustainability challenge for urban settings. Like many other cities, Beijing has experienced drastic reductions in quantity and quality of both surface water and groundwater over the past several decades; it relies on the import of real and virtual water from sending systems to meet its demand for clean water, and releases polluted water to other systems (spillover systems. The integrative framework we present demonstrates the importance of considering socioeconomic and environmental interactions across telecoupled human and natural systems, which include not only Beijing (the water-receiving system but also water-sending systems and spillover systems. This framework helps integrate important components of local and distant human-nature interactions and incorporates a wide range of local couplings and telecouplings that affect water dynamics, which in turn generate significant socioeconomic and environmental consequences, including feedback effects. The application of the framework to Beijing reveals many research gaps and management needs. We also provide a foundation to apply the telecoupling framework to better understand and manage water
High-resolution stochastic integrated thermal–electrical domestic demand model
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
McKenna, Eoghan; Thomson, Murray
2016-01-01
Highlights: • A major new version of CREST’s demand model is presented. • Simulates electrical and thermal domestic demands at high-resolution. • Integrated structure captures appropriate time-coincidence of variables. • Suitable for low-voltage network and urban energy analyses. • Open-source development in Excel VBA freely available for download. - Abstract: This paper describes the extension of CREST’s existing electrical domestic demand model into an integrated thermal–electrical demand model. The principle novelty of the model is its integrated structure such that the timing of thermal and electrical output variables are appropriately correlated. The model has been developed primarily for low-voltage network analysis and the model’s ability to account for demand diversity is of critical importance for this application. The model, however, can also serve as a basis for modelling domestic energy demands within the broader field of urban energy systems analysis. The new model includes the previously published components associated with electrical demand and generation (appliances, lighting, and photovoltaics) and integrates these with an updated occupancy model, a solar thermal collector model, and new thermal models including a low-order building thermal model, domestic hot water consumption, thermostat and timer controls and gas boilers. The paper reviews the state-of-the-art in high-resolution domestic demand modelling, describes the model, and compares its output with three independent validation datasets. The integrated model remains an open-source development in Excel VBA and is freely available to download for users to configure and extend, or to incorporate into other models.
Water Demand Management for Social Justice | IDRC - International ...
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)
2012-01-18
Jan 18, 2012 ... Water Demand Management for Social Justice ... Women play larger role in Latin America's commercial urban waste management ... the management of solid waste in Latin America, according to research supported by IDRC.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Situma, F.D.P.
1999-01-01
The rapid urbanization and resultant heavy concentration of population in urban centres have led to many urban areas failing to provide the necessary infrastructure and amenities as the demands placed on them have overwhelmed their financial and institutional capacities. In many urban areas, the capacity for resource mobilization and delivery of social services has either broken down completely or tethers on breaking point. Although in 1986 the GoK launched a new strategy for the balanced development of rural and urban areas aimed at avoiding excessive concentration of population in urban areas, the fruits of this strategy are yet to be realized. As a result, developments in urban areas have been unsustainable and environmentally unsound. The general quality of the environment has deteriorated so much so that urgent policy intervention is required. Appropriate environmental management measures and practices are needed to address the current trend of spiralling environmental problems in the context of the existing legal and institutional frameworks and makes some proposals for reform to address these problems in order to make urban areas environmentally
What policies should be there for employment in urban areas of developing countries?
Gugushvili, Alexi
2006-01-01
This paper examines employment policies in urban areas of developing world. We follow traditional economic analysis and present the urban unemployment problem as an inequality of labour supply and demand on labour markets. The effects of demand-side and supply-side policies on informal urban employment are investigated through econometrical models. One or several variables are employed as crude proxies for every policy option. The dependent variable is informal urban employment as a per cent ...
Spatial diversity of urban village development in Shenzhen
Hao, P.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/341235814; Geertman, S.C.M.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/072392924; Hooimeijer, P.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/073398578; Sliuzas, R.
2011-01-01
Dynamic urbanization in China during the reform period has led to the emergence and proliferation of so-called urban villages in many cities. The development of urban villages, based on a self-help approach of indigenous villagers, has been satisfying great demand for migrant housing and space for
Multiperiod Hierarchical Location Problem of Transit Hub in Urban Agglomeration Area
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ting-ting Li
2017-01-01
Full Text Available With the rapid urbanization in developing countries, urban agglomeration area (UAA forms. Also, transportation demand in UAA grows rapidly and presents hierarchical feature. Therefore, it is imperative to develop models for transit hubs to guide the development of UAA and better meet the time-varying and hierarchical transportation demand. In this paper, the multiperiod hierarchical location problem of transit hub in urban agglomeration area (THUAA is studied. A hierarchical service network of THUAA with a multiflow, nested, and noncoherent structure is described. Then a multiperiod hierarchical mathematical programming model is proposed, aiming at minimizing the total demand weighted travel time. Moreover, an improved adaptive clonal selection algorithm is presented to solve the model. Both the model and algorithm are verified by the application to a real-life problem of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region in China. The results of different scenarios in the case show that urban population migration has a great impact on the THUAA location scheme. Sustained and appropriate urban population migration helps to reduce travel time for urban residents.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Dargay, J [Univ. College London (United Kingdom); Pekkarinen, S [Univ. of Oulu (Finland)
1996-12-01
This study is a part of a larger Finnish project financed by the Ministry of Transport and Communications concerned with evaluating the impacts of new integrated fare and ticket policies. The objective of the policy is to encourage a modal shift from cars to public transport, thereby reducing energy use and the harmful environmental effects of transport. The regional bus card systems (RBC) provide the opportunity to purchase a monthly ticket, at a substantial discount of normal fares, which is valid on all buses in an area covering a city centre and the smaller independent communities surrounding. RBC systems are subsidized by both Local Authorities and the state government and are currently operating in over ten urban areas in Finland. The objectives of this research project are: (1) to estimate the fare elasticities of the demand of bus services and the price elasticities of RBC demand, (2) to evaluate the effectiveness of the adopted subsidizing policy and (3) to assess the consequences of the fares policy on energy use in transport. This paper deals specifically with the latter two issues. (EG)
Maximum spectral demands in the near-fault region
Huang, Yin-Nan; Whittaker, Andrew S.; Luco, Nicolas
2008-01-01
The Next Generation Attenuation (NGA) relationships for shallow crustal earthquakes in the western United States predict a rotated geometric mean of horizontal spectral demand, termed GMRotI50, and not maximum spectral demand. Differences between strike-normal, strike-parallel, geometric-mean, and maximum spectral demands in the near-fault region are investigated using 147 pairs of records selected from the NGA strong motion database. The selected records are for earthquakes with moment magnitude greater than 6.5 and for closest site-to-fault distance less than 15 km. Ratios of maximum spectral demand to NGA-predicted GMRotI50 for each pair of ground motions are presented. The ratio shows a clear dependence on period and the Somerville directivity parameters. Maximum demands can substantially exceed NGA-predicted GMRotI50 demands in the near-fault region, which has significant implications for seismic design, seismic performance assessment, and the next-generation seismic design maps. Strike-normal spectral demands are a significantly unconservative surrogate for maximum spectral demands for closest distance greater than 3 to 5 km. Scale factors that transform NGA-predicted GMRotI50 to a maximum spectral demand in the near-fault region are proposed.
Water advisory demand evaluation and resource toolkit
Paluszczyszyn, D.; Illya, S.; Goodyer, E.; Kubrycht, T.; Ambler, M.
2016-01-01
Cities are living organisms, 24h / 7day, with demands on resources and outputs. Water is a key resource whose management has not kept pace with modern urban life. Demand for clean water and loads on waste water no longer fit diurnal patterns; and they are impacted by events that are outside the normal range of parameters that are taken account of in water management. This feasibility study will determine how the application of computational intelligence can be used to analyse a mix of dat...
An analytical approach to activating demand elasticity with a demand response mechanism
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Clastres, Cedric; Khalfallah, Haikel
2015-01-01
The aim of this work is to demonstrate analytically the conditions under which activating the elasticity of consumer demand could benefit social welfare. We have developed an analytical equilibrium model to quantify the effect of deploying demand response on social welfare and energy trade. The novelty of this research is that it demonstrates the existence of an optimal area for the price signal in which demand response enhances social welfare. This optimal area is negatively correlated to the degree of competitiveness of generation technologies and the market size of the system. In particular, it should be noted that the value of un-served energy or energy reduction which the producers could lose from such a demand response scheme would limit its effectiveness. This constraint is even greater if energy trade between countries is limited. Finally, we have demonstrated scope for more aggressive demand response, when only considering the impact in terms of consumer surplus. (authors)
Urban Physics: Effect of the micro-climate on comfort, health and energy demand
Moonen, Peter; Defraeye, Thijs; Dorer, Viktor; Blocken, Bert; Carmeliet, Jan
2012-01-01
The global trend towards urbanisation explains the growing interest in the study of the modification of the urban climate due to the heat island effect and global warming, and its impact on energy use of buildings. Also urban comfort, health and durability, referring respectively to pedestrian wind/thermal comfort, pollutant dispersion and wind-driven rain are of interest. Urban Physics is a well-established discipline, incorporating relevant branches of physics, environmental chemistry, aero...
Bhave, Ajay; Dessai, Suraje; Conway, Declan; Stainforth, David
2016-04-01
Deep uncertainty in future climate change and socio-economic conditions necessitates the use of assess-risk-of-policy approaches over predict-then-act approaches for adaptation decision making. Robust Decision Making (RDM) approaches embody this principle and help evaluate the ability of adaptation options to satisfy stakeholder preferences under wide-ranging future conditions. This study involves the simultaneous application of two RDM approaches; qualitative and quantitative, in the Cauvery River Basin in Karnataka (population ~23 million), India. The study aims to (a) determine robust water resources adaptation options for the 2030s and 2050s and (b) compare the usefulness of a qualitative stakeholder-driven approach with a quantitative modelling approach. For developing a large set of future scenarios a combination of climate narratives and socio-economic narratives was used. Using structured expert elicitation with a group of climate experts in the Indian Summer Monsoon, climatic narratives were developed. Socio-economic narratives were developed to reflect potential future urban and agricultural water demand. In the qualitative RDM approach, a stakeholder workshop helped elicit key vulnerabilities, water resources adaptation options and performance criteria for evaluating options. During a second workshop, stakeholders discussed and evaluated adaptation options against the performance criteria for a large number of scenarios of climatic and socio-economic change in the basin. In the quantitative RDM approach, a Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) model was forced by precipitation and evapotranspiration data, coherent with the climatic narratives, together with water demand data based on socio-economic narratives. We find that compared to business-as-usual conditions options addressing urban water demand satisfy performance criteria across scenarios and provide co-benefits like energy savings and reduction in groundwater depletion, while options reducing
Mapping Urban Heat Demand with the Use of GIS-Based Tools
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Artur Wyrwa
2017-05-01
Full Text Available This article presents a bottom-up approach for calculation of the useful heat demand for space heating and hot water preparation using geo-referenced datasets for buildings at the city level. This geographic information system (GIS based approach was applied in the case study for the city of Krakow, where on the one hand the district heat network is well developed, while on the other hand there are still substantial number of buildings burning solid fuels in individual boilers and stoves, causing air pollution. The calculated heat demand was aggregated in the grid with 100 m × 100 m spatial resolution to deliver the heat map depicting the current situation for 21 buildings types. The results show that the residential buildings, in particular one- and multi-family buildings, have the highest share in overall demand for heat. By combining the results with location of the district heat (DH network, the potential areas in its close vicinity that have sufficient heat demand density for developing the net were pointed out. Future evolution in heat demand for space heating in one-family houses was evaluated with the use of deterministic method employing building stock model. The study lays a foundation for planning the development of the heating system at the city level.
Increasing Geothermal Energy Demand: The Need for Urbanization of the Drilling Industry
Teodoriu, Catalin; Falcone, Gioia
2008-01-01
Drilling wells in urban spaces requires special types of rigs that do not conflict with the surrounding environment. For this, a mutation of the current drilling equipment is necessary into what can be defined as an "urbanized drilling rig." Noise reduction, small footprint, and "good looking" rigs all help persuade the general public to accept…
Driving forces behind the Chinese public's demand for improved environmental safety.
Wen, Ting; Wang, Jigan; Ma, Zongwei; Bi, Jun
2017-12-15
Over the past decades, the public demand for improved environmental safety keeps increasing in China. This study aims to assess the driving forces behind the increasing public demand for improved environmental safety using a provincial and multi-year (1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2014) panel data and the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIRPAT) model. The potential driving forces investigated included population size, income levels, degrees of urbanization, and educational levels. Results show that population size and educational level are positively (Pdemand for improved environmental safety. No significant impact on demand was found due to the degree of urbanization. For the impact due to income level, an inverted U-shaped curve effect with the turning point of ~140,000 CNY GDP per capita is indicated. Since per capita GDP of 2015 in China was approximately 50,000 CNY and far from the turning point, the public demand for improved environmental safety will continue rising in the near future. To meet the increasing public demand for improved environmental safety, proactive and risk prevention based environmental management systems coupled with effective environmental risk communication should be established. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Introduction: The Participatory Turn in Urbanism
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Maroš Krivý
2014-08-01
Full Text Available This issue of Footprint examines the recent participatory turn in urban planning and urban design. It discusses the co-opting of participatory processes by planning departments, the systematic disregard of inequalities, and the empowering of the market resulting from the ‘anti-statism’ present in many participatory schemes.What is the relationship between the institutionalisation of participation and the practices of autonomy, self-organisation, and inclusion? When and how does genuine empowerment of collectives take place? Does the demand for the empowerment of local organisations and communities strengthen the market forces at the expense of central government?This issue attempts to problematise ‘participation’, to call attentions to some of its shortcomings, deficits, and limitations, not in order to necessarily bypass the demand for the democratisation of the urban, but in order to rectify and strengthen it.
City life makes females fussy: sex differences in habitat use of temperate bats in urban areas
Lintott, Paul R.; Bunnefeld, Nils; Fuentes-Montemayor, Elisa; Minderman, Jeroen; Mayhew, Rebekah J.; Olley, Lena; Park, Kirsty J.
2014-01-01
Urbanization is a major driver of the global loss of biodiversity; to mitigate its adverse effects, it is essential to understand what drives species' patterns of habitat use within the urban matrix. While many animal species are known to exhibit sex differences in habitat use, adaptability to the urban landscape is commonly examined at the species level, without consideration of intraspecific differences. The high energetic demands of pregnancy and lactation in female mammals can lead to sexual differences in habitat use, but little is known of how this might affect their response to urbanization. We predicted that female Pipistrellus pygmaeus would show greater selectivity of forging locations within urban woodland in comparison to males at both a local and landscape scale. In line with these predictions, we found there was a lower probability of finding females within woodlands which were poorly connected, highly cluttered, with a higher edge : interior ratio and fewer mature trees. By contrast, habitat quality and the composition of the surrounding landscape were less of a limiting factor in determining male distributions. These results indicate strong sexual differences in the habitat use of fragmented urban woodland, and this has important implications for our understanding of the adaptability of bats and mammals more generally to urbanization. PMID:26064557
Resource management as a key factor for sustainable urban planning.
Agudelo-Vera, Claudia M; Mels, Adriaan R; Keesman, Karel J; Rijnaarts, Huub H M
2011-10-01
Due to fast urbanization and increasing living standards, the environmental sustainability of our global society becomes more and more questionable. In this historical review we investigate the role of resources management (RM) and urban planning (UP) and propose ways for integration in sustainable development (SD). RM follows the principle of circular causation, and we reflect on to what extent RM has been an element for urban planning. Since the existence of the first settlements, a close relationship between RM, urbanization and technological development has been present. RM followed the demand for urban resources like water, energy, and food. In history, RM has been fostered by innovation and technology developments and has driven population growth and urbanization. Recent massive resource demand, especially in relation to energy and material flows, has altered natural ecosystems and has resulted in environmental degradation. UP has developed separately in response to different questions. UP followed the demand for improved living conditions, often associated to safety, good manufacturing and trading conditions and appropriate sanitation and waste management. In history UP has been a developing research area, especially since the industrial era and the related strong urbanization at the end of the 18th century. UP responded to new emerging problems in urban areas and became increasingly complex. Nowadays, UP has to address many objectives that are often conflicting, including, the urban sustainability. Our current urban un-sustainability is rooted in massive resource consumption and waste production beyond natural limits, and the absence of flows from waste to resources. Therefore, sustainable urban development requires integration of RM into UP. We propose new ways to this integration. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Fuel switching in Harare: An almost ideal demand system approach
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Chambwera, Muyeye; Folmer, Henk
2007-01-01
In urban areas several energy choices are available and the amount of (a given type of) fuel consumed is based on complex household decision processes. This paper analyzes urban fuel (particularly firewood) demand in an energy mix context by means of an Almost Ideal Demand System based on a survey carried out among 500 households in Harare in 2003. Using a multi-stage budgeting approach, the model estimates the share of energy in total household expenditure and the shares of firewood, electricity and kerosene in total energy expenditure. Using the model results simulations show that the main policy handles to reduce the demand for firewood and to mitigate environmental degradation such as deforestation include decreasing prices of alternative fuels, notably kerosene. Moreover, in the long run sound economic policy will positively impact on the energy budget whereas education and the degree of electrification will contribute to a reduction of the use of firewood
Impact of Mobility-on-Demand on Traffic Congestion: Simulation-based Study
Fiedler, David; Čáp, Michal; Čertický, Michal
2017-01-01
The increasing use of private vehicles for transportation in cities results in a growing demand for parking space and road network capacity. In many densely populated urban areas, however, the capacity of existing infrastructure is insufficient and extremely difficult to expand. Mobility-on-demand systems have been proposed as a remedy to the problem of limited parking space because they are able to satisfy the existing transportation demand with fewer shared vehicles and consequently require...
Urban development control based on transportation carrying capacity
Miharja, M.; Sjafruddin, A. H.
2017-06-01
Severe transportation problems in Indonesian urban areas are stimulated by one fundamental factor, namely lack of awareness on transportation carrying capacity in these areas development control. Urban land use development towards more physical coverage is typically not related with the capability of transportation system to accommodate additional trips volume. Lack of clear connection between development permit with its implication on the transportation side has led to a phenomenon of exceeding transport demand over supply capacity. This paper discusses the concept of urban land use development control which will be related with transport carrying capacity. The discussion would cover both supply and demand sides of transportation. From supply side, the analysis regarding the capacity of transport system would take both existing as well as potential road network capacity could be developed. From demand side, the analysis would be through the control of a maximum floor area and public transport provision. Allowed maximum floor area for development would be at the level of generating traffic at reasonable volume. Ultimately, the objective of this paper is to introduce model to incorporate transport carrying capacity in Indonesian urban land use development control.
Province gets serious about demand management
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Anon
2003-01-01
Directives from the Minister to the Ontario Energy Board to review options for demand-side management and demand reduction activities, and discussion papers describing the policy framework needed to implement demand management, are indications of renewed interest by the provincial government in demand-side management of Ontario's electric power supply. This renewed interest comes on the hills of a 5.5 per cent increase in electricity use, a 33 per cent increase in imports, and consumption records broken in 10 of the last 12 months. A 117-page study was released in April by Navigant Consulting, entitled 'Demand response blueprint for Ontario' which estimates that if the Ontario market had 250 MW of additional demand response, customers providing the demand response would have saved $20 million by reducing their demand when HOEP was greater than $120/MWh, while other customers would have saved $170 million due to lower HOEP, and would have enjoyed greater reliability as a result of the increase in reserve margins. Other than price signals to induce customers to save, the Navigant report suggest paying customers not to consume during peak periods. The report estimates that such a policy could generate a total demand response of 350 MW and a $235 million reduction in revenue to generators. The Navigan report also includes a large number of detailed analysis and recommendations. One among them is for the extensive use of interval meters for customers with loads over 200 kW. The report tends to be critical of the recent price freeze ordered by the Ontario government, claiming that the freeze could increase consumption, making prices more volatile and increasing the cost to the government even more. Successful demand response programs from California, New York and the New England states are cited as examples for Ontario to emulate
Wu, Hua'an; Zeng, Bo; Zhou, Meng
2017-11-15
High accuracy in water demand predictions is an important basis for the rational allocation of city water resources and forms the basis for sustainable urban development. The shortage of water resources in Chongqing, the youngest central municipality in Southwest China, has significantly increased with the population growth and rapid economic development. In this paper, a new grey water-forecasting model (GWFM) was built based on the data characteristics of water consumption. The parameter estimation and error checking methods of the GWFM model were investigated. Then, the GWFM model was employed to simulate the water demands of Chongqing from 2009 to 2015 and forecast it in 2016. The simulation and prediction errors of the GWFM model was checked, and the results show the GWFM model exhibits better simulation and prediction precisions than those of the classical Grey Model with one variable and single order equation GM(1,1) for short and the frequently-used Discrete Grey Model with one variable and single order equation, DGM(1,1) for short. Finally, the water demand in Chongqing from 2017 to 2022 was forecasted, and some corresponding control measures and recommendations were provided based on the prediction results to ensure a viable water supply and promote the sustainable development of the Chongqing economy.
Thouron, L.; Seigneur, C.; Kim, Y.; Legorgeu, C.; Roustan, Y.; Bruge, B.
2017-10-01
Urban areas can be subject not only to poor air quality, but also to contamination of other environmental media by air pollutants. Here, we address the potential transfer of selected air pollutants (two metals and three PAH) to urban surfaces. To that end, we simulate meteorology and air pollution from Europe to a Paris suburban neighborhood, using a four-level one-way nesting approach. The meteorological and air quality simulations use urban canopy sub-models in order to better represent the effect of the urban morphology on the air flow, atmospheric dispersion, and deposition of air pollutants to urban surfaces. This modeling approach allows us to distinguish air pollutant deposition among various urban surfaces (roofs, roads, and walls). Meteorological model performance is satisfactory, showing improved results compared to earlier simulations, although precipitation amounts are underestimated. Concentration simulation results are also satisfactory for both metals, with a fractional bias Paris region. The model simulation results suggest that both wet and dry deposition processes need to be considered when estimating the transfer of air pollutants to other environmental media. Dry deposition fluxes to various urban surfaces are mostly uniform for PAH, which are entirely present in fine particles. However, there is significantly less wall deposition compared to deposition to roofs and roads for trace metals, due to their coarse fraction. Meteorology, particle size distribution, and urban morphology are all important factors affecting air pollutant deposition. Future work should focus on the collection of data suitable to evaluate the performance of atmospheric models for both wet and dry deposition with fine spatial resolution.
Crowdsourcing urban air temperatures from smartphone battery temperatures
Overeem, A.; Robinson, J.C.R.; Leijnse, H.; Steeneveld, G.J.; Horn, B.K.P.; Uijlenhoet, R.
2013-01-01
[1] Accurate air temperature observations in urban areas are important for meteorology and energy demand planning. They are indispensable to study the urban heat island effect and the adverse effects of high temperatures on human health. However, the availability of temperature observations in
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Taha, Haider; Hammer, Hillel; Akbari, Hashem
2002-01-01
The study described in this report is part of a project sponsored by the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, performed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to assess the potential role of surface property modifications on energy, meteorology, and air quality in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Canada. Numerical models were used to establish the possible meteorological and ozone air-quality impacts of increased urban albedo and vegetative fraction, i.e., ''cool-city'' strategies that can mitigate the urban heat island (UHI), significantly reduce urban energy consumption, and improve thermal comfort, particularly during periods of hot weather in summer. Mitigation is even more important during critical heat wave periods with possible increased heat-related hospitalization and mortality. The evidence suggests that on an annual basis cool-city strategies are beneficial, and the implementation of such measures is currently being investigated in the U.S. and Canada. We simulated possible scenari os for urban heat-island mitigation in the GTA and investigated consequent meteorological changes, and also performed limited air-quality analysis to assess related impacts. The study was based on a combination of mesoscale meteorological modeling, Lagrangian (trajectory), and photochemical trajectory modeling to assess the potential meteorological and ozone air-quality impacts of cool-city strategies. As available air-quality and emissions data are incompatible with models currently in use at LBNL, our air-quality analysis was based on photochemical trajectory modeling. Because of questions as to the accuracy and appropriateness of this approach, in our opinion this aspect of the study can be improved in the future, and the air-quality results discussed in this report should be viewed as relatively qualitative. The MM5 meteorological model predicts a UHI in the order of 2 to 3 degrees C in locations of maxima, and about 1 degree C as a typical value over most of the urban area
Urban-Rural Interdependence and the Impact of Climate Change in ...
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)
Today, 39% of the African population lives in urban areas. Considering the current urbanization rate of 3.5% per annum, this proportion is expected to grow significantly, increasing the demand for food, shelter and social services in urban areas while putting pressure for increased food production on rural areas.
Cognitive task demands, self-control demands and the mental well-being of office workers.
Bridger, Robert S; Brasher, Kate
2011-09-01
The cognitive task demands of office workers and the self-control demands of their work roles were measured in a sample of 196 employees in two different office layouts using a self-report questionnaire, which was circulated electronically. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that both factors were associated with mental well-being, but not with physical well-being, while controlling for exposure to psychosocial stressors. The interaction between cognitive task demands and self-control demands had the strongest association with mental well-being, suggesting that the deleterious effect of one was greater when the other was present. An exploratory analysis revealed that the association was stronger for employees working in a large open-plan office than for those working in smaller offices with more privacy. Frustration of work goals was the cognitive task demand having the strongest negative impact on mental well-being. Methodological limitations and scale psychometrics (particularly the use of the NASA Task Load Index) are discussed. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: Modern office work has high mental demands and low physical demands and there is a need to design offices to prevent adverse psychological reactions. It is shown that cognitive task demands interact with self-control demands to degrade mental well-being. The association was stronger in an open-plan office.
Growing ‘Smart’? Urbanization Processes in the Pune Urban Agglomeration
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Carsten Butsch
2017-12-01
Full Text Available The Indian city of Pune witnessed rapid growth and deep transformation processes in the last three decades. This paper assesses past developments and recent structures and processes against the concept of urban sustainability. Following an overview of the historical development, the dimensions of sustainability are discussed separately, based on empirical findings. Urban growth puts enormous pressure on Pune’s land and water resources, changing the ecology of the area. The increasing water demand of Pune’s growing population competes with growing energy and water demands. An assessment of future climate change impacts indicates that the storage capacity of the reservoirs is more frequently not met during the rainy season. In addition, extreme dry years can aggravate the effects of land use change on water resources in the future. The city’s growth and especially the large in-migration has also changed Pune’s social fabric significantly. Wealth is distributed unevenly in the city and social disparities can be observed along two fault lines, namely along classes and caste groups. The population development and the increasing socioeconomic polarization are linked to the economic development of the city. Pune’s formal economy has a robust base. However, as in many cities of the Global South, the informal economy is the most relevant source of income for large parts of the population. Pune’s development is challenged by informality, poor infrastructure and inadequate planning and governance. Recently new approaches towards urban renewal and smart city development were launched. These new approaches aim at overcoming blockades in the traditional planning. A special challenge for urban planning is the transformation of urban fringe areas of the city, as this process is currently taking place in an unsustainable manner. The paper concludes that urban development has to become holistic, integrative and participative and should abandon the
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Pocino, M.C.
1998-01-01
The projected supply and demand for natural gas in five major regions of North America for the year 2000 was presented. In most regions, supply is expected to be greater than demand. A summary of how California dealt with an increase in natural gas demand in 1990 was presented. The California strategy included a readjustment of pipeline capacity, storage capacity and transportation. Whereas in the 1980s, when capacity was inadequate, the focus was on competition with alternate fuels, maximized capacity use, primary concern about reliability and only secondary concern about price, in the the 1990s, with excess capacity, the emphasis is on 'gas on gas' competition, efforts to satisfy the customer, primary concern about price, and only marginal concern about reliability. tabs., figs
Sustainable Urban Biophilia: The Case of Greenskins for Urban Density
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Grant Revell
2014-08-01
Full Text Available Green infrastructure ameliorates the urban heat island effect, contributes positively to liveability and enables sustainability in higher density urban environments. Greenskins (living architectures are a more specific form of green infrastructure, including green walls and green roofs, for dense urban areas. These offer a new approach for sustainable urban biophilia and some forms can be built using the ecological design principles of constructed wetlands. The paper compares findings from two urban centres in warm Mediterranean climates. In general from Adelaide, South Australia and more specifically from university collaborative projects on particular technical and social parameters necessary to sustain Greenskins in dense urban conditions in Fremantle, Western Australia. Results from trials of a prototype greywater Greenskin using vertical constructed wetland cells are reported. Through an experimental investigation of designing living green walls in urban Fremantle, this paper challenges the conventional “triple-bottom-line” approach to sustainable dense urban systems by addressing the greater aesthetic needs of sustainability and its thinking. Here landscape aesthetics looks to the collaborative fields of urban design, environmental engineering and landscape architecture to design new urban biophilic experiences and restorative landscapes for regenerative cultural pleasure, ecological responsibility, environmental stewardship and intellectual gain.
Producing edible landscapes in Seattle's urban forest
Rebecca McLain; Melissa Poe; Patrick T. Hurley; Joyce Lecompte-Mastenbrook; Marla R. Emery
2012-01-01
Over the next decades, green infrastructure initiatives such as tree planting campaigns, and ecological restoration will dramatically change the species composition, species distribution and structure of urban forests across the United States. These impending changes are accompanied by a demand for urban public spaces where people can engage in practices such as...
A casemix study of patients seen by a dermatology trainee in rural and urban outpatient settings.
Tilakaratne, Dev; Warren, Lachlan; Menz, Jennifer
2016-02-01
For 8 years South Australian dermatologists have provided an outreach service to the Northern Territory (NT), including rural and remote areas. In 2012 and 2013, a trainee accompanied a dermatologist on these outreach visits. This is the first prospective study that documents the spectrum of dermatological diseases requiring outpatient specialist input in various settings in the NT, and also the first study to compare the clinical experience of one Australian dermatology trainee in urban and rural settings. Characteristics of patients managed primarily by the outreach dermatology registrar were recorded prospectively from February 2013 to July 2013. The data from the trainee's urban encounters were compared to that of the rural centres. The spectrum of conditions seen in these two settings was placed in the disease categories specified in the Australasian College of Dermatologists (ACD) curriculum. The Royal Adelaide Hospital outpatient experience provided greater exposure to skin neoplasms, lymphoproliferative and myeloproliferative disorders and non-infectious neutrophilic/eosinophilic disorders. The outreach sites provided greater exposure to infections, adnexal diseases and genodermatoses. Both urban and rural experiences provided a broad exposure to the disease categories outlined in the ACD curriculum. The spectrum of disease requiring specialist dermatology input varies between urban South Australia and rural NT. The inclusion of dermatology trainees in outreach visits broadens their clinical exposure. It is recommended that other dermatology service providers in Australia consider documenting clinical casemix comparisons to assess dermatology demand, outcomes and trainee exposure. © 2014 The Australasian College of Dermatologists.
A semiparametric model of household gasoline demand
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Wadud, Zia [Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000 (Bangladesh); Noland, Robert B. [Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 (United States); Graham, Daniel J. [Centre for Transport Studies, Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)
2010-01-15
Gasoline demand studies typically generate a single price and income elasticity for a country. It is however possible that these elasticities may differ among various socio-economic groups. At the same time, parametric gasoline demand models may not be flexible enough to capture the changes in price elasticities with different levels of income. This paper models US gasoline demand using more flexible semiparametric techniques, accommodating the possibility of differences in responses among households. The econometric model employs a non-parametric bivariate smoothing for price and income and a parametric representation of other explanatory variables. Possible heterogeneity in price and income elasticities is modelled through interacting price and income with demographic variables. Results show that price responses do vary with demographic variables such as income, multiple vehicle holding, presence of multiple wage earners or rural or urban residential locations. Households' responses to a price change decrease with higher income. Multiple vehicle and multiple earner households also show higher sensitivity to a price change. Households located in urban areas reduce consumption more than those in rural areas in response to an increase in price. Comparison of the flexible semiparametric model with a parametric translog model, however, reveals no significant differences between results, and the parametric models have the advantage of lower computational requirements and better interpretability. (author)
Demand in the Desert: Mongolia’s Water–Energy–Mining Nexus
Asian Development Bank (ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB)
2014-01-01
Mongolia’s mining-based economic development and the sustainability of its urban economies depend on both water and energy. The examination of the water energy nexus in two river basins in Mongolia shows that water availability is the binding constraint as energy facilities, mining operations, agriculture, and urban water users compete for scarce water resources. Development of new technologies for ecient water and energy use, introduction of renewable energy options, and water demand managem...
Brain size and urbanization in birds
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Anders; Pape; M?ller; Johannes; Erritz?e
2015-01-01
Background: Brain size may affect the probability of invasion of urban habitats if a relatively larger brain entails superior ability to adapt to novel environments. However, once urbanized urban environments may provide poor quality food that has negative consequences for normal brain development resulting in an excess of individuals with small brains.Methods: Here we analyze the independent effects of mean, standard deviation and skewness in brain mass for invasion of urban habitats by 108 species of birds using phylogenetic multiple regression analyses weighted by sample size.Results: There was no significant difference in mean brain mass between urbanized and non-urbanized species or between urban and rural populations of the same species, and mean brain mass was not significantly correlated with time since urbanization. Bird species that became urbanized had a greater standard deviation in brain mass than non-urbanized species, and the standard deviation in brain mass increased with time since urbanization. Brain mass was significantly left skewed in species that remained rural, while there was no significant skew in urbanized species. The degree of left skew was greater in urban than in rural populations of the same species, and successfully urbanized species decreased the degree of left skew with time since urbanization. This is consistent with the hypothesis that sub-optimal brain development was more common in rural habitats resulting in disproportionately many individuals with very smal brains.Conclusions: These findings do not support the hypothesis that large brains promote urbanization, but suggest that skewness has played a role in the initial invasion of urban habitats, and that variance and skew in brain mass have increased as species have become urbanized.
Brain size and urbanization in birds
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Anders Pape Mller; Johannes Erritze
2015-01-01
Background:Brain size may affect the probability of invasion of urban habitats if a relatively larger brain entails superior ability to adapt to novel environments. However, once urbanized urban environments may provide poor quality food that has negative consequences for normal brain development resulting in an excess of individuals with small brains. Methods:Here we analyze the independent effects of mean, standard deviation and skewness in brain mass for invasion of urban habitats by 108 species of birds using phylogenetic multiple regression analyses weighted by sample size. Results:There was no significant difference in mean brain mass between urbanized and non-urbanized species or between urban and rural populations of the same species, and mean brain mass was not significantly correlated with time since urbanization. Bird species that became urbanized had a greater standard deviation in brain mass than non-urbanized species, and the standard deviation in brain mass increased with time since urbanization. Brain mass was significantly left skewed in species that remained rural, while there was no significant skew in urbanized species. The degree of left skew was greater in urban than in rural populations of the same species, and successfully urbanized species decreased the degree of left skew with time since urbanization. This is consistent with the hypothesis that sub-optimal brain development was more common in rural habitats resulting in disproportionately many individuals with very smal brains. Conclusions:These findings do not support the hypothesis that large brains promote urbanization, but suggest that skewness has played a role in the initial invasion of urban habitats, and that variance and skew in brain mass have increased as species have become urbanized.
Understanding Informal Urban Land Market Functioning in Peri ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
rapid urbansisation that requires huge land for various purposes including housing, industry ... domain. In Rwandan urban areas, as observed by many scholars (Sagashya, ... demand to the offer perspectives, analysing drivers of informal land market ... Desk study was used to collect secondary data on urban land market.
Han, Lijian; Zhou, Weiqi; Li, Weifeng; Li, Li
2014-11-01
We examined and compared PM2.5 concentrations in urban and the surrounding regions, and further investigated the impact of urbanization on urban PM2.5 concentrations at the Chinese prefectures. Annual PM2.5 concentrations in most prefectures were greater than 10 μg/m(3), the air quality guideline of the World Health Organization. Those prefectures were mainly distributed along the east coast and southeast of Sichuan province; The urban PM2.5 concentrations ( [Formula: see text] ) in 85 cities were greater than (>10 μg/m(3)) those in the surrounding area. Those cities were mainly located in the Beijing-Sichuan and Shanghai-Guangxi belts. In addition, [Formula: see text] was less than (urban population (R(2) = 0.99, P urban second industry fraction (R(2) = 0.71, P urbanization had considerable impact on PM2.5 concentrations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
"Mad Scared" versus "I Was Sad": Emotional expression and response in urban adolescent males.
Reigeluth, Christopher S; Pollastri, Alisha R; Cardemil, Esteban V; Addis, Michael E
2016-06-01
Decades of masculinity research have concluded that society places higher demands on males to adhere to norms for low emotional expression; yet, countless studies find that emotional expression is integral to well-being. Unfortunately, this contradiction places boys and men in a tenuous position as they must navigate a bombardment of societal messages about the importance of emotional stoicism and invincibility. For urban adolescents, the situation is more complicated as they encounter environmental stressors that place greater emphasis on projecting a tough façade. Thus, our primary aim was to assess to what degree dyads of close adolescent male friends from urban, low-income neighborhoods are able to engage in emotional expression and response and to explore some of the underlying mechanisms and interpersonal processes. Qualitative findings from our sample suggest that urban boys exhibit a wide range of behaviors when participating in dyadic emotional disclosure and response, including being highly emotionally expressive and supportive in the context of close male friendship. Copyright © 2016 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Increasing the Supply of Affordable Housing in Urban India - Mumbai
Viswanathan, Upasna
2014-01-01
The need for housing in today's world is irrefutable. The growing population, accompanied with the fast pace of urbanization, are producing great housing demand, in urban areas in particular. This study focused on one segment of housing - affordable housing, in Mumbai, India, the demand for which has been on a steady rise over the past decade. Though traditionally the State was the provider of affordable housing, private sector has been increasingly involved in the segment, beginning the econ...
Gainesville's urban forest structure and composition
Francisco Francisco Escobedo; Jennifer A. Seitz; Wayne Zipperer
2009-01-01
The urban forest provides a community numerous benefits. The urban forest is composed of a mix of native and non-native species introduced by people managing this forest and by residents. Because they usually contain non-native species, many urban forests often have greater species diversity than forests in the surrounding natural...
Estimating demand and supply of edible oil in Pakistan
Haq, Rashida
1991-01-01
This paper examines the demand for edible oil in Pakistan and a dynamic supply response model to show price responsiveness by sunflower oilseed farmers. The demand for edible oil is estimated by using Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique. It has been found that an increase in the consumption of edible oil is highly affected by urbanization, increase in per capita income, relative high price of its substitutes and the rapid growth of the population. In order to estimate supply response model ...
An Improved Distribution Policy with a Maintenance Aspect for an Urban Logistic Problem
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Nadia Ndhaief
2017-07-01
Full Text Available In this paper, we present an improved distribution plan supporting an urban distribution center (UDC to solve the last mile problem of urban freight. This is motivated by the need of UDCs to satisfy daily demand in time under a high service level in allocated urban areas. Moreover, these demands could not be satisfied in individual cases because the delivery rate can be less than daily demand and/or affected by random failure or maintenance actions of vehicles. The scope of our work is to focus on a UDC, which needs to satisfy demands in a finite horizon. To that end, we consider a distribution policy on two sequential plans, a distribution plan correlated to a maintenance plan using a subcontracting strategy with several potential urban distribution centers (UDCs and performing preventive maintenance to ensure deliveries for their allocated urban area. The choice of subcontractor will depend on distance, environmental and availability criteria. In doing so, we define a mathematical model for searching the best distribution and maintenance plans using a subcontracting strategy. Moreover, we consider delay for the next periods with an expensive penalty. Finally, we present a numerical example illustrating the benefits of our approach.
Globalisation and climate change in Asia: the urban health impact.
Munslow, Barry; O'Dempsey, Tim
2010-01-01
Asia's economic development successes will create new policy areas to address, as the advances made through globalisation create greater climate change challenges, particularly the impact on urban health. Poverty eradication and higher standards of living both increase demand on resources. Globalisation increases inequalities and those who are currently the losers will carry the greatest burden of the costs in the form of the negative effects of climate change and the humanitarian crises that will ensue. Of four major climate change challenges affecting the environment and health, two—urban air pollution and waste management—can be mitigated by policy change and technological innovation if sufficient resources are allocated. Because of the urban bias in the development process, these challenges will probably register on policy makers' agenda. The second two major challenges—floods and drought—are less amenable to policy and technological solutions: many humanitarian emergency challenges lie ahead. This article describes the widely varying impact of both globalisation and climate change across Asia. The greatest losers are those who flee one marginal location, the arid inland areas, only to settle in another marginal location in the flood prone coastal slums. Effective preparation is required, and an effective response when subsequent humanitarian crises occur.
The Urban Food-Water Nexus: Modeling Water Footprints of Urban Agriculture using CityCrop
Tooke, T. R.; Lathuilliere, M. J.; Coops, N. C.; Johnson, M. S.
2014-12-01
Urban agriculture provides a potential contribution towards more sustainable food production and mitigating some of the human impacts that accompany volatility in regional and global food supply. When considering the capacity of urban landscapes to produce food products, the impact of urban water demand required for food production in cities is often neglected. Urban agricultural studies also tend to be undertaken at broad spatial scales, overlooking the heterogeneity of urban form that exerts an extreme influence on the urban energy balance. As a result, urban planning and management practitioners require, but often do not have, spatially explicit and detailed information to support informed urban agricultural policy, especially as it relates to potential conflicts with sustainability goals targeting water-use. In this research we introduce a new model, CityCrop, a hybrid evapotranspiration-plant growth model that incorporates detailed digital representations of the urban surface and biophysical impacts of the built environment and urban trees to account for the daily variations in net surface radiation. The model enables very fine-scale (sub-meter) estimates of water footprints of potential urban agricultural production. Results of the model are demonstrated for an area in the City of Vancouver, Canada and compared to aspatial model estimates, demonstrating the unique considerations and sensitivities for current and future water footprints of urban agriculture and the implications for urban water planning and policy.
Urbanization and Slum Formation
Phua, Kai Hong
2007-01-01
The formation of slums need not be inevitable with rapid urbanization. Such an argument appears to be contradicted by evidence of large slum populations in a large number of developing countries and particularly in rapidly urbanizing regions like Asia. The evidence discussed suggests that city authorities faced with rapid urban development lack the capacity to cope with the diverse demands for infrastructural provision to meet economic and social needs. Not only are strategic planning and intervention major issues in agenda to manage rapid urbanization, but city governments are not effectively linking the economic development trajectory to implications for urban growth and, hence, housing needs. In the following discussion, a case study is presented in support of the argument that city governments have to first recognize and then act to establish the link that is crucial between economic development, urban growth, and housing. This is the agendum that has been largely neglected by city and national governments that have been narrowly focused on economic growth with the consequent proliferation of slum formation as a housing solution. PMID:17387618
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Gerd Lupp
2016-11-01
Full Text Available Recreation is considered an important ecosystem services (ES in urban woodlands and puts pressure on other ES. Visitor management strategies can be tools to safeguard biodiversity and ES. On-site data are necessary to evaluate the demand for outdoor recreation opportunities in urban woodlands, but also for providing more reliable values for monetization as a basis for multifunctional forest management, and for raising awareness for the importance of urban proximate forests. Such information can also be used for the assessment and monetization of socio-cultural ES, and hence, contribute to developing market-based mechanisms or to promoting these ES. In our paper, we demonstrate methods to describe recreational demand by collecting data from interviews and using camera traps in two forests in the north of Munich for visitor counting. Visitor numbers in the forests were much greater than rough estimations; visitors also had quite long travelling distances to the forests. Jogging or Nordic walking were proven to be important recreational activities. In some of the monitored locations, almost half of the recreationists carried out these sports. Depending on the method chosen, the calculative monetary value of recreation reached up to 15,440 Euro per hectare per year.
Ecohealth Works: Health in Urban Environments
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)
Cities attract millions of people seeking a better life and greater opportunities. ... By looking at urban environments ... Urban environments are changing, exposing people to new .... the river basin that are now actively engaged in promoting ...
Aquaponics in Urban Agriculture: Social Acceptance and Urban Food Planning
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Georgia Pollard
2017-06-01
Full Text Available Aquaponics is emerging as a novel technology with particular potential for urban agriculture (UA. The social acceptance of aquaponics and its place in urban food planning has not previously been studied. This study used focus groups, key informant interviews, and scenario analyses to investigate the reactions of Adelaide’s urban food opinion leaders and local government area (LGA officials to aquaponics. Most of the focus group participants were unfamiliar with aquaponics. The perceived negatives of the technology received greater attention than the perceived benefits. Aquaponics was thought to be most competitive in either niche or wholesale markets, with a need for scaled guidelines from backyard to large-scale commercial production. For aquaponics in urban settings the influence of urban planning and policy is an important, but to date unstudied, consideration. The urban growers’ opinions of the overcomplicated nature of urban food planning corresponded with the mixed policy responses of the LGAs towards UA. This further supports the participants’ desire for a supportive State Government stance on UA to encourage consistency in LGAs.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Gam, Imen; Ben Rejeb, Jaleleddine
2012-01-01
This paper examines the global electricity demand in Tunisia as a function of gross domestic product in constant price, the degree of urbanization, the average annual temperature, and the real electricity price per Kwh. This demand will be examined employing annual data over a period spanning almost thirty one years from 1976 to 2006. A long run relationship between the variables under consideration is determined using the Vector Autoregressive Regression. The empirical results suggest that the electricity demand in Tunisia is sensitive to its past value, any changes in gross domestic product and electricity price. The electricity price effects have a negative impact on long-run electricity consumption. However, the gross domestic product and the past value of electricity consumption have a positive effect. Moreover, the causality test reveals a unidirectional relationship between price and electricity consumption. Our empirical findings are effective to policy makers to maintain the electricity consumption in Tunisia by using the appropriate strategy. - Highlights: ► This paper examined the electricity demand in Tunisia in the long-run. ► The empirical analysis revealed that in the long-run the electricity demand is affected by changes in its past value, GDP in constant price and real electricity price. ► There is a unidirectional relationship between price and electricity consumption, that is to say, that the electricity price causes the consumption. ► Those results suggest that a pricing policy can be an effective instrument to rationalize the electricity consumption in Tunisia in the long-run.
Urban factor in chronic bronchitis
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Holland, W W; Reid, D D
1965-01-01
A questionnaire and lung function survey were conducted of groups of van drivers employed either in central London or in 3 rural English towns. Consistent with similar studies, urban/rural respiratory morbidity gap was prominent, even after accounting for smoking, socio-economic class, physique, and occupation. Other major variable was air pollution. Smoking exacerbated symptoms. Londoners had lower peak flow rate, lower FEV/sub 1/ /sub 0/, greater incidence of symptoms of chronic bronchitis, greater proportion of purulent sputum, and greater incidence of cough. Differences accentuated in men aged 50 and older. Differences in some variables between urban and rural areas (e.g., cough) show little effect of air pollution on non-smokers.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ahmad, Muhammad Nauman; Berg, Leon J.L. van den; Shah, Hamid Ullah; Masood, Tariq; Büker, Patrick; Emberson, Lisa; Ashmore, Mike
2012-01-01
The rapid urbanisation of many cities in south and south-east Asia has increased the demand for bricks, which are typically supplied from brick kilns in peri-urban areas. We report visible foliar damage to mango, apricot and plum trees in the vicinity of traditional Bull’s Trench brick kilns in Peshawar, Pakistan. Visible injury symptoms, hydrogen fluoride concentrations in air, and foliar fluoride concentrations were all greater in the vicinity of brick kilns than at more distant sites, indicating that fluoride emissions from brick kilns were the main cause of damage. Interviews with local farmers established the significant impact of this damage on their livelihoods. Since poorly regulated brick kilns are often found close to important peri-urban agricultural areas, we suggest that this may be a growing but unrecognised environmental problem in regions of Asia where emission control in brick kilns has not been improved. - Highlights: ► Demand for bricks is increasing in many parts of Asia. ► Fluoride emissions from brick kilns may pose a threat to peri-urban agriculture. ► We found extensive injury to fruit orchards close to brick kilns in Peshawar. ► Local farmers suffered large economic losses but did not identify brick kilns as a cause of this. ► The extent of crop damage from brick kilns with poor emission control in the region may not be fully recognised. - Hydrogen fluoride emissions from brick kilns may cause extensive but unrecognised damage to peri-urban crops in Asia.
Karabozhilova, I; Wieland, B; Alonso, S; Salonen, L; Häsler, B
2012-01-01
1. The aim of the study was to collect baseline data on welfare, biosecurity and diseases of backyard chickens kept in the Greater London Urban Area (GLUA), United Kingdom (UK). 2. A total of 65 backyard chicken flock-keepers were recruited from May to July 2010 through adverts on websites, at City farms, veterinary practices and pet feed stores and surveyed by means of a questionnaire. A total of 30 responses were suitable for analysis. 3. Information on keepers' and flocks' characteristics, housing and husbandry practices and owners' knowledge of health problems in chickens and zoonotic diseases was collected. A welfare assessment protocol was developed and the flocks assessed accordingly. 4. Results showed that chickens were generally provided with living conditions that allowed them to perform their natural behaviours. 5. Most of the flock owners did not comply with the regulations of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on the feeding of catering waste. 6. Disease prevention measures such as vaccination and biosecurity, including limiting the access of human visitors, wild birds and rodents to the flocks were rare. 7. A lack of avian and zoonotic disease knowledge and awareness among the owners has implications for disease control and highlights the need for improved communication between owners, authorities and veterinarians.
Research on assessment methods for urban public transport development in China.
Zou, Linghong; Dai, Hongna; Yao, Enjian; Jiang, Tian; Guo, Hongwei
2014-01-01
In recent years, with the rapid increase in urban population, the urban travel demands in Chinese cities have been increasing dramatically. As a result, developing comprehensive urban transport systems becomes an inevitable choice to meet the growing urban travel demands. In urban transport systems, public transport plays the leading role to promote sustainable urban development. This paper aims to establish an assessment index system for the development level of urban public transport consisting of a target layer, a criterion layer, and an index layer. Review on existing literature shows that methods used in evaluating urban public transport structure are dominantly qualitative. To overcome this shortcoming, fuzzy mathematics method is used for describing qualitative issues quantitatively, and AHP (analytic hierarchy process) is used to quantify expert's subjective judgment. The assessment model is established based on the fuzzy AHP. The weight of each index is determined through the AHP and the degree of membership of each index through the fuzzy assessment method to obtain the fuzzy synthetic assessment matrix. Finally, a case study is conducted to verify the rationality and practicability of the assessment system and the proposed assessment method.
Oil demand asymmetry in the OECD
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Shealy, M.T.
1990-01-01
Oil demand asymmetry exists, is significant, and can be captured with a simple demand equation using a Pmax term. The unstable parameters of the original symmetric equations suggest misspecification. Addition of a Pmax term to represent asymmetry yields stable parameters from 1982 through 1989 and so suggests proper specification. Asymmetry is significant because the short-run (and long-run) price elasticity is less than half as large when oil price falls as when price rises beyond the past peak. The lower elasticity applies both to price decreases and also to price increases for which price remains below the past peak. As long as the real oil price remains well below the 1981 peak, asymmetry implies that OECD oil demand should be less sensitive to oil price variations than in 1981. More specifically, the results shown suggest that today's oil demand elasticity should be less than half as large as the elasticity for a price increase in 1981. Forecasts from the asymmetric equations are significantly higher than the DOE base-case forecast. DOE's lower forecast is due to greater price asymmetry through 1995 and to higher long-run price elasticity beyond 1995. One reason for the higher long-run price elasticity might be greater assumed improvements in energy-efficiency than implied by the historical data
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Gilbraith, Nathaniel; Powers, Susan E.
2013-01-01
Many urban areas in the United States have experienced difficulty meeting the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), partially due to pollution from electricity generating units. We evaluated the potential for residential demand response to reduce pollutant emissions on days with above average pollutant emissions and a high potential for poor air quality. The study focused on New York City (NYC) due to non-attainment with NAAQS standards, large exposed populations, and the existing goal of reducing pollutant emissions. The baseline demand response scenario simulated a 1.8% average reduction in NYC peak demand on 49 days throughout the summer. Nitrogen oxide and particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in diameter emission reductions were predicted to occur (−70, −1.1 metric tons (MT) annually), although, these were not likely to be sufficient for NYC to meet the NAAQS. Air pollution mediated damages were predicted to decrease by $100,000–$300,000 annually. A sensitivity analysis predicted that substantially larger pollutant emission reductions would occur if electricity demand was shifted from daytime hours to nighttime hours, or the total consumption decreased. Policies which incentivize shifting electricity consumption away from periods of high human and environmental impacts should be implemented, including policies directed toward residential consumers. - Highlights: • The impact of residential demand response on air emissions was modeled. • Residential demand response will decrease pollutant emissions in NYC. • Emissions reductions occur during periods with high potential for poor air quality. • Shifting demand to nighttime hours was more beneficial than to off-peak daytime hours
Factors affecting dairy production in peri-urban areas of Kampala
African Journals Online (AJOL)
demand for dairy products by the increasing urban population and the need to provide ... was therefore recommended that if milk production in the peri-urban areas of Kampala is to .... approximately 80% of the total labour use in dairy farming.
Ferreira, Carla S. S.; Walsh, Rory P. D.; Ferreira, António J. D.; Steenhuis, Tammo S.; Coelho, Celeste A. O.
2015-04-01
The demand for better life quality and lower living costs created a great pressure on peri-urban areas, leading to significant land-use changes. The complexity of mixed land-use patterns, however, presents a challenge to understand the hydrological pathways and streamflow response involved in such changes. This study assesses the impact of a actively changing Portuguese peri-urban area on catchment hydrology. It focuses on quantifying streamflow delivery from contributing areas, of different land-use arrangement and the seasonal influence of the Mediterranean climate on stream discharge. The study focuses on Ribeira dos Covões a small (6 km2) peri-urban catchment on the outskirts of Coimbra, one of the main cities in central Portugal. Between 1958 and 2012 the urban area of the catchment expanded from 8% to 40%, mostly at the expense of agriculture (down from 48% to 4%), with woodland now accounting for the remaining 56% of the catchment area. The urban area comprises contrasting urban settings, associated with older discontinuous arrangement of buildings and urban structures and low population density (urban cores dominated by apartment blocks and high population density (9900 inhabitants/km). The hydrological response of the catchment has been monitored since 2007 by a flume installed at the outlet. In 2009, five rainfall gauges and eight additional water level recorders were installed upstream, to assess the hydrological response of different sub-catchments, characterized by distinct urban patterns and either limestone or sandstone lithologies. Annual runoff coefficients range between 14% and 22%. Changes in annual baseflow index (36-39% of annual rainfall) have been small with urbanization (from 34% to 40%) during the monitoring period itself. Annual runoff coefficients were lowest (14-7%) on catchments >80% woodland and highest (29% on sandstone; 18% on limestone) in the most urbanized (49-53% urban) sub-catchments. Percentage impermeable surface seems to
Seçil Yurdakul Erol
2012-01-01
Inhabitants of urban and rural areas are important participants in the process of developing and implementing forest policy. Thus, it is essential to determine their demands and attitudes towards forestry issues. In this context, the demands and evaluation of forest functions are investigated in a case study of the Turkish province of Bal kesir. The findings of the case study show that differences in terms of demands among inhabitants of rural and urban areas are related to forest fires fight...
Walsh, Rory; Ferreira, Carla; Ferreira, Antonio
2016-04-01
Suspended sediment levels tend to be enhanced in urban catchments, but vary considerably with (amongst many other factors) the degree of active urban development or redevelopment within the catchment and 'urbanization style'. Relatively little, however, is known about the relationship between suspended solids and urbanization style in peri-urban Mediterranean environments. This paper focuses on spatiotemporal suspended sediment dynamics within a typical Portuguese peri-urban catchment, Ribeira dos Covoes, that is undergoing rapid urbanization. The catchment currently has a 40% urban cover, with 17% impervious surfaces, dispersed between woodland (56%) and agricultural areas (4%). The study uses suspended sediment concentration measurements made at the catchment outlet (ESAC) and in three upstream tributaries: (i) Espírito Santo, with a largest urban area (49%); (ii) Porto Bordalo, 39% urbanized; and (iii) Quinta, 22% urbanized, most of which (18%) being an enterprise park under construction. Water sampling was carried out manually during 10 storm hydrographs between October 2011 and March 2013. Suspended sediment concentrations (SSC) were derived by laboratory analysis of the filtered samples using the gravimetric method. In addition total dissolved solids concentrations (TDS) were estimated using conductivity readings. Greatest SSCs were recorded in the Quinta sub-catchment and at the catchment outlet at ESAC (113-4320 mg L-1 and 200-1656 mg L-1, respectively) than in the Espírito Santo and Porto Bordalo sub-catchments (183-852 mg L-1 and 47-598 mg L-1 respectively, despite their greater impervious cover. The greatest SSCs for Quinta result from it containing the construction site, but it showed lower TDS (56-4010 mg L-1), perhaps due to the coarse sandy nature of the construction site. Higher TDS concentrations, however, were displayed in Porto Bordalo (27-5400 mg L-1), possibly due to the loamy soil. Espírito Santo, comprising sandy-loam soils, displayed 27
Small cities face greater impact from automation
Frank, Morgan R.; Sun, Lijun; Cebrian, Manuel; Youn, Hyejin; Rahwan, Iyad
2017-01-01
The city has proven to be the most successful form of human agglomeration and provides wide employment opportunities for its dwellers. As advances in robotics and artificial intelligence revive concerns about the impact of automation on jobs, a question looms: How will automation affect employment in cities? Here, we provide a comparative picture of the impact of automation across U.S. urban areas. Small cities will undertake greater adjustments, such as worker displacement and job content su...
Salamanca, F.; Georgescu, M.; Mahalov, A.; Moustaoui, M.; Martilli, A.
2016-10-01
Assessment of mitigation strategies that combat global warming, urban heat islands (UHIs), and urban energy demand can be crucial for urban planners and energy providers, especially for hot, semi-arid urban environments where summertime cooling demands are excessive. Within this context, summertime regional impacts of cool roof and rooftop solar photovoltaic deployment on near-surface air temperature and cooling energy demand are examined for the two major USA cities of Arizona: Phoenix and Tucson. A detailed physics-based parametrization of solar photovoltaic panels is developed and implemented in a multilayer building energy model that is fully coupled to the Weather Research and Forecasting mesoscale numerical model. We conduct a suite of sensitivity experiments (with different coverage rates of cool roof and rooftop solar photovoltaic deployment) for a 10-day clear-sky extreme heat period over the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas at high spatial resolution (1-km horizontal grid spacing). Results show that deployment of cool roofs and rooftop solar photovoltaic panels reduce near-surface air temperature across the diurnal cycle and decrease daily citywide cooling energy demand. During the day, cool roofs are more effective at cooling than rooftop solar photovoltaic systems, but during the night, solar panels are more efficient at reducing the UHI effect. For the maximum coverage rate deployment, cool roofs reduced daily citywide cooling energy demand by 13-14 %, while rooftop solar photovoltaic panels by 8-11 % (without considering the additional savings derived from their electricity production). The results presented here demonstrate that deployment of both roofing technologies have multiple benefits for the urban environment, while solar photovoltaic panels add additional value because they reduce the dependence on fossil fuel consumption for electricity generation.
Analisis Permintaan (Demand Analysis) Pelayanan Kesehatan Puskesmas di Kabupaten Mojokerto
Budiarto, Wasis
1996-01-01
A study on demand for health centre was carried out at Mojokerto Regency, East Java. The study convered 300 respondents (15 years old and over) which were collected from two areas, urban (Kecamatan Bangsal) and rural (Kecamatan Puri). The objectives of this study were to measure the demand for health centre services and to determine the influencing factors. A household survey was conducted in this study, using household and individual as unit of analysis and a multiple linier regression techn...
Introducing Urban Cultural Heritage Management into Urban Planning Management
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
2008-01-01
<正>1. Concept comparison of urban cultural heritage management and urban planning management 1.1 Urban cultural heritage managementUrban cultural heritage management is an important component of cultural heritage management which is a systematic conser-vation to maintain the cultural value of cul-tural heritages so as to meet the enjoyment demand of the current or future generations. At present, the cultural heritage conserva-tion principles have been defined by many worldwide laws or charters, such as the Venice Charter of ICOMOS, the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, etc., and have been brought into legislation or policies in many countries. The fi nal goal of urban cul-tural heritage management is to find a real sustainable approach to manage heritages, which could benefit the heritages them-selves, the heritage managers and the local communities as well. Cultural heritage man-agement includes the management of urban cultural heritages, that of natural heritages in non-urban areas and that of intangible cultural heritages.1.2 Urban planning managementUrban planning management is a type of urban management. From the practical viewpoint, urban management should be an overall management which includes urban planning management, urban infrastructure and public facility management, urban en-vironment and public order management, etc., takes urban infrastructures and public resources as management object, and ischaracterized by the goal of exerting the comprehensive effects of economy, society and environment. While from the techni-cal viewpoint, urban planning management refers to the planning management executed by urban governments based on the relevant laws and regulations, including the manage-ment of urban land-use and that of different types of constructions. It actually means the organizing, guiding, controlling and coordinating process focusing on different construction projects in cities. The urban cultural heritage mentioned here includes all the physical
Urban sprawl continues since the last century, leading to a rapid increase in automobile ownership and vehicle travel demand, while resulting in more traffic congestion and automobile emissions. Land use, serving as a source of travel demand, can significantly impact travel behav...
Introducing Urban Food Forestry: A Multifunctional Strategy for Enhancing Urban Sustainability
Nicholas, K. A.; Clark, K.
2012-12-01
We propose combining elements of urban agriculture and urban forestry into what we call "urban food forestry" (UFF), the practice of growing perennial woody food-producing species ("food trees") in cities. We used four approaches at different scales to gauge the potential of UFF to enhance urban sustainability, in the context of trends including increasing urbanization, resource demands, and climate change. First, we analyzed 37 current international initiatives based around urban food trees, finding that core activities included planting, mapping, and harvesting food trees, but that only about a quarter of initiatives engaged in more than one of these activities necessary to fully utilize the food potential of urban trees. Second, we analyzed 30 urban forestry master plans, finding that only 13% included human food security among their objectives. Third, we used Burlington, Vermont as a case study to quantify the potential caloric output of publicly accessible open space if planted with Malus domestica (the common apple) under 9 different scenarios. We found that the entire caloric deficit of the very low food security population could be met on as few as 29 hectares (representing 16% of total open space), and that 98% of the daily recommended minimum intake of fruit for the entire city's population could be met under the most ambitious planting scenario. Finally, we developed a decision-making tool for selecting potential food trees appropriate for temperate urban environments, the Climate-Food-Species Matrix. We identified a total of 70 species, 30 of which we deemed "highly suitable" for urban food forestry based on their cold hardiness, drought tolerance, and edibility. We conclude that urban food forestry provides multiple pathways for building urban sustainability through local food production, and that our framework can be used to increase the coordination between and effectiveness of a growing number of related initiatives.
Surveying the Environmental Footprint of Urban Food Consumption
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Goldstein, Benjamin Paul; Birkved, Morten; Fernandez, John
2017-01-01
Assessments of urban metabolism (UM) are well situated to identify the scale, components, and direction of urban and energy flows in cities and have been instrumental in benchmarking and monitoring the key levers of urban environmental pressure, such as transport, space conditioning......, and electricity. Hitherto, urban food consumption has garnered scant attention both in UM accounting (typically lumped with “biomass”) and on the urban policy agenda, despite its relevance to local and global environmental pressures. With future growth expected in urban population and wealth, an accounting...... of the environmental footprint from urban food demand (“foodprint”) is necessary. This article reviews 43 UM assessments including 100 cities, and a total of 132 foodprints in terms of mass, carbon footprint, and ecological footprint and situates it relative to other significant environmental drivers (transport...
Urban net-zero water treatment and mineralization: experiments, modeling and design.
Englehardt, James D; Wu, Tingting; Tchobanoglous, George
2013-09-01
Water and wastewater treatment and conveyance account for approximately 4% of US electric consumption, with 80% used for conveyance. Net zero water (NZW) buildings would alleviate demands for a portion of this energy, for water, and for the treatment of drinking water for pesticides and toxic chemical releases in source water. However, domestic wastewater contains nitrogen loads much greater than urban/suburban ecosystems can typically absorb. The purpose of this work was to identify a first design of a denitrifying urban NZW treatment process, operating at ambient temperature and pressure and circum-neutral pH, and providing mineralization of pharmaceuticals (not easily regulated in terms of environmental half-life), based on laboratory tests and mass balance and kinetic modeling. The proposed treatment process is comprised of membrane bioreactor, iron-mediated aeration (IMA, reported previously), vacuum ultrafiltration, and peroxone advanced oxidation, with minor rainwater make-up and H2O2 disinfection residual. Similar to biological systems, minerals accumulate subject to precipitative removal by IMA, salt-free treatment, and minor dilution. Based on laboratory and modeling results, the system can produce potable water with moderate mineral content from commingled domestic wastewater and 10-20% rainwater make-up, under ambient conditions at individual buildings, while denitrifying and reducing chemical oxygen demand to below detection (<3 mg/L). While economics appear competitive, further development and study of steady-state concentrations and sludge management options are needed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Shahriar Afandizadeh Zargari
2016-12-01
Full Text Available This paper presents a two-stage model of optimization as a quick method to choose the best potential links for implementing urban travel demand management (UTDM strategy like road pricing. The model is optimized by minimizing the hidden cost of congestion based on user equilibrium (MHCCUE. It forecasts the exact amount of flows and tolls for links in user equilibrium condition to determine the hidden cost for each link to optimize the link selection based on the network congestion priority. The results show that not only the amount of total cost is decreased, but also the number of selected links for pricing is reduced as compared with the previous toll minimization methods. Moreover, as this model just uses the traffic assignment data for calculation, it could be considered as a quick and optimum solution for choosing the potential links.
How urban societies can adapt to resource shortage and climate change
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Satterthwaite, David
2011-04-15
With more than half the world's population now living in urban areas and with much of the world still urbanizing, there are concerns that urbanization is a key driver of unsustainable resource demands. Urbanization also appears to contribute to ever-growing levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Meanwhile, in much of Africa and Asia and many nations in Latin America and the Caribbean, urbanization has long outstripped local governments' capacities or willingness to act as can be seen in the high proportion of the urban population living in poor quality, overcrowded, illegal housing lacking provision for water, sanitation, drainage, healthcare and schools. But there is good evidence that urban areas can combine high living standards with relatively low GHG emissions and lower resource demands. This paper draws on some examples of this and considers what these imply for urban policies in a resource-constrained world. These suggest that cities can allow high living standards to be combined with levels of GHG emissions that are much lower than those that are common in affluent cities today. This can be achieved not with an over-extended optimism on what new technologies can bring but mostly by a wider application of what already has been shown to work.
Cahya, D. L.; Martini, E.; Kasikoen, K. M.
2018-02-01
Urbanization is shown by the increasing percentage of the population in urban areas. In Indonesia, the percentage of urban population increased dramatically form 17.42% (1971) to 42.15% (2010). This resulted in increased demand for housing. Limited land in the city area push residents looking for an alternative location of his residence to the peri-urban areas. It is accompanied by a process of land conversion from green area into built-up area. Continuous land conversion in peri-urban area is becoming increasingly widespread. Bogor Regency as part of the Jakarta Metropolitan Area is experiencing rapid development. This regency has been experienced land-use change very rapidly from agricultural areas into urban built up areas. Aim of this research is to analyze the effect of urbanization on land use changes in peri-urban areas using spatial analysis methods. This research used case study of Ciawi Urban Area that experiencing rapid development. Method of this research is using descriptive quantitative approach. Data used in this research is primary data (field survey) and secondary data (maps). To analyze land use change is using Geographic Information System (GIS) as spatial analysis methods. The effect of urbanization on land use changes in Ciawi Urban Area from year 2013 to 2015 is significant. The reduction of farm land is around -4.00% and wetland is around - 2.51%. The increasing area for hotel/villa/resort is around 3.10%. Based on this research, local government (Bogor Regency) should be alert to the land use changes that does not comply with the land use plan and also consistently apply the spatial planning.
Dye, Christopher
2008-02-08
The majority of people now live in urban areas and will do so for the foreseeable future. As a force in the demographic and health transition, urbanization is associated with falling birth and death rates and with the shift in burden of illness from acute childhood infections to chronic, noncommunicable diseases of adults. Urban inhabitants enjoy better health on average than their rural counterparts, but the benefits are usually greater for the rich than for the poor, thus magnifying the differences between them. Subject to better evidence, I suggest that the main obstacles to improving urban health are not technical or even financial, but rather are related to governance and the organization of civil society.
Urban green infrastructure: The role of urban agriculture in city resilience
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Thomas Panagopoulos
2018-03-01
Full Text Available Studies about the subject of cultivated land confirmed that it is the part of urban informal open space and the specific land using form in the city’s natural area. It has ecological, cultural, social and socio-economic value and help to achieve more sustainable urban forms. The European practice shows that the functions of allotments are changing in the city development process from the producing to the function of traditional city greenery which does not demand the city’s budget money. The moving of population into cities drives increasing demands for residential buildings and other urban built up land. From the city planning point of view it is convenient to develop the allotment territories which usually are located near the city centre and has appropriate infrastructure. However the allotments are very popular among the unprosperous people and elders because of contact with the nature and some economic benefits from cultivating the land. Studies show that the complex metropolitan systems cannot be managed by a single set of top-down governmental policies; instead, they require the coordinated action of multiple independent players operating under locally diverse biophysical conditions and constraints, constantly adjusting their behaviour to maintain an optimal balance between human and ecological functions. The increase in urban agriculture in many European cities has been part of a response to a sense of a global crisis, attesting to the resilience of the people living in cities. However, the citizens involved have much to gain from municipal intervention, which can provide and operate some important for agriculture communal infrastructures and define a set of rules. The municipality is also in an ideal position to design and apply a comprehensive strategy for its territory. In conclusion, municipal intervention is instrumental for urban agriculture and for the city’s resilience because is as a vital source of food and occupation in
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Henrik SJÖMAN
2015-12-01
Full Text Available Traditionally, a limited number of species and genera dominate the tree stock in streets and urban sites, and recent surveys in European and North American cities show that few species/genera continue to dominate. Yet, over the past decades, a growing proportion of those commonly used species have shown increasing difficulties to cope with urban sites. This has led to considerable and persistent arguments for using a more varied range of trees, including stress-tolerant species, at urban paved sites. This study examined forest systems occurring between 1300-2200 m asl. in the Qinling Mountains, China, in order to evaluate the oriental white oaks (Quercus aliena var. acuteserrata Maximowicz ex Wenzig growth and development in warm and dry forest habitats and hence evaluate its potential for urban paved sites in northern parts of central Europe and in adjoining milder parts of northern Europe. In total, 102 oriental white oak where found in the studied plots and here showed very promising development in habitats experiencing drier conditions than those in park environments in Copenhagen, and is therefore interesting for urban paved sites were the demands of a greater catalogue of tolerant trees are highly needed.
Urban Transport and Communication
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Irandu, E.M.
1999-01-01
The population according to the 1989 census was 21,448,774 inhabitants. This figure shows that on average the total population has been increasing by more than 40% every decade since 1948. As a result the widening gap between fertility and mortality, the population is growing at an accelerated rate. The current official population growth rate figure of 3.4% per annum puts the country among the world's most rapidly growing nations. It is projected that by the year 2010, the population will be about 37.4 million. At present the urban centres with a population size of 2,000 people and above constitute about 18.1% of the total population (Kenya, 1994). Rapid economic growth has led to the development of a number of urban centres as centres of commerce, industry and tourism. Consequently, this has led to rural urban drift. This drift to urban areas causes a number of problems which if unresolved will limit the ability of the urban centres to support their population The rapid increase in urban population causes a shortage of facilities to meet the increasing demand in services such as public transport, water supply, sewage and housing (Ramatullah, 1997: 161-168). Urban Transport acts as catalyst to both urban and national development, by facilitating the movements associated with urban and national Development. They provide a means by which goods and services are made available to industry and consumers, creating opportunity for social and economic interaction and employment. Without urban transport, access to health, education and employment would not be possible. Indeed urban transport is what gives life to urban development
Decoupling urban transport from GHG emissions in Indian cities-A critical review and perspectives
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Li Jun
2011-01-01
How to sustain rapid economic and urban growth with minimised detriment to environment is a key challenge for sustainable development and climate change mitigation in developing countries, which face constraints of technical and financial resources scarcity as well as dearth of infrastructure governance capacity. This paper attempts to address this question by investigating the driving forces of transport demand and relevant policy measures that facilitate mitigating GHG emissions in the urban transport sector in Indian cities based on a critical review of the literature. Our overview of existing literature and international experiences suggests that it is critical to improve urban governance in transport infrastructure quality and develop efficient public transport, coupled with integrated land use/transport planning as well as economic instruments. This will allow Indian cities to embark on a sustainable growth pathway by decoupling transport services demand of GHG emissions in the longer term. Appropriate policy instruments need to be selected to reconcile the imperatives of economic and urban growth, aspiration to higher quality of life, improvements in social welfare, urban transport-related energy consumption and GHG emissions mitigation target in Indian cities. - Highlights: → Investigating the relevant policies that facilitate mitigating GHG emissions in urban transport in Indian cities. → Determining the factors of increase in energy demand and carbon emissions in transport. → Improving urban governance in transport infrastructure with integrated transport planning. → Designing and implementing the policy and economic instruments for low-carbon urban transport in India.
Geologic map of the greater Denver area, Front Range urban corridor, Colorado
Trimble, Donald E.; Machette, Michael N.
1979-01-01
This digital map shows the areal extent of surficial deposits and rock stratigraphic units (formations) as compiled by Trimble and Machette from 1973 to 1977 and published in 1979 under the Front Range Urban Corridor Geology Program. Trimble and Machette compiled their geologic map from published geologic maps and unpublished geologic mapping having varied map unit schemes. A convenient feature of the compiled map is its uniform classification of geologic units that mostly matches those of companion maps to the north (USGS I-855-G) and to the south (USGS I-857-F). Published as a color paper map, the Trimble and Machette map was intended for land-use planning in the Front Range Urban Corridor. This map recently (1997-1999) was digitized under the USGS Front Range Infrastructure Resources Project. In general, the mountainous areas in the western part of the map exhibit various igneous and metamorphic bedrock units of Precambrian age, major faults, and fault brecciation zones at the east margin (5-20 km wide) of the Front Range. The eastern and central parts of the map (Colorado Piedmont) depict a mantle of unconsolidated deposits of Quaternary age and interspersed outcroppings of Cretaceous or Tertiary-Cretaceous sedimentary bedrock. The Quaternary mantle comprises eolian deposits (quartz sand and silt), alluvium (gravel, sand, and silt of variable composition), colluvium, and a few landslides. At the mountain front, north-trending, dipping Paleozoic and Mesozoic sandstone, shale, and limestone bedrock formations form hogbacks and intervening valleys.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Juan Joaquín Suárez López
2014-08-01
Full Text Available The urban environment has to be concerned with the integrated water resources management, which necessarily includes the concept of basin unity and governance. The traditional urban water cycle framework, which includes water supply, sewerage and wastewater treatment services, is being replaced by a holistic and systemic concept, where water is associated with urbanism and sustainability policies. This global point of view cannot be ignored as new regulations demand systemic and environmental approaches to the administrations, for instance, in the management of urban drainage and sewerage systems. The practical expression of this whole cluster interactions is beginning to take shape in several countries, with the definition of Low Impact Development and Water Sensitivity Urban Design concepts. Intends to integrate this new strategic approach under the name: “Water Sensitive Urban Development” (WSUD. With WSUD approach, the current urban water systems (originally conceived under the traditional concept of urban water cycle can be transformed, conceptual and physically, for an integrated management of the urban water system in new models of sustainable urban development. A WSUD implementing new approach to the management of pollution associated with stormwater in the urban water system is also presented, including advances in environmental regulations and incorporation of several techniques in Spain.
Measure for Measure: Urban Water and Energy
Chini, C.; Stillwell, A. S.
2017-12-01
Urban environments in the United States account for a majority of the population and, as such, require large volumes of treated drinking water supply and wastewater removal, both of which need energy. Despite the large share of water that urban environments demand, there is limited accounting of these water resources outside of the city itself. In this study, we provide and analyze a database of drinking water and wastewater utility flows and energy that comprise anthropogenic fluxes of water through the urban environment. We present statistical analyses of the database at an annual, spatial, and intra-annual scale. The average daily per person water flux is estimated as 563 liters of drinking water and 496 liters of wastewater, requiring 340 kWh/1000 m3 and 430 kWh/1000 m3 of energy, respectively, to treat these resources. This energy demand accounts for 1% of the total annual electricity production of the United States. Additionally, the water and embedded energy loss associated with non-revenue water (estimated at 15.8% annually) accounts for 9.1 km3of water and 3600 GWh, enough electricity to power 300,000 U.S. households annually. Through the analysis and benchmarking of the current state of urban water fluxes, we propose the term `blue city,' which promotes urban sustainability and conservation policy focusing on water resources. As the nation's water resources become scarcer and more unpredictable, it is essential to include water resources in urban sustainability planning and continue data collection of these vital resources.
DEMAND FOR MALAYSIA'S EXPORTS: EVIDENCE FROM THE ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY
Koi Nyen Wong
2006-01-01
This study estimates the determinants of foreign demand for Malaysia's top five electronics exports by SITC (Standard International Trade Classification) product groups from 1990 to 2001. Cointegration results indicate a unique long-run relationship between export demand for electronic products and relative prices and foreign income. Both the estimated long-run income and price elasticities of export demand are greater than 1, conforming to a pattern found in most fast-growing economies and i...
Estimating demand for alternatives to cigarettes with online purchase tasks.
O'Connor, Richard J; June, Kristie M; Bansal-Travers, Maansi; Rousu, Matthew C; Thrasher, James F; Hyland, Andrew; Cummings, K Michael
2014-01-01
To explore how advertising affects demand for cigarettes and potential substitutes, including snus, dissolvable tobacco, and medicinal nicotine. A Web-based experiment randomized 1062 smokers to see advertisements for alternative nicotine products or soft drinks, then complete a series of purchase tasks, which were used to estimate demand elasticity, peak consumption, and cross-price elasticity (CPE) for tobacco products. Lower demand elasticity and greater peak consumption were seen for cigarettes compared to all alternative products (p demand. These findings suggest significantly lower demand for alternative nicotine sources among smokers than previously revealed.
Impact of price and total expenditure on food demand in South ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
... urban centres, income did not have much weight in its consumption, with less substitutability in response to changes in own-price and has changed from being a luxury to ... The demand for these food items in Nigeria is not so much a matter
Empirical studies on the labor market and on consumer demand
Gong, X.
2001-01-01
The thesis covers three topics on the labour market and on consumer demand. Chapters two and three focus on the labour market mobility and wage differentials between the formal sector and the informal sector in urban Mexico. Dynamic random effects panel data models are used in the analysis. Chapters
Urban transport energy consumption: Belgrade case study
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jovanović Miomir M.
2015-01-01
Full Text Available More than half of the global population now lives in towns and cities. At the same time, transport has become the highest single energy-consuming human activity. Hence, one of the major topics today is the reduction of urban transport demand and of energy consumption in cities. In this article we focused on the whole package of instruments that can reduce energy consumption and transport demand in Belgrade, a city that is currently at a major crossroad. Belgrade can prevent a dramatic increase in energy consumption and CO2 emissions (and mitigate the negative local environmental effects of traffic congestion, traffic accidents and air pollution, only if it: 1 implements a more decisive strategy to limit private vehicles use while its level of car passenger km (PKT is still relatively low; 2 does not try to solve its transport problems only by trying to build urban road infrastructure (bridges and ring roads; and 3 if it continues to provide priority movement for buses (a dominant form of public transport, while 4 at the same time developing urban rail systems (metro or LRT with exclusive tracks, immune to the traffic congestion on urban streets. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 37010
Governance of urban transitions: towards sustainable resource efficient urban infrastructures
Swilling, Mark; Hajer, Maarten
2017-12-01
The transition to sustainable resource efficient cities calls for new governance arrangements. The awareness that the doubling of the global urban population will result in unsustainable levels of demand for natural resources requires changes in the existing socio-technical systems. Domestic material consumption could go up from 40 billion tons in 2010, to 89 billion tons by 2050. While there are a number of socio-technical alternatives that could result in significant improvements in the resource efficiency of urban systems in developed and developing countries (specifically bus-rapid transit, district energy systems and green buildings), we need to rethink the urban governance arrangements to get to this alternative pathway. We note modes of urban governance have changed over the past century as economic and urban development paradigms have shifted at the national and global levels. This time round we identify cities as leading actors in the transition to more sustainable modes of production and consumption as articulated in the Sustainable Development Goals. This has resulted in a surge of urban experimentation across all world regions, both North and South. Building on this empirically observable trend we suggest this can also be seen as a building block of a new urban governance paradigm. An ‘entrepreneurial urban governance’ is proposed that envisages an active and goal-setting role for the state, but in ways that allows broader coalitions of urban ‘agents of change’ to emerge. This entrepreneurial urban governance fosters and promotes experimentation rather than suppressing the myriad of such initiatives across the globe, and connects to global city networks for systemic learning between cities. Experimentation needs to result in a contextually appropriate balance between economic, social, technological and sustainable development. A full and detailed elaboration of the arguments and sources for this article can be found in chapter 6 of Swilling M et
Small cities face greater impact from automation
Sun, Lijun; Cebrian, Manuel; Rahwan, Iyad
2018-01-01
The city has proved to be the most successful form of human agglomeration and provides wide employment opportunities for its dwellers. As advances in robotics and artificial intelligence revive concerns about the impact of automation on jobs, a question looms: how will automation affect employment in cities? Here, we provide a comparative picture of the impact of automation across US urban areas. Small cities will undertake greater adjustments, such as worker displacement and job content substitutions. We demonstrate that large cities exhibit increased occupational and skill specialization due to increased abundance of managerial and technical professions. These occupations are not easily automatable, and, thus, reduce the potential impact of automation in large cities. Our results pass several robustness checks including potential errors in the estimation of occupational automation and subsampling of occupations. Our study provides the first empirical law connecting two societal forces: urban agglomeration and automation's impact on employment. PMID:29436514
Small cities face greater impact from automation.
Frank, Morgan R; Sun, Lijun; Cebrian, Manuel; Youn, Hyejin; Rahwan, Iyad
2018-02-01
The city has proved to be the most successful form of human agglomeration and provides wide employment opportunities for its dwellers. As advances in robotics and artificial intelligence revive concerns about the impact of automation on jobs, a question looms: how will automation affect employment in cities? Here, we provide a comparative picture of the impact of automation across US urban areas. Small cities will undertake greater adjustments, such as worker displacement and job content substitutions. We demonstrate that large cities exhibit increased occupational and skill specialization due to increased abundance of managerial and technical professions. These occupations are not easily automatable, and, thus, reduce the potential impact of automation in large cities. Our results pass several robustness checks including potential errors in the estimation of occupational automation and subsampling of occupations. Our study provides the first empirical law connecting two societal forces: urban agglomeration and automation's impact on employment. © 2018 The Authors.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yat Yen
2016-05-01
Full Text Available The fast and steady economic growth and social changes in recent years in Cambodia have brought rapid expansion and restructuring to its cities. These phenomena have brought numerous challenges including threats to urban green spaces (UGS’s. This study addresses problems of UGS’s by investigating the knowledge and perceptions of young residents of Phnom Penh (YRPPs toward UGS’s in relation to the following: (1 basic knowledge of YRPPs on ecological services (KES of UGS’s; (2 perceptions of YRPPs on the current state of UGS’s (PUGS’s in Phnom Penh; (3 demand of YRPPs for UGS’s in the city (DUGS; and (4 associations between KES, PUGS’s, social profiles (SoPs, and DUGS. A questionnaire was designed to solicit knowledge from 554 respondents randomly selected from the study area. The findings revealed that 83.1% of total respondents strongly recognized ecological services of UGS’s. Four subgroups of ecological services, namely microclimate (89.7%, environmental quality and functions (83.8%, recreational and public health services (88.5%, and economic benefits (70.4% were all rated highly. Because the current state of UGS’s was very poor (68.4%, demand for UGS’s was high (94.43%. Public toilets (84.7% and rubbish bins (75.6% were both rated the poorest. The PUGS’s were significantly associated with KES (r = 0.307, F (3, 543 = 18.83, p < 0.001. This study offers a deep understanding about knowledge and demand of YRPPs for UGS’s.
Metal Distribution in Urban Agricultural Soils in the Inland Empire, California
Marin, C. C. E.
2015-12-01
Urban environments exhibit unique biogeochemistry due to the presence of a myriad of anthropogenic sources of contaminants. One potential route through which humans have been exposed to metal contaminants is the ingestion of food produced on urban soils. The Inland Empire is a metropolitan located in semi-arid region of Southern California with greater than 4 million residents, where the growing population is demonstrating an increase in citizen participation in contributing to expanding local food systems. In response to the demand for locally grown produce, the Inland Empire is undergoing rapid land use change, where large tracts of land on the periphery of cities, including Riverside, are being converted or set aside for urban agriculture, though the quality of the soil for food production is unknown. At the same time, smaller gardens and farms are growing in number within the more densely populated areas. Assessing the quality of urban soil currently used for food production in this region can aid in projecting how land use change will affect the quality of crops produced as urban agriculture continues to expand in arid regions. Soil samples were taken from a variety of land use types, including areas currently producing crops and areas set aside for future large scale food production. Samples were collected at the surface (0-2 cm) and below till depth (20-22 cm). These soils were analyzed for total carbon including organic and inorganic carbon fractions, total nitrogen, bulk metal and trace metal concentrations (including As, Mn, Cr, Pb, Cd, Zn, and Cu). To approximate the mobility of the trace elements under various conditions, extraction tests were also performed, including EPA Pb bioavailability analysis. Finally, we utilize statistical tools and spatial analysis to illustrate the relationship between previous land use, current land use, and soil quality for urban crop production.
A Systematic Review of Urban Sustainability Assessment Literature
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Matthew Cohen
2017-11-01
Full Text Available As the world rapidly urbanizes, there is much focus on achieving sustainability outcomes within cities. Accomplishing this goal requires not only envisioning sustainable cities and implementing strategies, but it also demands assessing progress towards sustainable urban development. Despite a growing literature on sustainability assessment, there is room to further understand the application of sustainability assessment in urban contexts. This paper presents a systematic review of urban sustainability assessment literature to (1 identify the most common methods used for urban sustainability assessment, (2 identify the most common framings for urban sustainability assessment, and (3 identify the most common categories for organizing indicators that measure urban sustainability. This research finds that urban sustainability assessment in general lacks a unifying framing and that it could be better aligned with common sustainability principles. The paper provides recommendations for future urban sustainability assessment research, including the employment of mixed-methods research among other strategies. In closing, this research offers a generic framework around which to structure urban sustainability assessment and within which to assign indicators for measuring progress towards sustainable urban development.
Econometric Modeling: An Application to the Demand for Electricity ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The empirical results show an inverse relationship between real appliance purchase price, the real per capita income and the demand for electricity. Also the rate of population growth rate as a proxy for electricity consumers appears to be insignificant. This reveals the clear fact that the demand for electricity is greater than ...
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Goldstein, Benjamin Paul
signicant action in research, design and practice. In the Northeast United States, where per capita diets are amongst the most environmentally intensive globally, there is a growing interest in local food production as a way to reduce the ecological burdens of food demand. Urban farms and pro-urban...... literature, leaving a number of lingering questions surrounding urban agriculture's environmental performance. In a Northern context, it remains to be seen whether the benets of reducing distance from farm to fork are outweighed by the energy demanded by yearround growing systems. Even if urban agriculture...... does provide leaner resource intensities at the farm scale, do these add up to meaningful shifts in a city's environmental footprint at the urban scale? The aim of this project was to begin removing these uncertainties using the Northeast United States as a case study, since cities within that region...
Economic, demographic and social factors of energy demand in Mexican households, 2008-2014
Perez Pena, Rafael
This research project focuses on estimating the effect of economic, demographic, and social factors in residential energy demand in Mexico from 2008 to 2014. Therefore, it estimates demand equations for electricity, natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), coal and natural gas using Mexican household data from 2008 to 2014. It also applies accessibility theory and it estimates energy access indicators using different specifications of demand for LPG in 2014. Sprawl measures, gravity model, and central place theory are the accessibility theory supporting the energy access indicators. Results suggest the greater the household income, the population size, the educational level of the householder, the energy access, and the lower the energy price and the household size, the greater the demand for energy in Mexico from 2008 to 2014. The greater the education, the lower the demand for firewood and coal. LPG and firewood have a monopolistically competitive market structure. Energy access indicators informed by accessibility theory are statistically significant and show the expected sign when applied to LPG in Mexican household in 2014.
Electricity demand and basic needs: Empirical evidence from China's households
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
He, Xiaoping; Reiner, David
2016-01-01
An increasing block tariff (IBT) has been implemented nationwide in the residential sector in China since 2012. However, knowledge about IBT design is still limited, particularly how to determine the electricity volume for the first block of an IBT scheme. Assuming the first block should be set based on some measure of electricity poverty; we attempt to model household electricity demand such that the range of basic needs can be established. We show that in Chinese households there exists a threshold for electricity consumption with respect to income, which could be considered a measure of electricity poverty, and the threshold differs between rural and urban areas. For rural (urban) families, electricity consumption at the level of 7th (5th) income decile households can be considered the threshold for basic needs or a measure of electricity poverty since household electricity demand in rural (urban) areas does not respond to income changes until after 7th (5th) income decile. Accordingly, the first IBT block for some provinces (e.g., Beijing) appears to have been set at a level that is too high. Over time however, given continued rapid growth, the IBT will begin to better reflect actual basic needs. - Highlights: • Basic electricity needs of a household are investigated with survey data. • The Basic electricity needs differ between the rural and urban households. • The first block of the IBTs in China has proven too high and beyond the basic needs. • The initial policy targets of the IBTs in China will be difficult to achieve.
Psychopathology and tobacco demand.
Farris, Samantha G; Aston, Elizabeth R; Zvolensky, Michael J; Abrantes, Ana M; Metrik, Jane
2017-08-01
Behavioral economic measurement of the relative value of tobacco (Cigarette Purchase Task; CPT) is used to examine individual differences in motivation for tobacco under certain contexts. Smokers with psychopathology, relative to those without, may demonstrate stronger demand for tobacco following a period of smoking deprivation, which could account for disparate rates of smoking and cessation among this subgroup. Participants (n=111) were community-recruited adult daily smokers who completed the CPT after a deprivation period of approximately 60min. Presence of psychopathology was assessed via clinical interview; 40.5% (n=45) of the sample met criteria for past-year psychological diagnosis. Specifically, 31.5% (n=35) had an emotional disorder (anxiety/depressive disorder), 17.1% (n=19) had a substance use disorder, and 19.1% of the sample had more than one disorder. Smokers with any psychopathology showed significantly higher intensity (demand at unrestricted cost; $0) and O max (peak expenditure for a drug) relative to smokers with no psychopathology. Intensity was significantly higher among smokers with an emotional disorder compared to those without. Smokers with a substance use disorder showed significantly higher intensity and O max , and lower elasticity, reflecting greater insensitivity to price increases. Having≥2 disorders was associated with higher intensity relative to having 1 or no disorders. Findings suggest that presence of psychopathology may be associated with greater and more persistent motivation to smoke. Future work is needed to explore the mechanism linking psychopathology to tobacco demand. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Nutritional status of alcoholics in Peri-urban areas of the greater ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Alcoholism is a common problem in developing countries. Epidemiological studies on the relationship among excessive alcohol consumption, malnutrition and anaemia are inconclusive. The present study examined the association between alcohol intake and nutritional status of alcoholics in the Greater Accra Region of ...
Demand and willingness-to-pay for bed nets in Tanzania: results from a choice experiment.
Gingrich, Chris D; Ricotta, Emily; Kahwa, Amos; Kahabuka, Catherine; Koenker, Hannah
2017-07-14
Universal coverage campaigns for long-lasting insecticide-treated nets do not always reach the goal of one net for every two household members, and even when ownership of at least one net per household is high, many households may not own enough nets. The retail market provides these households options for replacing or increasing the number of nets they own with products that best fit their needs since a variety of net shapes, sizes, and colours are available. Hence, it is important to understand the factors affecting private net demand. This study explores private demand for nets in Tanzania using a discrete choice experiment. The experiment provides participants the option to buy nets with their own money, and thus should prove more accurate than a hypothetical survey of net preferences. Nearly 800 participants sampled in two regions showed an overall strong demand for nets, with 40% choosing to buy a net across all seven combinations of net prices and characteristics such as size, shape, and insecticide treatment. Only 8% of all participants chose not to buy a single net. A key factor influencing demand was whether a participant's household currently owned sufficient nets for all members, with rural participants showing lower net coverage and greater demand than urban participants. Both poor and less poor households showed strong evidence of making purchase decisions based on more than price alone. Mean willingness-to-pay values for a net started at US$1.10 and grew by US$0.50-1.40 for various attributes such as rectangular shape, large size, and insecticide treatment. The impact of price on demand was negative but small, with elasticity values between -0.25 and -0.45. The results suggest that private demand for nets in Tanzania could potentially supplement future coverage campaigns. Net manufacturers and retailers should advertise and promote consumers' preferred net attributes to improve sales and further expand net access and coverage. To overcome household
Commuting behaviour and urban form: a longitudinal study of a polycentric urban region in Denmark
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Grunfelder, Julien; Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick
2012-01-01
is a polycentric urban region in Denmark. Data from the National Transport Survey of Denmark were used for this quantitative analysis and two time periods were selected to highlight any potential changes over time. Empirical findings indicate that urban form and location variables help to explain the three......This paper is an empirical investigation of the relation between urban form and commuting behaviour in a polycentric urban region. It explores to what extent urban form and location variables help to explain commuting time, distance and mode based on an empirical case, East Jutland, which...... selected aspects of commuting. However, urban form variables have greater explanatory power in explaining commuting modes than commuting time and commuting distance. No general trends in commuting were detectable from the data. Finally, the empirical findings revealed specificities of the case study...
Biophysical control of whole tree transpiration under an urban environment in Northern China
Chen, Lixin; Zhang, Zhiqiang; Li, Zhandong; Tang, Jianwu; Caldwell, Peter; Zhang, Wenjuan
2011-05-01
SummaryUrban reforestation in China has led to increasing debate about the impact of urban trees and forests on water resources. Although transpiration is the largest water flux leaving terrestrial ecosystems, little is known regarding whole tree transpiration in urban environments. In this study, we quantified urban tree transpiration at various temporal scales and examined the biophysical control of the transpiration pattern under different water conditions to understand how trees survive in an urban environment. Concurrent with microclimate and soil moisture measurements, transpiration from C edrus deodara(Roxb)Loud ., Zelkova schneideriana Hend.-Mazz., Euonymus bungeanus Maxim., and Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu et cheng was measured over a 2-year period using thermal dissipation probe (TDP) techniques. The average monthly transpiration rates reached 12.78 ± 0.73 (S.E.) mm, 1.79 ± 0.16 mm, 10.18 ± 0.55 mm and 19.28 ± 2.24 mm for C. deodara, Z.schneideriana, E. bungeanus and M. glyptostroboides, respectively. Transpiration rates from M. glyptostroboides reported here may need further study as this species showed much higher sap flows and greater transpiration fluctuation under different environmental conditions than other species. Because of deep soil moisture supply, summer dry spells did not reduce transpiration rates even when tree transpiration exceeded rainfall. While vapor pressure deficit ( VPD) was the dominant environmental factor on transpiration, trees controlled canopy conductance effectively to limit transpiration in times of water stress. Our results provide evidence that urban trees could adopt strong physiological control over transpiration under high evaporative demands to avoid dehydration and can make use of water in deeper soil layers to survive summer dry spells. Moreover, urban trees have the ability to make the best use of precipitation when it is limited, and are sensitive to soil and air dryness.
Calderón-Arguedas, Olger; Troyo, Adriana; Solano, Mayra E; Avendaño, Adrián; Beier, John C
2009-12-01
Field studies were conducted to determine the mosquito species richness in the urban area of Greater Puntarenas in Costa Rica. Two cross-sectional entomological surveys were performed in seven localities of Puntarenas: one survey was performed during the wet season and the other during the dry season. The sections evaluated were determined by applying a stratified cluster sampling method using satellite imagery, and a sample of 26 cells (100 x 100m) was selected for the study. The number of cells per locality was proportional to the area of each locality. The presence of mosquito larvae and pupae in water-filled artificial and natural containers was determined in each cell. Infestation was expressed as a diversity index per type of container (Ii). Eight types of larvae were identified (Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus, Culex interrogator, Culex nigripalpus, Culex corniger, Culex tarsalis, Limatus durhamii and Toxorhynchites theobaldi) and in two cases it was only possible to identify the genus (Culex sp. and Uranotaenia sp.). A. aegypti was the most common species followed by C. quinquefascitus. Diversity of wet environments can explain the co-occurrence of various culicid species in some localities. Although A. aegypti is the only documented disease vector in the area, C quinquefasciatus, C nigripalpus, and the other species of Culex could be considered potential vectors of other pathogens. The presence and ecology of all mosquito species should be studied to optimize surveillance and prevention of dengue and to prevent the emergence of other mosquito-transmitted diseases.
Urban versus conventional agriculture, taxonomy of resource profiles: a review
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Goldstein, Benjamin Paul; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Fernandez, John
2016-01-01
Urban agriculture appears to be a means to combat the environmental pressure of increasing urbanization and food demand. However, there is hitherto limited knowledge of the efficiency and scaling up of practices of urban farming. Here, we review the claims on urban agriculture’s comparative...... performance relative to conventional food production. Our main findings are as follows: (1) benefits, such as reduced embodied greenhouse gases, urban heat island reduction, and storm water mitigation, have strong support in current literature. (2) Other benefits such as food waste minimization and ecological...... footprint reduction require further exploration. (3) Urban agriculture benefits to both food supply chains and urban ecosystems vary considerably with system type. To facilitate the comparison of urban agriculture systems we propose a classification based on (1) conditioning of the growing space and (2...
Urban water restrictions: Attitudes and avoidance
Cooper, Bethany; Burton, Michael; Crase, Lin
2011-12-01
In most urban cities across Australia, water restrictions remain the dominant policy mechanism to restrict urban water consumption. The extensive adoption of water restrictions as a means to limit demand, over several years, means that Australian urban water prices have consistently not reflected the opportunity cost of water. Given the generally strong political support for water restrictions and the likelihood that they will persist for some time, there is value in understanding households' attitudes in this context. More specifically, identifying the welfare gains associated with avoiding urban water restrictions entirely would be a nontrivial contribution to our knowledge and offer insights into the benefits of alternative policy responses. This paper describes the results from a contingent valuation study that investigates consumers' willingness to pay to avoid urban water restrictions. Importantly, the research also investigates the influence of cognitive and exogenous dimensions on the utility gain associated with avoiding water restrictions. The results provide insights into the impact of the current policy mechanism on economic welfare.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yan Yu
2018-05-01
Full Text Available Urban agglomeration has become the predominant form of urbanization in China. In this process, spatial interaction evidently played a significant role in promoting the collaborative development of these correlated cities. The traditional urban model’s focus on individual cities should be transformed to an urban system model. In this study, a multi-scale simulation model has been proposed to simulate the agglomeration development process of the Wuhan urban agglomeration area by embedding the multi-scale spatial interaction into the transition rule system of cellular automata (CA. A system dynamic model was used to predict the demand for new urban land at an aggregated urban agglomeration area scale. A data field approach was adopted to measuring the interaction of intercity at city scale. Neighborhood interaction was interpreted with a logistic regression method at the land parcel scale. Land use data from 1995, 2005, and 2015 were used to calibrate and evaluate the model. The simulation results show that there has been continuing urban growth in the Wuhan urban agglomeration area from 1995 to 2020. Although extension-sprawl was the predominant pattern of urban spatial expansion, the trend of extensive growth to intensive growth is clear during the entire period. The spatial interaction among these cities has been reinforced, which guided the collaborative development and formed the regional urban system network.
Impacts, trends and strategies in urban transportation sector
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Valenti, G.
1998-01-01
This paper presents the urban mobility evolution from 1985 to 1995 and the possible future assets for transportation demand. For some scenarios are quantized the environmental impacts and energetic impacts [it
Perthes' disease of the hip: socioeconomic inequalities and the urban environment.
Perry, Daniel C; Bruce, Colin E; Pope, Daniel; Dangerfield, Peter; Platt, Mary Jane; Hall, Andrew J
2012-12-01
Perthes' disease is a puzzling childhood hip disorder for which the aetiology is unknown. It is known to be associated with socioeconomic deprivation. Urban environments have also been implicated as a risk factor, however socioeconomic deprivation often occurs within urban environments and it is unclear if this association is the result of confounding. The objective of the current work was to gain a greater understanding of the influence of the urban/rural environment in Perthes' disease. This was a descriptive observational study using the Scottish Morbidity Record, based in Scotland, UK using data from 2000-2010. A total of 443 patients with a discharge diagnosis of Perthes' disease were included. Socioeconomic deprivation was determined using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, and exposure to the 'urban environment' was recorded based on the Scottish Urban-Rural Classification. There was a strong association with socioeconomic deprivation, with rates among the most deprived quintile more than twice those of the most affluent (RR 2.1 (95% CI 1.5 to 2.9)). Urban areas had a greater rate of Perthes' disease discharges (RR 1.8 (95% CI 1.1 to 3.2)), though this was a reflection of greater deprivation in urban areas. Stratification for socioeconomic deprivation revealed similar discharge rates in urban and rural environments, suggesting that the aetiological determinants were not independently associated with urban environments. The occurrence of Perthes' disease within urban environments is high, yet this appears to be a reflection of higher socioeconomic deprivation exposure. Disease rates appear equivalent in similarly deprived urban and non-urban areas, suggesting that the determinant is not a consequence of the urban environment.
Predictive routing for autonomous mobility-on-demand systems with ride-sharing
Alonso Mora, J.; Wallar, Alex; Rus, Daniela; Bicchi, A.; Maciejewski, T.
2017-01-01
Ride-sharing, or carpooling, systems with autonomous vehicles will provide efficient and reliable urban mobility on demand. In this work we present a method for dynamic vehicle routing that leverages historical data to improve the performance of a network of self-driving taxis. In particular, we
Suhaili Mansor, Nur; Zulhaidi Mohd Shafri, Helmi; Mansor, Shattri; Paradhan, Biswajeet
2014-06-01
Specifically, the integration between social sciences and natural science are fundamental in our understanding of the economic, social and technological transformations that have drastically changed the society. This study will be based on the municipality of Sungai Petani, Kedah as it has been most influenced by urbanization and urban development. Urban development in Sungai Petani is closely associated with a tremendous increase in demand for land, which is highly related to population growth, human movement and their social mobility. The qualitative case study taken will rely on the visual interpretation technique that would allow the researcher to develop a map of urban changes detection. The potential application of GIS information to estimate socioeconomic indicators and the modelling of socio-economic activities that are explored in this study is hoped to increase further our understanding of the impacts of development and urbanization on social life.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Mansor, Nur Suhaili; Shafri, Helmi Zulhaidi Mohd; Mansor, Shattri; Paradhan, Biswajeet
2014-01-01
Specifically, the integration between social sciences and natural science are fundamental in our understanding of the economic, social and technological transformations that have drastically changed the society. This study will be based on the municipality of Sungai Petani, Kedah as it has been most influenced by urbanization and urban development. Urban development in Sungai Petani is closely associated with a tremendous increase in demand for land, which is highly related to population growth, human movement and their social mobility. The qualitative case study taken will rely on the visual interpretation technique that would allow the researcher to develop a map of urban changes detection. The potential application of GIS information to estimate socioeconomic indicators and the modelling of socio-economic activities that are explored in this study is hoped to increase further our understanding of the impacts of development and urbanization on social life
Changing perspectives in urban park management
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Chan, Chung-shing; Marafa, Lawal M.; Konijnendijk, Cecil Cornelis
2015-01-01
managers in Hong Kong have encountered different challenges over time, and the quest for changing park managerial strategies. In 2004, a set of indicators for urban park management in Hong Kong was produced as part of a Master's research. Local park managers were asked about their views on the respective......Urban parks provide numerous benefits to our society. In densely populated metropolises such as Hong Kong, urban parks are in high demand. A variety of indicators can be used as tools for improving park planning and management. Facing a dynamic society and increasing user expectations, urban park...... importance and performance (I–P) of the indicators. In 2012, a follow-up questionnaire survey was conducted with the managers to study if their views regarding these indicators and their performance had changed. Results from the 2004 and 2012 surveys revealed changing perceptions regarding both I...
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Conlan, D.E.; Longhurst, J.W.S.; Gee, D.R.; Hare, S.E.
1991-07-01
In this document results from the Greater Manchester Acid Deposition Survey (GMADS), an urban precipitation chemistry network, for 1990 are presented. Full analytical methods are described along with the precision and accuracy of the methods used. The spatial variability of precipitation chemistry and deposition over this urban region was investigated using a network of twenty collectors. Concentrations of non marine sulphate, ammonium, calcium and hydrogen, and nitrogen dioxide gas concentrations all show significant spatial variability. The spatial variability of the deposition rates of non marine sulphate, nitrate, ammonium, hydrogen and calcium were significant. (Author).
Demand Forecast of Petroleum Product Consumption in the Chinese Transportation Industry
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Shouyang Wang
2012-03-01
Full Text Available In this paper, petroleum product (mainly petrol and diesel consumption in the transportation sector of China is analyzed. This was based on the Bayesian linear regression theory and Markov Chain Monte Carlo method (MCMC, establishing a demand-forecast model of petrol and diesel consumption introduced into the analytical framework with explanatory variables of urbanization level, per capita GDP, turnover of passengers (freight in aggregate (TPA, TFA, and civilian vehicle number (CVN and explained variables of petrol and diesel consumption. Furthermore, we forecast the future consumer demand for oil products during “The 12th Five Year Plan” (2011–2015 based on the historical data covering from 1985 to 2009, finding that urbanization is the most sensitive factor, with a strong marginal effect on petrol and diesel consumption in this sector. From the viewpoint of prediction interval value, urbanization expresses the lower limit of the predicted results, and CVN the upper limit of the predicted results. Predicted value from other independent variables is in the range of predicted values which display a validation range and reference standard being much more credible for policy makers. Finally, a comparison between the predicted results from autoregressive integrated moving average models (ARIMA and others is made to assess our task.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Evren Sinar
2010-04-01
Full Text Available Recycling nutrients form sanitary wastes back into agricultural ecosystems offers an option to alleviate soil depletion in regions where the use of mineral fertiliser is limited. Exemplary nutrient and water cycling approaches, including collection, treatment and use of human urine, are established at Valley View University (VVU in Greater Accra, Ghana.Concerns have been recently raised in regard to fate and impact of pharmaceutical residues in soils and interlinked environment. To evaluate in how far emerging knowledge can be transposed onto VVU, urban and rural environments in Greater Accra, spatial disease occurrence and drug consumption patterns were studied. Malaria has been found to represent the most severe health burden in Ghana, but there is also a high prevalence of infectious diseases. Drugs consumed in great quantities and in respect to their residual loads potentially problematic in the environment belong to therapeutic groups of: antibiotics, analgesics, drugs for diabetes, antimalarials, cardiovascular drugs and anthelmintics. Drug consumption revealed to be highest in urban and lowest in rural areas. At VVU the range of consumed drugs is comparable to urban areas except for the negligible use of diabetes and cardiovascular medication as well as contraceptives.
Using Experimental Auctions to Examine Demand for E-Cigarettes.
O'Connor, Richard; Rousu, Matthew C; Bansal-Travers, Maansi; Vogl, Lisa; Corrigan, Jay R
2017-06-01
E-cigarettes are the latest in a line of potentially reduced exposure products that have garnered interest among smokers. In this paper, we use experimental auctions to estimate smokers' demand for e-cigarettes and to assess the impact of advertisements on willingness to pay. These are actual auctions, with winners and losers, which means hypothetical biases often seen in surveys are minimized. We find smokers have positive demand for e-cigarettes, and that the print advertisements used in our study had greater effectiveness than video ads (b = 2.00, p e-cigarettes. Demand was greater for reusable versus disposable e-cigarettes. In multivariate models, demand for e-cigarettes was higher among non-white participants and among smokers willing to pay more for cigarettes. Our findings suggest that cigarette smokers are interested in e-cigarettes as alternatives to traditional products, particularly for reusable forms, and that this demand can be influenced by messaging/advertising. Given these reduced harm products are appealing, if smokers are able to switch completely to e-cigarettes, there is a good chance for accrual of significant harm reduction. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Spatial dimensions of the demand for homeownership
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Sørensen, Jens Fyhn Lykke
2010-01-01
This paper introduces the concept of "spatial location satisfaction" and examines its relation to the individual demand for homeownership. Based on a Danish questionnaire survey carried out in a rural study area (N=1000) and in an urban study area (N=1015), a tenure choice model was estimated...... relating spatial location satisfaction to homeownership, while adjusting for control variables. The spatial location satisfaction variable was constructed from two questionnaire items asking respondents to state their actual and preferred place of settlement given five location type options: large city......, medium-sized city, small town, village, and "in the countryside". As hypothesised, the study shows a strong association between spatial location satisfaction and the individual demand for homeownership. This association is robust across study areas. Spatial location satisfaction is highest in the rural...
Gallo, Travis; Fidino, Mason; Lehrer, Elizabeth W; Magle, Seth B
2017-12-01
As urban growth expands and natural environments fragment, it is essential to understand the ecological roles fulfilled by urban green spaces. To evaluate how urban green spaces function as wildlife habitat, we estimated mammal diversity and metacommunity dynamics in city parks, cemeteries, golf courses, and natural areas throughout the greater Chicago, Illinois, USA region. We found similar α-diversity (with the exception of city parks), but remarkably dissimilar communities in different urban green spaces. Additionally, the type of urban green space greatly influenced species colonization and persistence rates. For example, coyotes (Canis latrans) had the highest, but white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) the lowest probability of persistence in golf courses compared to other green space types. Further, most species had a difficult time colonizing city parks even when sites were seemingly available. Our results indicate that urban green spaces contribute different, but collectively important, habitats for maintaining and conserving biodiversity in cities. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.
Estimating U.S. residential demand for fuelwood in the presence of selectivity
Daly, Ryan Michael
Residential energy consumers have options for home heating. With many applications, appliances, and fuel types, fuelwood used for heating faces stiff competition in modern society from other fuels. This study estimates demand for domestic fuelwood. It also examines whether evidence of bias exists from residential homes choosing to use fuelwood. The use of OLS as an estimator will yield biased results if such selectivity exists. Selectivity is addressed with a Heckman (1979) two-step procedure; bias in fuelwood demand estimation using OLS is reduced. Non-wood energy prices and income are major determinants of fuelwood demand. Geographical regions and urbanization confirm results from prior studies.
Nitrogen sources, transport and processing in peri-urban floodplains
Gooddy, D.C.; Macdonald, D.M.J.; Lapworth, D.J.; Bennett, S.A.; Griffiths, K.J.
2014-01-01
Peri-urban floodplains are an important interface between developed land and the aquatic environment and may act as a source or sink for contaminants moving from urban areas towards surface water courses. With increasing pressure from urban development the functioning of floodplains is coming under greater scrutiny. A number of peri-urban sites have been found to be populated with legacy landfills which could potentially cause pollution of adjacent river bodies. Here, a peri-urban floodplain ...
Multiscale and Multitemporal Urban Remote Sensing
Mesev, V.
2012-07-01
The remote sensing of urban areas has received much attention from scientists conducting studies on measuring sprawl, congestion, pollution, poverty, and environmental encroachment. Yet much of the research is case and data-specific where results are greatly influenced by prevailing local conditions. There seems to be a lack of epistemological links between remote sensing and conventional theoretical urban geography; in other words, an oversight for the appreciation of how urban theory fuels urban change and how urban change is measured by remotely sensed data. This paper explores basic urban theories such as centrality, mobility, materiality, nature, public space, consumption, segregation and exclusion, and how they can be measured by remote sensing sources. In particular, the link between structure (tangible objects) and function (intangible or immaterial behavior) is addressed as the theory that supports the wellknow contrast between land cover and land use classification from remotely sensed data. The paper then couches these urban theories and contributions from urban remote sensing within two analytical fields. The first is the search for an "appropriate" spatial scale of analysis, which is conveniently divided between micro and macro urban remote sensing for measuring urban structure, understanding urban processes, and perhaps contributions to urban theory at a variety of scales of analysis. The second is on the existence of a temporal lag between materiality of urban objects and the planning process that approved their construction, specifically how time-dependence in urban structural-functional models produce temporal lags that alter the causal links between societal and political functional demands and structural ramifications.
Age and sex differences in steadiness of elbow flexor muscles with imposed cognitive demand
Pereira, Hugo M.; Spears, Vincent C.; Schlinder-Delap, Bonnie; Yoon, Tejin; Nielson, Kristy A.; Hunter, Sandra K.
2015-01-01
Purpose These studies determined (1) age and sex-related differences in steadiness of isometric contractions when high cognitive demand was imposed across a range of forces with the elbow flexor muscles (study 1) and, (2) sex differences in steadiness among older adults when low cognitive demand was imposed (study 2). Methods 36 young adults (18–25 years; 18 women) and 30 older adults (60–82 years; 17 women) performed isometric contractions at 5%, 30% and 40% of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC). Study 1 involved a high-cognitive demand session (serial subtractions by 13 during the contraction) and a control session (no mental math). Study 2 (older adults only) involved a low-cognitive demand session (subtracting by 1s). Results Older individuals exhibited greater increases in force fluctuations (coefficient of variation of force, CV) with high cognitive demand than young adults, with the largest age difference at 5% MVC (P = 0.01). Older adults had greater agonist EMG activity with high-cognitive demand and women had greater coactivation than men (Pdemand for the older women but not for the older men (P = 0.03). Conclusion Older adults had reduced steadiness and increased muscle activation when high cognitive demand was imposed while low cognitive demand induced increased force fluctuations in older women but not older men. These findings have implications for daily and work-related tasks that involve cognitive demand performed simultaneously during submaximal isometric contractions in an aging workforce. PMID:25633070
Disaggregated export demand of Malaysia: evidence from the electronics industry
Koi Nyen Wong
2008-01-01
This study estimates the determinants of foreign demand for Malaysia's top five electronics exports by SITC (Standard International Trade Classification) product groups from 1990 to 2001. Cointegration results indicate a unique long-run relationship between export demand for electronic products and relative prices and foreign income. Both the estimated long-run income and price elasticities of export demand are greater than 1, conforming to a pattern found in most fast-growing economies and i...
Forecasting operational demand for an urban water supply zone
Zhou, S. L.; McMahon, T. A.; Walton, A.; Lewis, J.
2002-03-01
A time series forecasting model of hourly water consumption 24 h in advance for an urban zone within the Melbourne (Australia) water supply system is developed. The model comprises two modules—daily and hourly. The daily module is formulated as a set of equations representing the effects of three factors on water use namely seasonality, climatic correlation, and autocorrelation. The hourly module is developed to disaggregate the estimated daily consumption into hourly consumption. The models were calibrated using hourly and daily data for a 6 year period, and independently validated over an additional seven month period. Over this latter period, the hourly forecast model accounted for 66% of the variance in the peak hourly water consumption with a standard error of 162 l/p/d.
Technological demands of meat processing-An Asian perspective.
Zhang, Wangang; Naveena, B Maheswarappa; Jo, Cheorun; Sakata, Ryoichi; Zhou, Guanghong; Banerjee, Rituparna; Nishiumi, Tadayuki
2017-10-01
A rapid increase in the economy, population, industrialization, and urbanization of Asian countries has driven the fast development of their meat industries over recent decades. This consistent increase in meat production and consumption in Asia has been the major cause for the development of the global meat industry. Meat production methods and consumption are very diverse across different regions and countries in Asia, and thus, it is impossible to cover the technological demands of all Asian countries in this review. Here, we have mainly highlighted the differences in meat production methods and consumption in Asia during recent decades and the meat technology demands of three east Asian countries, namely China, Korea, and Japan, and one south Asian country, India. A brief introduction of the meat industry, in particular the production and consumption trend in these countries, is provided in this article. The technology demands for fresh and processed meat products are then reviewed. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Future land-use related water demand in California
Wilson, Tamara; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Cameron, D. Richard
2016-01-01
Water shortages in California are a growing concern amidst ongoing drought, earlier spring snowmelt, projected future climate warming, and currently mandated water use restrictions. Increases in population and land use in coming decades will place additional pressure on already limited available water supplies. We used a state-and-transition simulation model to project future changes in developed (municipal and industrial) and agricultural land use to estimate associated water use demand from 2012 to 2062. Under current efficiency rates, total water use was projected to increase 1.8 billion cubic meters(+4.1%) driven primarily by urbanization and shifts to more water intensive crops. Only if currently mandated 25% reductions in municipal water use are continuously implemented would water demand in 2062 balance to water use levels in 2012. This is the first modeling effort of its kind to examine regional land-use related water demand incorporating historical trends of both developed and agricultural land uses.
Electricity (in)accessibility to the urban poor in developing countries
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Singh, Rozita; Wang, Xiao; Mendoza, Juan Carlos
2015-01-01
More than half of the world’s population now lives in urban areas. The difficulties involved in providing new urban residents with a wide variety of services reveals a new face of poverty, one in which urban communities cannot access or afford basic modern energy services for their development...... and empowerment. As an enabler of development processes, access to electricity in urban and peri-urban contexts plays a key role in providing possibilities and solutions to the urban poor. Energy poverty is no longer a rural-only phenomenon, and a concerted effort is needed to find solutions. Taking...... this into account, the Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development (GNESD) initiated the Urban Peri-Urban Energy Access (UPEA) project in 2006. The objective was to understand the barriers to energy access in the context of the urban poor in seven countries. Barriers from both the supply and demand sides...
Instruments shaping sustainable mobility of urban residents
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Krzysztof Grzelec
2016-10-01
Full Text Available Urban development increases the demand for efficient, fast, safe ecological transport. Extensive development of urban transport system, in particular transport infrastructure, changed the point of view about transport needs. Research on the effectiveness of transport systems for years accompanied the study of mobility. The development of modern technology, the need to increase efficiency of transport and increase environmental awareness determined the development of principles and instruments of sustainable mobility. This paper discusses these instruments, their characteristics and application examples.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Faure, Maeva; Salmon, Martin; El Fadili, Safae; Payen, Luc; Kerlero, Guillaume; Banner, Arnaud; Ehinger, Andreas; Illouz, Sebastien; Picot, Roland; Jolivet, Veronique; Michon Savarit, Jeanne; Strang, Karl Axel
2017-02-01
ENEA Consulting published the results of a study on urban micro-grids conducted in partnership with the Group ADP, the Group Caisse des Depots, ENEDIS, Omexom, Total and the Tuck Foundation. This study offers a vision of the definition of an urban micro-grid, the value brought by a micro-grid in different contexts based on real case studies, and the upcoming challenges that micro-grid stakeholders will face (regulation, business models, technology). The electric production and distribution system, as the backbone of an increasingly urbanized and energy dependent society, is urged to shift towards a more resilient, efficient and environment-friendly infrastructure. Decentralisation of electricity production into densely populated areas is a promising opportunity to achieve this transition. A micro-grid enhances local production through clustering electricity producers and consumers within a delimited electricity network; it has the ability to disconnect from the main grid for a limited period of time, offering an energy security service to its customers during grid outages for example. However: The islanding capability is an inherent feature of the micro-grid concept that leads to a significant premium on electricity cost, especially in a system highly reliant on intermittent electricity production. In this case, a smart grid, with local energy production and no islanding capability, can be customized to meet relevant sustainability and cost savings goals at lower costs For industrials, urban micro-grids can be economically profitable in presence of high share of reliable energy production and thermal energy demand micro-grids face strong regulatory challenges that should be overcome for further development Whether islanding is or is not implemented into the system, end-user demand for a greener, more local, cheaper and more reliable energy, as well as additional services to the grid, are strong drivers for local production and consumption. In some specific cases
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Fosgerau, Mogens
2010-01-01
This paper investigates the distribution of delays during a repeatedly occurring demand peak in a congested facility with random capacity and demand, such as an airport or an urban road. Congestion is described in the form of a dynamic queue using the Vickrey bottleneck model and assuming Nash...
Simulating Residential Demand in Singapore through Five Decades of Demographic Change
Davis, N. R.; Fernández, J.
2011-12-01
Singapore's rapid and well-documented development over the last half-century provides an ideal case for studying urban metabolism. Extensive data [1, 2] facilitate the modeling of historical dynamics of population and resource consumption. This paper presents an agent-based population model that simulates key demographic factors - number, size, and relative income of households - through fifty years of development in Singapore. This is the first step in a broader study linking demographic factors to residential demand for urban land, materials, water, and energy. Previous studies of the resource demands of housing stock have accounted for demographics by modifying the important population driver with a single, aggregated "lifestyle" term [3, 4]. However, demographic changes that result from development can influence the nature of the residential sector, and warrant a closer look. Increasing levels of education and affluence coupled with decreasing birth rates have yielded an aging population and changing family structures in Singapore [5]. These factors all contribute to an increasingly resource-intense residential sector. Singaporeans' elevated per capita income and life expectancy have created demand for larger household area, which means a growing percentage of available land must be dedicated to residential use [6]. While the majority of Singapore's housing is public - a strategy designed to maximize land use efficiency - residents are increasingly seeking private alternatives [7]. In the private sector, lower density housing puts even greater pressure on the finite supply of undeveloped land. Agent-based modeling is used to study the selected aspects of demography. The population is disaggregated into historical time-series distributions of age, family size, education, and income. We propose a simplified methodology correlating average education level with birth rate, and income to categorize households and establish housing unit demand. Aggregated lifestyle
The impact of gasoline price fluctuations on lodging demand for US brand hotels
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Walsh, Kate; Enz, Cathy A.; Canina, Linda
2004-01-01
Analyzing US brand hotels, over a 13-year period, this study provides empirical evidence of a significant negative relationship between gasoline prices and demand for certain lodging products, controlling for economic factors (i.e. gross domestic product and population density). Applying principles from microeconomic demand theory to the literature on gasoline price elasticities, consumer demographics and lodging demand, a set of hypotheses were devised to test the relationship between gasoline prices and lodging demand for specific hotel locations and price segments. Using fixed effects models, the results reveal that lodging demand decreases as gasoline prices rise in all segments except upper-upscale and all locations except urban areas. Hotels in midscale without food and beverage and economy market segments, in resort, suburban and highway locations, exhibit the greatest association between gasoline price shifts and demand. Implications of these findings are discussed for both hospitality research and practice. (Author)
The impact of gasoline price fluctuations on lodging demand for US brand hotels
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Walsh, Kate; Enz, Cathy A.; Canina, Linda [Cornell Univ., School of Hotel Administration, Ithaca, NY (United States)
2004-12-01
Analyzing US brand hotels, over a 13-year period, this study provides empirical evidence of a significant negative relationship between gasoline prices and demand for certain lodging products, controlling for economic factors (i.e. gross domestic product and population density). Applying principles from microeconomic demand theory to the literature on gasoline price elasticities, consumer demographics and lodging demand, a set of hypotheses were devised to test the relationship between gasoline prices and lodging demand for specific hotel locations and price segments. Using fixed effects models, the results reveal that lodging demand decreases as gasoline prices rise in all segments except upper-upscale and all locations except urban areas. Hotels in midscale without food and beverage and economy market segments, in resort, suburban and highway locations, exhibit the greatest association between gasoline price shifts and demand. Implications of these findings are discussed for both hospitality research and practice. (Author)
Inamdar, P M; Cook, S; Sharma, A K; Corby, N; O'Connor, J; Perera, B J C
2013-10-15
There is the need to re-configure current urban water systems to achieve the objective of sustainable water sensitive cities. Stormwater represents a valuable alternative urban water source to reduce pressure on fresh water resources, and to mitigate the environmental impact of urban stormwater runoff. The selection of suitable urban stormwater harvesting sites is generally based on the judgement of water planners, who are faced with the challenge of considering multiple technical and socio-economic factors that influence the site suitability. To address this challenge, the present study developed a robust GIS based screening methodology for identifying potentially suitable stormwater harvesting sites in urban areas as a first pass for then more detailed investigation. The study initially evaluated suitability based on the match between harvestable runoff and demand through a concept of accumulated catchments. Drainage outlets of these accumulated catchments were considered as potential stormwater harvesting sites. These sites were screened and ranked under screening parameters namely demand, ratio of runoff to demand and weighted demand distance. The methodology described in this paper was successfully applied to a case study in Melbourne, Australia in collaboration with the local water utility. The methodology was found to be effective in supporting the selection of priority sites for stormwater harvesting schemes, as it provided the basis to identify, short-list and rank sites for further detailed investigation. The rapid identification of suitable sites for stormwater harvesting can assist planners in prioritising schemes in areas that will have the most impact on reducing potable water demand. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Geospatial methods provide timely and comprehensive urban forest information
Kathleen T. Ward; Gary R. Johnson
2007-01-01
Urban forests are unique and highly valued resources. However, trees in urban forests are often under greater stress than those in rural or undeveloped areas due to soil compaction, restricted growing spaces, high temperatures, and exposure to air and water pollution. In addition, conditions change more quickly in urban as opposed to rural and undeveloped settings....
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Murat Yalçıntaş
2015-08-01
Full Text Available The metropolitan city of Istanbul is becoming overcrowded and the demand for clean water is steeply rising in the city. The use of analytical approaches has become more and more critical for forecasting the water supply and demand balance in the long run. In this research, Istanbul’s water supply and demand data is collected for the period during 2006 and 2014. Then, using an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA model, the time series water supply and demand forecasting model is constructed for the period between 2015 and 2018. Three important sustainability metrics such as water loss to supply ratio, water loss to demand ratio, and water loss to residential demand ratio are also presented. The findings show that residential water demand is responsible for nearly 80% of total water use and the consumption categories including commercial, industrial, agriculture, outdoor, and others have a lower share in total water demand. The results also show that there is a considerable water loss in the water distribution system which requires significant investments on the water supply networks. Furthermore, the forecasting results indicated that pipeline projects will be critical in the near future due to expected increases in the total water demand of Istanbul. The authors suggest that sustainable management of water can be achieved by reducing the residential water use through the use of water efficient technologies in households and reduction in water supply loss through investments on distribution infrastructure.
The Effects of Demand-Responsive Parking on Transit Usage and Congestion: Evidence From Sfpark
2017-09-01
Parking is a serious issue in many urban areas, especially those experiencing rapid population growth. To address this problem, some cities have implemented demand-responsive pricing programs, where parking prices vary depending on the occupancy rate...
The Social Demand for Education in Peru: Students' Choices and State Autonomy.
Post, David
1990-01-01
Asked 3,200 Peruvian graduating secondary students to explain their choice concerning whether to attend college. Reveals human capital theory's limited applicability, showing only wealthier urban boys used cost effectiveness in their decision. Relates the heterogeneity of higher education demand factors to inherent limits in Latin American…
Establishing sustainable strategies in urban underground engineering.
Curiel-Esparza, Jorge; Canto-Perello, Julian; Calvo, Maria A
2004-07-01
Growth of urban areas, the corresponding increased demand for utility services and the possibility of new types of utility systems are overcrowding near surface underground space with urban utilities. Available subsurface space will continue to diminish to the point where utilidors (utility tunnels) may become inevitable. Establishing future sustainable strategies in urban underground engineering consists of the ability to lessen the use of traditional trenching. There is an increasing interest in utility tunnels for urban areas as a sustainable technique to avoid congestion of the subsurface. One of the principal advantages of utility tunnels is the substantially lower environmental impact compared with common trenches. Implementing these underground facilities is retarded most by the initial cost and management procedures. The habitual procedure is to meet problems as they arise in current practice. The moral imperative of sustainable strategies fails to confront the economic and political conflicts of interest. Municipal engineers should act as a key enabler in urban underground sustainable development.
Study of Intercity Travel Characteristics in Chinese Urban Agglomeration
Zhuoran, Li; Yan, Wang; Shichen, Zhao
2015-01-01
Due to rapid urban development in china, traffic problems are fast becoming considerably serious. In this study, we focus on intercity travel characteristics’ research. By investigating the travel characteristics of passengers and the intercity traffic demand forecast, we aim to discriminate the geographical spatial characteristics of departure places and to establish coupling law of city public transportation hubs and urban space which directly connect with the intercity rail station. In fut...
Urban and regional labour market mobility in Norway
Stambøl, Lasse Sigbjørn
2005-01-01
Across Europe the competitiveness of urban and regional labour markets becomes an increasingly important task for regional and sector policies. Efficient matching of local demand and supply of labour at different qualification levels is considered to be an important prerequisite both for economic growth and social cohesion in every region. This study contains the main results of a research project analysing the urban and regional labour market mobility in Norway. The main purpose of the study...
Toparlar, Y.; Blocken, B.J.E.; Heijst, van G.J.F.; Vos, P.E.J.; Schlünzen, K.H.
2014-01-01
The global trend towards urbanization has increased the popularity and the number of studies in the field of urban physics. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is one of the tools that can help researchers to investigate the effect of urban microclimate on comfort, health and energy demand. In this
The role of rewards and demands in burnout among surgical nurses
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Beata A. Basińska
2013-08-01
Full Text Available Objective: Job rewards have both, an intrinsic and an extrinsic motivational potential, and lead to employees' development as well as help them to achieve work goals. Rewards can balance job demands and protect from burnout. Due to changes on the labour market, new studies are needed. The aim of our study was to examine the role of demands and individual rewards (and their absence in burnout among surgical nurses. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in 2009 and 2010 with 263 nurses who worked in surgical wards and clinics in hospitals in Southern Poland. The hypotheses were tested by the use of measures of demands and rewards (Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire by Siegrist and burnout syndrome (Maslach Burnout Inventory. A cross-sectional, correlational study design was applied. Results: Nurses experienced the largest deficiencies in salary and prestige. Exhaustion was explained by stronger demands and lack of respect (large effect. Depersonalization was explained by stronger demands, lack of respect and greater job security (medium effect. Reduced personal achievement was explained by more demands and greater job security (small effect. Conclusions: Excessive demands and lack of esteem are key reasons for burnout among surgical nurses. Job security can increase burnout when too many resources are invested and career opportunities do not appear. These results may help to improve human resource management in the healthcare sector.
The role of rewards and demands in burnout among surgical nurses.
Basińska, Beata A; Wilczek-Rużyczka, Ewa
2013-08-01
Job rewards have both, an intrinsic and an extrinsic motivational potential, and lead to employees' development as well as help them to achieve work goals. Rewards can balance job demands and protect from burnout. Due to changes on the labour market, new studies are needed. The aim of our study was to examine the role of demands and individual rewards (and their absence) in burnout among surgical nurses. The study was conducted in 2009 and 2010 with 263 nurses who worked in surgical wards and clinics in hospitals in Southern Poland. The hypotheses were tested by the use of measures of demands and rewards (Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire by Siegrist) and burnout syndrome (Maslach Burnout Inventory). A cross-sectional, correlational study design was applied. Nurses experienced the largest deficiencies in salary and prestige. Exhaustion was explained by stronger demands and lack of respect (large effect). Depersonalization was explained by stronger demands, lack of respect and greater job security (medium effect). Reduced personal achievement was explained by more demands and greater job security (small effect). Excessive demands and lack of esteem are key reasons for burnout among surgical nurses. Job security can increase burnout when too many resources are invested and career opportunities do not appear. These results may help to improve human resource management in the healthcare sector.
Leisure, economy and colonial urbanism: Darjeeling, 1835-1930.
Bhattacharya, Nandini
2013-08-01
This article posits that the hill station of Darjeeling was a unique form of colonial urbanism. It shifts historiographical interest from major urban centres in colonial India (such as Bombay or Calcutta) and instead attempts a greater understanding of smaller urban centres. In the process, it also interrogates the category of hill stations, which have been understood as exotic and scenic sites rather than as towns that were integral to the colonial economy. In arguing that hill stations, particularly Darjeeling, were not merely the scenic and healthy 'other' of the clamorous, dirty and diseased plains of India, it refutes suggestions that the 'despoiling' or overcrowding of Darjeeling was incremental to the purposes of its establishment. Instead, it suggests that Darjeeling was part of the colonial mainstream; its urbanization and inclusion into the greater colonial economy was effected from the time of its establishment. Therefore, a constant tension between its exotic and its functional elements persisted throughout.
Urban food-energy-water nexus: a case study of Beijing
Wu, Z.; Shao, L.
2017-12-01
The interactions between the food, energy and water sectors are of great importance to urban sustainable development. This work presents a framework to analyze food-energy-water (FEW) nexus of a city. The method of multi-scale input-output analysis is applied to calculate consumption-based energy and water use that is driven by urban final demand. It is also capable of accounting virtual energy and water flows that is embodied in trade. Some performance indicators are accordingly devised for a comprehensive understanding of the urban FEW nexus. A case study is carried out for the Beijing city. The embodied energy and water use of foods, embodied water of energy industry and embodied energy of water industry are analyzed. As a key node of economic network, Beijing exchanges a lot of materials and products with external economic systems, especially other Chinese provinces, which involves massive embodied energy and water flows. As a result, Beijing relies heavily on outsourcing energy and water to meet local people's consumption. It is revealed that besides the apparent supply-demand linkages, the underlying interconnections among food, water and energy sectors are critical to create sustainable urban areas.
Botlaguduru, Venkata S V; Kommalapati, Raghava R; Huque, Ziaul
2018-04-19
± 0.005 ppb/yr for the overall period of 1990-2016. Implications Statement The effectiveness of air emission controls can be evaluated by developing long-term air quality trends independent of meteorological influences. KZ filter technique is a well-established method to separate an air quality time-series into: short-term, seasonal and long-term components. This paper applies the KZ filter technique to MDA8 ozone data between 1990-2016 at an urban site in the Greater Houston area and estimates the variance accounted for, by the primary meteorological control variables. Estimates for linear trends of MDA8 ozone are calculated and underlying causes are investigated to provide a guidance for further investigation into air quality management of the Greater Houston Area.
Cominola, A.; Spang, E. S.; Giuliani, M.; Castelletti, A.; Loge, F. J.; Lund, J. R.
2016-12-01
Demand side management strategies are key to meet future water and energy demands in urban contexts, promote water and energy efficiency in the residential sector, provide customized services and communications to consumers, and reduce utilities' costs. Smart metering technologies allow gathering high temporal and spatial resolution water and energy consumption data and support the development of data-driven models of consumers' behavior. Modelling and predicting resource consumption behavior is essential to inform demand management. Yet, analyzing big, smart metered, databases requires proper data mining and modelling techniques, in order to extract useful information supporting decision makers to spot end uses towards which water and energy efficiency or conservation efforts should be prioritized. In this study, we consider the following research questions: (i) how is it possible to extract representative consumers' personalities out of big smart metered water and energy data? (ii) are residential water and energy consumption profiles interconnected? (iii) Can we design customized water and energy demand management strategies based on the knowledge of water- energy demand profiles and other user-specific psychographic information? To address the above research questions, we contribute a data-driven approach to identify and model routines in water and energy consumers' behavior. We propose a novel customer segmentation procedure based on data-mining techniques. Our procedure consists of three steps: (i) extraction of typical water-energy consumption profiles for each household, (ii) profiles clustering based on their similarity, and (iii) evaluation of the influence of candidate explanatory variables on the identified clusters. The approach is tested onto a dataset of smart metered water and energy consumption data from over 1000 households in South California. Our methodology allows identifying heterogeneous groups of consumers from the studied sample, as well as
Economic and geographic factors affecting the development of Greater Baku
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Vusat AFANDIYEV
2014-12-01
Full Text Available Globally, the responsible factors for the ongoing development of urbanization are the high speed of population growth, and the mass migration of humans to cities and large urban areas. In most countries, this process resulted in the emergence of ‘pseudo-urbanization’ which is difficult to be regulated. The purpose of the carried researches to determine the development priorities in the territory of Greater Baku – the capital city of the Republic of Azerbaijan; to define the problems that take place in this connection; and to develop ways of elimination of these problems. The reason of taking Baku as a research area is connected with some of the factors. Firstly, studies on Baku have been conducted based on the Soviet geographical and urban planning school and their methods for a long period. In this regard, it is necessary to carry out research in this field based on the principles adopted in most countries. Secondly, since 1992, the intensive accumulation of population in the territory of the capital city and the surrounding areas is being observed because of socio-economic problems. As a result, the process of pseudo-urbanization intensified, entailing a densely-populated area. Thirdly, low-rise buildings still continue to exist in the large areas within the territory of Baku, and they are not associated with the functional structure of the city. This situation creates many challenges, particularly in terms of density growth and effective use of the city’s territory. Finally, numerous new buildings have been constructed in the residential areas of Baku in recent years, and this may entailserious problems in water supply, energy provision, and utilities. The study is carried out referring to previous works of researchers, statistic data, and the results of the population census conducted in 1959-2009.The practical significance of the scientific work is that positive and negative factors affecting the further development of Greater Baku
Key Variables for Decision-Making on Urban Renewal in China: A Case Study of Chongqing
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tao Zhou
2017-03-01
Full Text Available Currently, the Chinese government leads urban renewal via a top-down management style with the government playing the role of decision-maker. The decision-making opinions held by groups of stakeholders are divided, which creates many social problems, project technical issues and even civil disorder. This paper uses factor analysis to extract the key variables for decision-making on urban renewal and the entropy weight method to sort these key variables by importance. Based on this order, the differing opinions of stakeholders regarding urban renewal decision-making are explored. First, contradictory opinions exist concerning the importance of the ecological environment, housing and facilities, social welfare and commercial activities, which are the main driving forces behind urban renewal, due to the groups of stakeholders having different interest demands. Second, these varying interest demands of the stakeholders affect the urban renewal decision-making results. Finally, compensation to people for the demolition of their homes, infrastructure supplements and the investment behaviour of developers display the greatest lack of consensus of all the variables tested in urban renewal decision-making between different stakeholders.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Gorsevski, V.; Taha, H.; Quattrochi, D.; Luvall, J.
1998-07-01
Urban heat islands increase the demand for cooling energy and accelerate the formation of smog. They are created when natural vegetation is replaced by heat-absorbing surfaces such as building roofs and walls, parking lots, and streets. Through the implementation of measures designed to mitigate the urban heat island, communities can decrease their demand for energy and effectively cool the metropolitan landscape. In addition to the economic benefits, using less energy leads to reductions in emission of CO{sub 2}--a greenhouse gas--as well as ozone (smog) precursors such as NOx and VOCs. Because ozone is created when NOx and VOCs photochemically combine with heat and solar radiation, actions taken to lower ambient air temperature can significantly reduce ozone concentrations in certain areas. Measures to reverse the urban heat island include afforestation and the widespread use of highly reflective surfaces. To demonstrate the potential benefits of implementing these measures, EPA has teamed up with NASA and LBNL to initiate a pilot project with three US cities. As part of the pilot, NASA will use remotely-sensed data to quantify surface temperature, albedo, the thermal response number and NDVI vegetation of each city. This information will be used by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) along with other data as inputs to model various scenarios that will help quantify the potential benefits of urban heat island mitigation measures in terms of reduced energy use and pollution. This paper will briefly describe this pilot project and provide an update on the progress to date.
Modelling electricity demand in Ghana revisited: The role of policy regime changes
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Adom, Philip Kofi; Bekoe, William
2013-01-01
As policy regime changes, demand elasticities are unlikely to be constant since individuals change how they form their expectations, and this will change the estimated decision rules. In this paper, the time-varying nature of electricity demand elasticities prior to and post the economic reform period in Ghana is analysed using the FM-OLS. Three different sample periods -pre-reform, post-reform, and full-period- was used in the analysis. The result from the full-sample period revealed that in the long-run electricity demand is significantly affected by industry efficiency, industry value added, and real per capita GDP. Urbanization rate, however, has no significant effect. The pre-reform estimate showed lower income, output, and urbanization elasticities but higher industry energy efficiency elasticity relative to the post-reform period. This suggests that technological change in the pre-reform period has been energy saving whilst technological change in the post reform period has been energy consuming. The result further showed evidence of changing structure of the economy from the more energy intensive sector to the less energy intensive sector after the reform. Government should renew her effort in promoting energy saving technologies in the industrial sector and adjust the industrial structure to encourage the expansion of low energy intensive industries or high technology efficient industries. - Highlights: • The study investigates time-varying nature of demand elasticities prior to 1983 and after 1983. • Result shows differences in demand elasticities prior to and post the reform. • Pre-reform period is characterised with energy saving technology. • Post-reform period is characterised with energy consuming technology. • The post-reform result reveals evidence of gradual structural shift in the economy
Demand management implementation in Southeast Asia
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Tanaboriboon, Y.
1995-12-31
The need to apply transportation system management, to developing countries is urgent. Attempts to alleviate severe traffic congestion in their metropolises have so far failed to provide adequate solutions. The countries are faced with many difficulties because of the lack of sufficient financial resources together with their complex internal administrative and political problems. They are incapable of providing sufficient road space to cope with the escalating demand in private automobiles. This has led to excessive delays in urban traveling, environmental pollution problems, decline of road-based public transit services and deterioration of the quality of life in these metropolises. Demand management, in use for decades in the Western world, has also been recognized in Singapore`s famous area licensing scheme (ALS) making other Southeast Asian Metropolises aware of its advantages as an alternative in solving their chaotic traffic problems. However, realization is far different from implementation and still many metropolises are not able to apply the technique. Singapore and Thailand, two leaders among many other Southeast Asian regions in economics, tourism, trade and industry handle their problems far differently, especially the traffic congestion problem. While a number of demand management schemes have been implemented successfully in Singapore since 1975, Bangkok is still struggling to implement such measures to alleviate severe traffic congestion problems. This article intends to high light the successful practices and unsuccessful attempts of demand management techniques applied in Singapore and Bangkok.
Residents and urban greenways: Modeling support for the Atlanta BeltLine
Nathan P. Palardy; B. Bynum Boley; Cassandra Johnson Gaither
2018-01-01
Urban greenways have received significant attention due to their many publicized benefits and costs that make them contentious recreational developments. Most prior studies have approached urban greenways from a demand-side perspective solely focused on their users. This study adds to the literature by taking a supply-side approach to assessing resident attitudes...
Exploring energy consumption and demand in China
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Fan, Ying; Xia, Yan
2012-01-01
China has been experiencing industrialization and urbanization since reform and opening of its economy in 1978. Energy consumption in the country has featured issues such as a coal-dominated energy mix, low energy efficiency and high emissions. Thus, it is of great importance to explore the factors driving the increase in energy consumption in the past two decades and estimate the potential for decreasing energy demands in the future. In this paper a hybrid energy input–output model is used to decompose driving factors to identify how these factors impact changes in energy intensity. A modified RAS approach is applied to project energy requirements in a BAU scenario and an alternative scenario. The results show that energy input mix, industry structure and technology improvements have major influences on energy demand. Energy demand in China will continue to increase at a rapid rate if the economy develops as in the past decades, and is projected to reach 4.7 billion tce in 2020. However, the huge potential for a decrease cannot be neglected, since growth could be better by adjusting the energy mix and industrial structure and enhancing technology improvements. The total energy demand could be less than 4.0 billion tce in 2020. -- Highlights: ► In this paper a hybrid energy input–output model is used to decompose driving factors to China’s energy intensity change. ► A modified RAS approach is applied to project energy requirements in China. ► The results show that energy input mix, industry structure and technology improvements have major influences on energy demand. ► Energy demand in China will reach 4.7 billion ton in 2020 if the economy develops as in the past decades. ► There is a huge potential for a decrease of energy demand by adjusting the energy mix and industrial structure and enhancing technology improvements.
Household pathway selection of energy consumption during urbanization process in China
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Sun, Chuanwang; Ouyang, Xiaoling; Cai, Hongbo; Luo, Zhichao; Li, Aijun
2014-01-01
Highlights: • Energy consumption patterns have long-term impacts on energy demand. • We explore determinants and structure of household energy consumption. • Tobit and OLS models are adopted to explore factors influencing energy expenditure. • Residential energy consumption in 2030 is evaluated using scenario analysis. - Abstract: China’s growing energy demand is driven by urbanization. Facing the problem of energy scarcity, residential energy consumption is a crucial area of energy conservation and emissions reduction. Household energy consumption patterns, which are characterized by effects of “path lock-in”, have long-term impacts on China’s energy demand. Based on the survey data, this paper explores factors that influence household energy consumption and analyzes the structure of residential energy consumption in China. Based on the results of analysis of variance (ANOVA), this paper applies the Tobit and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) models to investigate impacts of variables of “the tiered pricing for household electricity (TPHE)”, “solar energy usage”, “automobile ownership”, “rural or urban areas”, “household income” and “city scale” on the residential energy expenditure. In addition, household energy consumption is estimated under different scenarios including improving the utilization of solar energy, rise in energy prices and the increase in automobile ownership. Residential energy consumption in 2030 is evaluated by simulating different models for urban development. Policy recommendations are suggested for China’s urban development strategy, new energy development and household pathway selection of energy consumption
urban consumer willingness to pay for introduced dessert bananas
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Administrator
National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) P.O. Box 7065, Kampala, ... the introduced dessert bananas among the urban consumers be done to widen their demand. Key Words: Fusarium wilt, Gros Michel, hedonic model, Musa spp.
New Business and Urban Employment Opportunities.
McLennan, Kenneth; Seidenstat, Paul
In an examination of the geographic distribution of the urban demand for labor and its relationship with unemployment in Philadelphia, this study: (1) considers the potential contribution of new businesses in rehabilitating the ghettos, (2) examines the relative attractiveness of different parts of the city to various types of industries, and (3)…
Pressures on the Urban University Today.
Hester, James M.
In virtually all phases of our national life we are accepting new viewpoints that are reflected in student attitudes. Students are flocking to urban universities and demanding curricula that are related to peace, social justice, and domestic and world problems. A growing number of skeptical, moderate students are joining the hard-core destructive…
Xue, Huaju; Fang, Chengjiang
2018-02-01
It is vital to assess the regional tourist supply capability by suppliers and demand groups. The supply side’s evaluation of the regional supply capacity determines the direction of the supply investment in future, the demand side’s evaluation indicates their satisfaction degree of the destination supply and also effects their revisit the tourism destination. Therefore, the assessment of the supply and demand sides is an important reference for the reform of destination supply side, which helps us find the shortage of the destination supply factors and optimize tourism destination supply promptly. This paper through investigating tourism supply and demand groups in Shanghai, used the survey data and constructed tourism supply optimization model, analyzed the current situation of tourism supply factors in Shanghai. Results showed that the environment of Shanghai should be improved first, including improving urban air and water quality, up-grading public sanitation and increasing urban green coverage. Other supply factors improved priority were information and marketing, we should improve the information consultation of scenic spots, increase the intensity of tourism promotion and provide more free travel publicity brochures.
EUROPEAN URBANIZATION – BETWEEN STRENGTHS AND RISKS
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Marcela Danu
2013-12-01
Full Text Available On the European continent, urban population, representing a significant segment of the market, with features specific to a particular model of purchase, consumption, lifestyle, etc. , has the potential for growth. The possible effects of this increase (strengths or risks, include: increasing opportunities for employment, increasing level and structure of demand for consumer goods and, in conjunction, of the level and structure of supply, raising of the standard of living, changing requirements and personal taste level population, increased interaction, socializing, psycho-social conversions on the recently urbanised population as well as for the people there, etc. but also the increase in demand for land areas intended for dwellings, commercial premises and hence reducing spaces with vegetation, increasing the degree of concentration of the population in a small grounds, effects on air quality, etc. This study highlights dynamic and interdependent effects of European urbanization on the human population, businesses, and the environment.
Examining Rural/Urban Differences in Prescription Opioid Misuse Among US Adolescents.
Monnat, Shannon M; Rigg, Khary K
2016-01-01
This study examines differences in prescription opioid misuse (POM) among adolescents in rural, small urban, and large urban areas of the United States and identifies several individual, social, and community risk factors contributing to those differences. We used nationally representative data from the 2011 and 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health and estimated binary logistic regression and formal mediation models to assess past-year POM among 32,036 adolescents aged 12-17. Among adolescents, 6.8% of rural, 6.0% of small urban, and 5.3% of large urban engaged in past-year POM. Net of multiple risk and protective factors, rural adolescents have 35% greater odds and small urban adolescents have 21% greater odds of past-year POM compared to large urban adolescents. The difference between rural and small urban adolescents was not significant. Criminal activity, lower perceived substance use risk, and greater use of emergency medical treatment partially contribute to higher odds among rural adolescents, but they are also partially buffered by less peer substance use, less illicit drug access, and stronger religious beliefs. Researchers, policy makers, and treatment providers must consider the complex array of individual, social, and community risk and protective factors to understand rural/urban differences in adolescent POM. Potential points of intervention to prevent POM in general and reduce rural disparities include early education about addiction risks, use of family drug courts to link criminal offenders to treatment, and access to nonemergency medical services to reduce rural residents' reliance on emergency departments where opioid prescribing is more likely. © 2015 National Rural Health Association.
Parametric Design Strategies for Collaborative Urban Design
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Steinø, Nicolai; Yıldırım, Miray Baş; Özkar, Mine
2013-01-01
to the collaboration between professionals, participation by different non-professional stakeholders, such as residents, local authorities, non-governmental organizations and investors, is another important component of collaborative urban design processes. The involvement of community in decision making process...... implications of planning and design decisions, unless they are presented with relatively detailed architectural models, whether physical or virtual. This however, typically presents steep demands in terms of time and resources. As a foundation for our work with parametric urban design lies the hypothesis...... to solve different scripting challenges. The paper is organized into an introduction, three main sections and closing section with conclusions and perspectives. The first section of the paper gives a theoretical discussion of the notion of collaborative design and the challenges of collaborative urban...
Natural gas demand in the European household sector
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Nilsen, Odd Bjarte; Asche, Frank; Tveteras, Ragnar
2005-08-01
This paper analyzes the residential natural gas demand per capita in 12 European countries using a dynamic log linear demand model, which allows for country-specific elasticity estimates in the short- and long-run. The explanatory variables included lagged demand per capita, heating degree days index, real prices of natural gas, light fuel oil, electricity, and real private income per capita. The short-run own-price and income elasticity tend to be very inelastic, but with greater long-run responsiveness. By splitting the data set in two time periods, an increase in the own-price elasticities were detected for the European residential natural gas demand market as a whole. We have provided support for employing a heterogeneous estimator such as the shrinkage estimator. But the empirical results also motivate a further scrutiny of its properties. (Author)
The renaissance of tramways and urban redevelopment in France
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Boquet Yves
2017-03-01
Full Text Available Tramways have made a remarkable comeback in France since the 1980s. An organization of public transport based on the decentralized administration system set up in the early 1980s has allowed local urban authorities to make their own choices to develop public transport networks in the context of automobile domination. As in many other countries, worries about fossil fuel dependency and demands concerning sustainable urban development appear as strong elements in favour of urban light rail. However, in France, tramways are not just technical solutions for traffic congestion, they have also become a symbol of a cultural mutation in urban development planning. Coupled with a national political push for a more inclusive city in social terms, tramways are the backbone of contemporary urban policies, in a French version of transit-oriented development (TOD, especially for mid-size cities.
Physiological and skill demands of 'on-side' and 'off-side' games.
Gabbett, Tim J; Jenkins, David G; Abernethy, Bruce
2010-11-01
This study investigated the physiological and skill demands of 'on-side' and 'off-side' games in elite rugby league players. Sixteen male rugby league players participated in 'on-side' and 'off-side' games. Both small-sided games were played in a 40- × 40-m playing area. The 'off-side' game permitted players to have 3 'plays' while in possession of the ball. Players were permitted to pass backward or forward (to an 'off-side' player). The 'on-side' game also permitted players to have 3 'plays' while in possession of the ball. However, players were only permitted to pass backward to players in an 'on-side' position. Heart rate and movement patterns (via global positioning system) were recorded continuously throughout both games. Data were collected on the distance covered, number of high-acceleration and velocity efforts, and recovery between efforts. Video footage was also taken to track the performance of the players. Post hoc inspection of the footage was undertaken to count the number of possessions and the number and quality of disposals. In comparison to 'on-side' games, 'off-side' games had a greater number of involvements ("touches"), passes, and effective passes. However, the cognitive demands of 'on-side' games were greater than 'off-side' games. 'Off-side' games resulted in a greater total distance covered, greater distance covered in mild and moderate accelerations, and greater distance covered in low, moderate, and high-velocity efforts. There were also a greater number of short duration recovery periods between efforts in 'off-side' games. The results of this study demonstrate that 'off-side' games provide greater physiological and skill demands than 'on-side' games. 'Off-side' games may provide a practical alternative to 'on-side' games for the development of skill and fitness in elite rugby league players.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Zulu, Leo Charles
2010-01-01
This article examines woodfuel policy challenges and opportunities in Malawi two decades after woodfuel-crisis narratives and counter-narratives. A nuanced examination of woodfuel supply, demand, use, and markets illuminated options to turn stagnant policies based on charcoal 'bans' and fuel-substitution into proactive, realistic ones acknowledging woodfuel dominance and its socio-economic importance. Findings revealed growing, spatially differentiated woodfuel deficits in southern and central Malawi and around Blantyre, Zomba and Lilongwe cities. Poverty, limited electricity access, reliability and generation exacerbated by tariff subsidies, and complex fuel-allocation decisions restricted energy-ladder transitions from woodfuels to electricity, producing an enduring urban-energy mix dominated by charcoal, thereby increasing wood consumption. Diverse socio-political interests prevented lifting of the charcoal 'ban' despite progressive forest laws. Despite implementation challenges, lessons already learnt, efficiency and poverty-reduction arguments, limited government capacity, growing illegal production of charcoal in forest reserves, and its staying power, make targeted community-based forest management (CBFM) approaches more practical for regulated, commercial production of woodfuels than the status quo. New differentiated policies should include commercial woodfuel production and licensing for revenue and ecological sustainability under CBFM or concessions within and outside selected reserves, an enterprise-based approaches for poverty reduction, smallholder/private tree-growing, woodfuel-energy conserving technologies, improved electricity supply and agricultural productivity.
Urbanization and economic development: a bias toward large cities?
Moomaw, R L; Shatter, A M
1996-01-01
"We find that a nation's urban population percentage increases with GDP per capita; industrialization; export orientation; and possibly, foreign assistance. It decreases with the importance of agriculture. Industrialization and agricultural importance have the same implications for the concentration of urban population in cities with 100,000+ population as for the urban percentage. Greater export orientation reduces such concentration. Finally, GDP per capita, population, and export orientation reduce primacy. Political factors, such as whether a country's largest city is also its capital, affect primacy. Our results do not seem to imply that developing-country urbanization today differs fundamentally from urbanization in the past." excerpt
Distribution of radionuclides in urban areas and their removal
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Roed, J.; Andersson, K.G.; Garger, E.; Sobotovitch, E.; Matveenko, I.I.
1996-01-01
The major contamination processes in the urban environment are wet and dry deposition with the former leading to much greater deposition per unit of time. Typical deposition patterns for radiocesium in urban areas have been identified for these processes and recent in situ measurements have been used to verify these relations and to investigate the urban weathering effect over long periods. The results of a recent series of field trials of decontamination methods in urban or suburban Russian areas are reported, and this experience has been incorporated in an example of formation of strategies for clean-up in an urban contamination scenario
Stickler, M. M.; Shackleton, C. M.
2015-02-01
Understanding the rates and causes of land-use change is crucial in identifying solutions, especially in sensitive landscapes and ecosystems, as well as in places undergoing rapid political, socioeconomic or ecological change. Despite considerable concern at the rate of transformation and degradation of the biodiversity-rich Albany Thicket biome in South Africa, most knowledge is gleaned from private commercial lands and state conservation areas. In comparison, there is limited work in communal areas where land uses include biomass extraction, especially for firewood and construction timber. We used aerial photographs to analyze land use and cover change in the high- and low-use zones of an urban commonage and an adjacent protected area over almost six decades, which included a major political transition. Field sampling was undertaken to characterize the current state of the vegetation and soils of the commonage and protected area and to determine the supply and demand for firewood and construction timber. Between the 1950s and 1980s, there was a clear increase in woody vegetation cover, which was reversed after the political transition in the mid-1990s. However, current woody plant standing stocks and sustainable annual production rates are well above current firewood demand, suggesting other probable causes for the decline in woody plant cover. The fragmentation of woody plant cover is paralleled by increases in grassy areas and bare ground, an increase in soil compaction, and decreases in soil moisture, carbon, and nutrients.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Al-Awadhi, T.
2008-01-01
Muscat Governorate is the main governorate in the Sultanate of Oman and at the same time, it is the capital of the country. The urban of Muscat expanded on the area rapidly. So, the process of the growth, the controlling factors and the side problems which become apparent need to be highlighted. In order to determine the urban growth between 1960 and 2003, multi data sources and techniques have been used under a GIS environment. This research aims to measure and to model the urban expansion of Muscat Governorate using the combined technologies of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS). Based on the detailed datasets and knowledge of historical land use maps attempts were made to simulate future growth patterns of the city. The outcome of this exercise was the design of six urban growth maps covering the years 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2003. The results show that the total urban expansion reached more than 650% between 1960 and 2003, with an annual growth rate of approximately 20%. A combination of human and physical factors controlled this rapid growth. The paper discusses also the current urban problems resulting from this rapid growth as well as its future spatial trends
Comparing earnings profiles in urban areas of an LDC: rural-to-urban migrants vs. native workers.
Vijverberg, W P; Zeager, L A
1994-12-01
"We use Tanzanian data to test a recently proposed hypothesis that rural-to-urban migrants have an incentive to supply greater work effort than native urban workers, because of the migrants' positive probability of returning to the low-wage rural areas. We treat the choice between public- and private-sector employment as endogenous and, for theoretical and empirical reasons, distinguish migrants with access to rural land from those without access. Our results show that migrants in both sectors face lower initial wage offers than native urban workers. But, the wage gap is eliminated within a decade or less, and thereafter, migrants surpass the wage offers of native workers." excerpt
Eco-Efficiency Indicators for Urban Transport
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Patrick Moriarty
2015-06-01
Full Text Available This paper focuses on urban passenger transport eco-efficiency, which can be defined as the production of maximum benefits to society while minimising environmental impacts from urban transport’s inputs of energy and materials. Researchers have intensively studied transport’s varied environmental impacts, particularly through Life Cycle Assessment; this paper argues that primary transport energy per capita is presently the best measure of impact. Although transport’s societal benefits have generally been regarded as self-evident, access to out-of-home activities, not passenger-km, should be considered as the fundamental useful output of an urban transport system, since transport is a derived demand. We argue that access levels are roughly similar in all high-income OECD cities, so that these cities can be ranked on transport eco-efficiency simply on the basis of per capita primary transport energy.
Leisure, economy and colonial urbanism: Darjeeling, 1835–1930
BHATTACHARYA, NANDINI
2013-01-01
This article posits that the hill station of Darjeeling was a unique form of colonial urbanism. It shifts historiographical interest from major urban centres in colonial India (such as Bombay or Calcutta) and instead attempts a greater understanding of smaller urban centres. In the process, it also interrogates the category of hill stations, which have been understood as exotic and scenic sites rather than as towns that were integral to the colonial economy. In arguing that hill stations, particularly Darjeeling, were not merely the scenic and healthy ‘other’ of the clamorous, dirty and diseased plains of India, it refutes suggestions that the ‘despoiling’ or overcrowding of Darjeeling was incremental to the purposes of its establishment. Instead, it suggests that Darjeeling was part of the colonial mainstream; its urbanization and inclusion into the greater colonial economy was effected from the time of its establishment. Therefore, a constant tension between its exotic and its functional elements persisted throughout. PMID:24273391
Dong, P; Qiu, W Q; Shi, J F; Mao, A Y; Huang, H Y; Sun, Z X; Huang, J W; Liao, X Z; Liu, G X; Wang, D B; Bai, Y N; Sun, X J; Ren, J S; Guo, L W; Lan, L; Liu, Y Q; Gong, J Y; Yang, L; Xing, X J; Song, B B; Zhou, Q; Mai, L; Zhu, L; Du, L B; Zhang, Y Z; Zhou, J Y; Qin, M F; Wu, S L; Qi, X; Sun, X H; Lou, P A; Cai, B; Zhang, K; He, J; Dai, M
2018-02-10
Objective: To explore the sustainability of cancer screening strategy from potential demander's perspective in Chinese country, we conducted a study on the use of cancer screening services and willingness-to-pay among the urban community residents. All the participants of this study had not been on the Cancer Screening Program in Urban China (CanSPUC) or any other national level cancer screening projects. Methods: Target communities and populations were selected from the 16 project provinces in China which were on the program between 2014 and 2015, by using the multi-center cross-sectional convenience sampling method. Chi-square was used to compare the rates on the utilization of service and willingness-to-pay across the different subgroups. Logistic progression was conducted to examine factors that associated with the service utilization and willingness-to-pay. Results: A total of 16 394 participants were included in this study. Among them, 12.1% (1 984/16 394) had ever been on a cancer screening program. Populations with following characteristics as: being elderly (60-69 years, OR =1.27, 95% CI : 1.13-1.43), female (male, OR = 0.56, 95% CI : 0.50-0.62), having had higher education (high school/specialized secondary school, OR = 1.51, 95% CI : 1.35-1.70; college or over, OR =2.10, 95% CI : 1.36-3.25), working for public ( OR =2.85, 95% CI : 2.26-3.59), enterprises or self-employed agencies ( OR =1.32, 95% CI : 1.06-1.64), having higher income (60 000-150 000 Chinese Yuan, OR =1.55, 95% CI : 1.39-1.73; ≥150 000 Chinese Yuan, OR =2.57, 95% CI : 2.09-3.15), under basic medical insurance programs for urban employees/for government servants'( OR =1.15, 95% CI : 1.01-1.32), on basic medical insurance set for urban residents'/on commercial medical insurance programs etc . ( OR =1.01, 95% CI : 0.84-1.22), were in favor of the services. When neglecting the fee for charge, 65.8% (10 795/16 394) of the participants said that they could accept the cancer screening program
Air quality and its integration within urban planning: Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Elva Alicia Corona–Zambrano
2009-07-01
Full Text Available As a result of world wide urbanization and industrialization, urban air pollution shows a growing trend directly proportional to increasing demands on energy for domestic and industrial activities. From this point of view, cities along with their urban, functional and morphological structure are not being planned with pollution prevention or minimum environmental impacts in mind. This work has two purposes: first, it sets an assessment of air quality in Mexicali by analyzing O3, CO, SO2, NO2 and PM10 emissions in relation to urban structure. And second, the assessment of already implemented urban strategies aimed to minimize environmental impacts. This work also presents a scheme that incorporates air quality issues into town planning and urban management.
Integrating science into governance and management of coastal areas at urban scale
CSIR Research Space (South Africa)
Celliers, Louis
2012-10-01
Full Text Available and development planning (CSDP) is no longer an option but a necessity. Current legislation devolves many fine scale planning and management functions within coastal urban centres to local authorities, including land-use and urban and economic development... into governance and management of coastal areas at urban scale L CELLIERS, S TALJAARD AND R VAN BALLEGOOYEN CSIR, PO Box 395, Pretoria, South Africa, 0001 Email: lcelliers@csir.co.za ? www.csir.co.za BACKGROUND With burgeoning demand for coastal space...
Smith, Jeremy C.; Viken, Jeffrey K.; Guerreiro, Nelson M.; Dollyhigh, Samuel M.; Fenbert, James W.; Hartman, Christopher L.; Kwa, Teck-Seng; Moore, Mark D.
2012-01-01
Electric propulsion and autonomy are technology frontiers that offer tremendous potential to achieve low operating costs for small-aircraft. Such technologies enable simple and safe to operate vehicles that could dramatically improve regional transportation accessibility and speed through point-to-point operations. This analysis develops an understanding of the potential traffic volume and National Airspace System (NAS) capacity for small on-demand aircraft operations. Future demand projections use the Transportation Systems Analysis Model (TSAM), a tool suite developed by NASA and the Transportation Laboratory of Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Demand projections from TSAM contain the mode of travel, number of trips and geographic distribution of trips. For this study, the mode of travel can be commercial aircraft, automobile and on-demand aircraft. NASA's Airspace Concept Evaluation System (ACES) is used to assess NAS impact. This simulation takes a schedule that includes all flights: commercial passenger and cargo; conventional General Aviation and on-demand small aircraft, and operates them in the simulated NAS. The results of this analysis projects very large trip numbers for an on-demand air transportation system competitive with automobiles in cost per passenger mile. The significance is this type of air transportation can enhance mobility for communities that currently lack access to commercial air transportation. Another significant finding is that the large numbers of operations can have an impact on the current NAS infrastructure used by commercial airlines and cargo operators, even if on-demand traffic does not use the 28 airports in the Continental U.S. designated as large hubs by the FAA. Some smaller airports will experience greater demand than their current capacity allows and will require upgrading. In addition, in future years as demand grows and vehicle performance improves other non-conventional facilities such as short runways incorporated into
Zgovu, Evious K.
2003-01-01
This paper analyses the relative importance of trade policy and ‘natural’ trade barriers in the demand for imports for Malawi, a geographically landlocked sub-Saharan African economy, using an augmented dynamic import demand model. Incidence analysis of protection shows that pre-liberalisation trade policy barriers were greater than ‘natural’ barriers but in post-liberalisation ‘natural’ barriers were greater. Econometric analysis of the import demand model shows that ‘true’ protection of imp...
Preparing Secondary Stem Teachers for High-Need Schools: Challenges of an Urban Residency Program
Garza, Rubén; Duchaine, Ellen L.; Reynosa, Raymond
2013-01-01
Teaching residency programs that blend coursework with clinical experiences have emerged nationwide to prepare aspiring teachers for the demanding reality of teaching in high-need urban schools. The Teaching Residency Program for Critical Shortage Areas was created to help urban school districts with the challenge of recruiting and retaining…
Development of a strategy for decontamination of an urban area
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Roed, J.; Andersson, K.G.
2000-01-01
The Chernobyl accident in 1986 lead to high level contamination in urban areas in different parts of Europe and showed the importance of preparedness in the optimisation of any mitigatory interference. To meet this demand, a method for development of a decontamination strategy for urban areas has been developed based on measurements of radionuclide distribution in the urban environment after the Chernobyl accident, calculations of dose and experimentally obtained data on effectiveness and cost of practicable clean-up procedures. The approach highlights where decontamination would be of greatest benefit in terms of dose reduction and cost. (author)
The urbanization of wildlife management:Social science, conflict, and decision making
Michael E. Patterson; Jessica M. Montag; Daniel R. Williams
2003-01-01
Increasing urbanization of rural landscapes has created new challenges for wildlife management. In addition to changes in the physical landscape, urbanization has also produced changes in the socio-cultural landscape. The greater distancing from direct interaction with wildlife in urbanized societies has led to the emergence of a culture whose meanings for wildlife are...
Megacities and the Proposed Urban Intervention Model
2016-06-01
population.90 Therefore, Hills asserts that fighting in an urban environment requires highly trained forces with strong morals and ethics , not greater...Disruptive Technologies Have Made Civilization a Global Ecological Force.” American Scientist 62, no. 3 (1974): 282–92. May-June 1974 Howcroft...Small Wars Journal November (2013). Marzluff, John M. Urban Ecology : An International Perspective on the Interaction between Humans and Nature. New
Evidence is growing on demand side of an oil peak
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
NONE
2009-07-15
After years of continued growth, the number of miles driven by Americans started falling in December 2007. Not only are the number of miles driven falling, but as cars become more fuel efficient, they go further on fewer gallons - further reducing demand for gasoline. This trend is expected to accelerate. Drivers include, along with higher-efficiency cars, mass transit, reversal in urban sprawl, biofuels, and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
City-integrated renewable energy for urban sustainability.
Kammen, Daniel M; Sunter, Deborah A
2016-05-20
To prepare for an urban influx of 2.5 billion people by 2050, it is critical to create cities that are low-carbon, resilient, and livable. Cities not only contribute to global climate change by emitting the majority of anthropogenic greenhouse gases but also are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and extreme weather. We explore options for establishing sustainable energy systems by reducing energy consumption, particularly in the buildings and transportation sectors, and providing robust, decentralized, and renewable energy sources. Through technical advancements in power density, city-integrated renewable energy will be better suited to satisfy the high-energy demands of growing urban areas. Several economic, technical, behavioral, and political challenges need to be overcome for innovation to improve urban sustainability. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Modelling energy demand of developing countries: Are the specific features adequately captured?
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Bhattacharyya, Subhes C.; Timilsina, Govinda R.
2010-01-01
This paper critically reviews existing energy demand forecasting methodologies highlighting the methodological diversities and developments over the past four decades in order to investigate whether the existing energy demand models are appropriate for capturing the specific features of developing countries. The study finds that two types of approaches, econometric and end-use accounting, are commonly used in the existing energy demand models. Although energy demand models have greatly evolved since the early seventies, key issues such as the poor-rich and urban-rural divides, traditional energy resources and differentiation between commercial and non-commercial energy commodities are often poorly reflected in these models. While the end-use energy accounting models with detailed sectoral representations produce more realistic projections as compared to the econometric models, they still suffer from huge data deficiencies especially in developing countries. Development and maintenance of more detailed energy databases, further development of models to better reflect developing country context and institutionalizing the modelling capacity in developing countries are the key requirements for energy demand modelling to deliver richer and more reliable input to policy formulation in developing countries.
Modelling energy demand of developing countries: Are the specific features adequately captured?
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Bhattacharyya, Subhes C. [CEPMLP, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN (United Kingdom); Timilsina, Govinda R. [Development Research Group, The World Bank, Washington DC (United States)
2010-04-15
This paper critically reviews existing energy demand forecasting methodologies highlighting the methodological diversities and developments over the past four decades in order to investigate whether the existing energy demand models are appropriate for capturing the specific features of developing countries. The study finds that two types of approaches, econometric and end-use accounting, are commonly used in the existing energy demand models. Although energy demand models have greatly evolved since the early seventies, key issues such as the poor-rich and urban-rural divides, traditional energy resources and differentiation between commercial and non-commercial energy commodities are often poorly reflected in these models. While the end-use energy accounting models with detailed sectoral representations produce more realistic projections as compared to the econometric models, they still suffer from huge data deficiencies especially in developing countries. Development and maintenance of more detailed energy databases, further development of models to better reflect developing country context and institutionalizing the modelling capacity in developing countries are the key requirements for energy demand modelling to deliver richer and more reliable input to policy formulation in developing countries. (author)
Global Learning Spectral Archive- A new Way to deal with Unknown Urban Spectra -
Jilge, M.; Heiden, U.; Habermeyer, M.; Jürgens, C.
2015-12-01
Rapid urbanization processes and the need of identifying urban materials demand urban planners and the remote sensing community since years. Urban planners cannot overcome the issue of up-to-date information of urban materials due to time-intensive fieldwork. Hyperspectral remote sensing can facilitate this issue by interpreting spectral signals to provide information of occurring materials. However, the complexity of urban areas and the occurrence of diverse urban materials vary due to regional and cultural aspects as well as the size of a city, which makes identification of surface materials a challenging analysis task. For the various surface material identification approaches, spectral libraries containing pure material spectra are commonly used, which are derived from field, laboratory or the hyperspectral image itself. One of the requirements for successful image analysis is that all spectrally different surface materials are represented by the library. Currently, a universal library, applicable in every urban area worldwide and taking each spectral variability into account, is and will not be existent. In this study, the issue of unknown surface material spectra and the demand of an urban site-specific spectral library is tackled by the development of a learning spectral archive tool. Starting with an incomplete library of labelled image spectra from several German cities, surface materials of pure image pixels will be identified in a hyperspectral image based on a similarity measure (e.g. SID-SAM). Additionally, unknown image spectra of urban objects are identified based on an object- and spectral-based-rule set. The detected unknown surface material spectra are entered with additional metadata, such as regional occurrence into the existing spectral library and thus, are reusable for further studies. Our approach is suitable for pure surface material detection of urban hyperspectral images that is globally applicable by taking incompleteness into account
Workshop Report On Sustainable Urban Development
Langhoff, Stephanie; Martin, Gary; Barone, Larry; Wagener, Wolfgang
2010-01-01
The key workshop goal was to explore and document how NASA technologies, such as remote sensing, climate modeling, and high-end computing and visualization along with NASA assets such as Earth Observing Satellites (EOS) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can contribute to creating and managing a sustainable urban environment. The focus was on the greater Bay Area, but many aspects of the workshop were applicable to urban management at the local, regional and global scales. A secondary goal was to help NASA better understand the problems facing urban managers and to make city leaders in the Bay Area more aware of NASA's capabilities. By bringing members of these two groups together we hope to see the beginnings of new collaborations between NASA and those faced with instituting sustainable urban management in Bay Area cities.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Xinli Ke
2013-01-01
Full Text Available Urban land expansion plays an important role in climate change. It is significant to select a reasonable urban expansion pattern to mitigate the impact of urban land expansion on the regional climate in the rapid urbanization process. In this paper, taking Wuhan metropolitan as the case study area, and three urbanization patterns scenarios are designed to simulate spatial patterns of urban land expansion in the future using the Partitioned and Asynchronous Cellular Automata Model. Then, simulation results of land use are adjusted and inputted into WRF (Weather Research and Forecast model to simulate regional climate change. The results show that: (1 warming effect is strongest under centralized urbanization while it is on the opposite under decentralized scenario; (2 the warming effect is stronger and wider in centralized urbanization scenario than in decentralized urbanization scenario; (3 the impact trends of urban land use expansion on precipitation are basically the same under different scenarios; (4 and spatial distribution of rainfall was more concentrated under centralized urbanization scenario, and there is a rainfall center of wider scope, greater intensity. Accordingly, it can be concluded that decentralized urbanization is a reasonable urbanization pattern to mitigate climate change in rapid urbanization period.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Hoffmann, L; Schipper, L; Meyers, S; Sathaye, J; Hara, Y
1984-05-01
This report brings together three papers on energy demand presented at the Energy Research Priorities Seminar held in Ottawa on 8-10 August 1983. The first paper suggests a framework in which energy demand studies may be organized if they are to be useful in policy-making. Disaggregation and the analysis of the chain of energy transformations are possible paths toward more stable and reliable parameters. The second paper points to another factor that leads to instability in sectoral parameters, namely a changeover from one technology to another; insofar as technologies producing a product (or service) vary in their energy intensity, a technological shift will also change the energy intensity of the product. Rapid technological change is characteristic of some sectors in developing countries, and may well account for the high aggregate GDP-elasticities of energy consumption observed. The third paper begins with estimates of these elasticities, which were greater than one for all the member countries of the Asian Development Bank in 1961-78. The high elasticities, together with extreme oil dependence, made them vulnerable to the drastic rise in the oil price after 1973. The author distinguishes three diverging patterns of national experience. The oil-surplus countries naturally gained from the rise in the oil price. Among oil-deficit countries, the newly industrialized countries expanded their exports so rapidly that the oil crisis no longer worried them. For the rest, balance of payments adjustments became a prime concern of policy. Whether they dealt with the oil bill by borrowing, by import substitution, or by demand restraint, the impact of energy on their growth was unmistakable. The paper also shows why energy-demand studies, and energy studies in general, deserve to be taken seriously. 16 refs., 4 figs., 18 tabs.
Assessment of sustainable urban transport development based on entropy and unascertained measure.
Li, Yancang; Yang, Jing; Shi, Huawang; Li, Yijie
2017-01-01
To find a more effective method for the assessment of sustainable urban transport development, the comprehensive assessment model of sustainable urban transport development was established based on the unascertained measure. On the basis of considering the factors influencing urban transport development, the comprehensive assessment indexes were selected, including urban economical development, transport demand, environment quality and energy consumption, and the assessment system of sustainable urban transport development was proposed. In view of different influencing factors of urban transport development, the index weight was calculated through the entropy weight coefficient method. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted according to the actual condition. Then, the grade was obtained by using the credible degree recognition criterion from which the urban transport development level can be determined. Finally, a comprehensive assessment method for urban transport development was introduced. The application practice showed that the method can be used reasonably and effectively for the comprehensive assessment of urban transport development.
Modeling and analysis of long term energy demands in residential sector of pakistan
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rashid, T.; Sahir, M.H.
2015-01-01
Residential sector is the core among the energy demand sectors in Pakistan. Currently, various techniques are being used worldwide to assess future energy demands including integrated system modeling (ISM). Therefore, the current study is focused on implementation of ISM approach for future energy demand analysis of Pakistan's residential sector in terms of increase in population, rapid urbanization, household size and type, and increase/decrease in GDP. A detailed business-as-usual (BAU) model is formulated in TIMES energy modeling framework using different factors like growth in future energy services, end-use technology characterization, and restricted fuel supplies. Additionally, the developed model is capable to compare the projected energy demand under different scenarios e.g. strong economy, weak economy and energy efficiency. The implementation of ISM proved a viable approach to predict the future energy demands of Pakistan's residential sector. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the energy consumption in the residential sector would be 46.5 Mtoe (Million Ton of Oil Equivalent) in 2040 compared to 23 Mtoe of the base year (2007) along with 600% increase in electricity demands. The study further maps the potential residential energy policies to congregate the future demands. (author)
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Shi Ying
Full Text Available Differences in the bacterial community structure associated with 7 skin sites in 71 healthy people over five days showed significant correlations with age, gender, physical skin parameters, and whether participants lived in urban or rural locations in the same city. While body site explained the majority of the variance in bacterial community structure, the composition of the skin-associated bacterial communities were predominantly influenced by whether the participants were living in an urban or rural environment, with a significantly greater relative abundance of Trabulsiella in urban populations. Adults maintained greater overall microbial diversity than adolescents or the elderly, while the intragroup variation among the elderly and rural populations was significantly greater. Skin-associated bacterial community structure and composition could predict whether a sample came from an urban or a rural resident ~5x greater than random.
Energy Efficiency and Urban Renewal in the Economies in Transition
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Brendow, K.
1997-01-01
The Paper notes the importance of energy consumption in agglomerations (65-70% in the economies in transition) and of related emissions. It assesses the technical and cost-effective potential for a 40% and more decrease in urban energy intensities and SO 2 /NO x emissions by 2020, resulting from a systematic approach to urban as well as energy planning. Compared to approaches worldwide, urban energy renewal in the economies in transition appears, as its beginning, characterized by a traditional focus on existing technological supply sub-systems such as district heating and co-generation. The obstacles to a more systematic approach, including demand side management, are slow progress in urban and energy reforms and a lack of acquaintance with modern planning tools. International cooperation is incommensurate with the long-term challenge of s ustainable urban development . (author)
Does subsidy work? Price elasticity of demand for influenza vaccination among the elderly in Japan.
Kondo, Masahide; Hoshi, Shu-ling; Okubo, Ichiro
2009-08-01
Subsidy for influenza vaccination is often provided to the elderly in order to encourage them to receive a flu shot in developed countries. However, its effect on uptake rate, i.e., price elasticity of demand, has not been well studied. Japan's decentralised vaccination programme allows observation of various pairs in price and uptake rate of flu shots among the elderly by the municipality from 2001/2002 to 2004/2005 season. We combine our sample survey data (n=281), which monitor price, subsidy and uptake rate, with published data on local characteristics in order to estimate price elasticity of demand with panel model. We find price elasticity of demand for influenza vaccine: nearly zero in nationwide, nearly zero in urban area, and -1.07 in rural area. The results question the rationale for subsidy, especially in urban area. There are cases where maintaining or increasing the level of subsidy is not an efficient allocation of finite health care resources. When organising a vaccination programme, health manager should be careful about the balance between subsidy and other efforts in order to encourage the elderly to receive shots with price elasticity in mind.
Demuzere, Matthias; Coutts, Andrew; Goehler, Maren; Broadbent, Ashley; Wouters, Hendrik; van Lipzig, Nicole; Gebert, Luke
2015-04-01
Urban vegetation is generally considered as a key tool to modify the urban energy balance through enhanced evapotranspiration (ET). Given that vegetation is most effective when it is healthy, stormwater harvesting and retention strategies (such as water sensitive urban design) could be used to support vegetation and promote ET. This study presents the implementation of a vegetated lined bio-filtration system (BFS) combined with a rainwater tank (RWT) and urban irrigation system in the single-layer urban canopy model Community Land Model-Urban. Runoff from roof and impervious road surface fractions is harvested and used to support an adequate soil moisture level for vegetation in the BFS. In a first stage, modelled soil moisture dynamics are evaluated and found reliable compared to observed soil moisture levels from biofiltration pits in Smith Street, Melbourne (Australia). Secondly, the impact of BFS, RWT and urban irrigation on ET is illustrated for a two-month period in 2012 using varying characteristics for all components. Results indicate that (i) a large amount of stormwater is potentially available for indoor and outdoor water demands, including irrigation of urban vegetation, (ii) ET from the BFS is an order of magnitude larger compared to the contributions from the impervious surfaces, even though the former only covers 10% of the surface fraction and (iii) attention should be paid to the cover fraction and soil texture of the BFS, size of the RWT and the surface fractions contributing to the collection of water in the RWT. Overall, this study reveals that this model development can effectuate future research with state-of-the-art urban climate models to further explore the benefits of vegetated biofiltration systems as a water sensitive urban design tool optimised with an urban irrigation system to maintain healthy vegetation.
Demand participation in the restructured Electric Reliability Council of Texas market
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Zarnikau, Jay W.
2010-01-01
Does an electricity market which has been restructured to foster competition provide greater opportunities for demand response than a traditional regulated utility industry? The experiences of the restructured Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market over the past eight years provide some hope that it is possible to design a competitive market which will properly value and accommodate demand response. While the overall level of demand response in ERCOT is below the levels enjoyed prior to restructuring, there have nonetheless been some promising advances, including the integration of demand-side resources into competitive markets for ancillary services. ERCOT's experiences demonstrate that the degree of demand participation in a restructured market is highly sensitive to the market design. But even in a market which has been deregulated to a large degree, regulatory intervention and special demand-side programs may be needed in order to bolster demand response. (author)
Household fuel consumption and resource use in rural-urban Ethiopia
Gebreegziabher, Z.
2007-01-01
Keywords: biofuels; land degradation; technology adoption; fuel-savings efficiency; stove R&D; household and community tree investments; fuelwood availability; animal dung; biogas; urban fuel demand; rural hinterlands; northern Ethiopia. Fuel scarcity and land degradation are intertwined
Price and income elasticities of demand for alcoholic beverages.
Ornstein, S I; Levy, D
1983-01-01
Estimating the demand for alcoholic beverages represents a difficult statistical problem. A number of studies have attempted to estimate the demand for beer, wine, distilled spirits, or total alcohol consumption. The results vary widely according to country of study, data used, and model and statistical technique. For the United States, most studies find the demand for beer to be relatively price inelastic, at around -0.3. The demand for distilled spirits appears to be unitary price elasticity or somewhat greater, around -1.5. The evidence on wine is too sketchy to draw any conclusions. There is no strong evidence of substitutability among beer, wine, and distilled spirits based on econometric models, nor evidence that advertising plays a strong role in the aggregate demand for beer, wine, or distilled spirits. The main policy implication is that price increases to control consumption will have a stronger impact on the consumption of distilled spirits than on beer.
Effective Management of High-Use/High-Demand Space Using Restaurant-Style Pagers
Gonzalez, Adriana
2012-01-01
The library landscape is changing at a fast pace, with an increase in the demand for study space including quiet, individualized study space; open group study space; and as enclosed group study space. In large academic libraries, managing limited high-demand resources is crucial and is partially being driven by the greater emphasis on group…
Cost overruns and demand shortfalls in urban rail and other infrastructure
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Flyvbjerg, Bent
2007-01-01
Risk, including economic risk, is increasingly a concern for public policy and management. The possibility of dealing effectively with risk is hampered, however, by lack of a sound empirical basis for risk assessment and management. This article demonstrates the general point for cost and demand ...... is proposed as a model for other types of policies and projects in order to improve economic and financial risk assessment and management in policy and planning....
World uranium: resources, production and demand
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Anon.
1978-01-01
The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency recently announced the publication of a new edition of its report on Uranium resources, production and demand which has been published periodically since 1965, jointly with the International Atomic Energy Agency. In addition to bringing uranium resources and production estimates up-to-date, the new edition offers a more comprehensive treatment of exploration activity and uranium availability, and includes a greater number of countries within the scope of the survey. Information on uranium demand has also been revised, in the light of more recent forecasts of the growth of nuclear power. Finally, a comparison is made between uranium availability and requirements, and the implications of this comparison analysed. The main findings and conclusions of the report are summarized here. (author)
Exploiting Earth observation data pools for urban analysis: the TEP URBAN project
Heldens, W.; Esch, T.; Asamer, H.; Boettcher, M.; Brito, F.; Hirner, A.; Marconcini, M.; Mathot, E.; Metz, A.; Permana, H.; Zeidler, J.; Balhar, J.; Soukop, T.; Stankek, F.
2017-10-01
Large amounts of Earth observation (EO) data have been collected to date, to increase even more rapidly with the upcoming Sentinel data. All this data contains unprecedented information, yet it is hard to retrieve, especially for nonremote sensing specialists. As we live in an urban era, with more than 50% of the world population living in cities, urban studies can especially benefit from the EO data. Information is needed for sustainable development of cities, for the understanding of urban growth patterns or for studying the threats of natural hazards or climate change. Bridging this gap between the technology-driven EO sector and the information needs of environmental science, planning, and policy is the driver behind the TEP-Urban project. Modern information technology functionalities and services are tested and implemented in the Urban Thematic Exploitation Platform (U-TEP). The platform enables interested users to easily exploit and generate thematic information on the status and development of the environment based on EO data and technologies. The beta version of the web platform contains value added basic earth observation data, global thematic data sets, and tools to derive user specific indicators and metrics. The code is open source and the architecture of the platform allows adding of new data sets and tools. These functionalities and concepts support the four basic use scenarios of the U-TEP platform: explore existing thematic content; task individual on-demand analyses; develop, deploy and offer your own content or application; and, learn more about innovative data sets and methods.
Pokhrel, R.; Ortiz, L. E.; González, J. E.; Ramírez-Beltran, N. D.
2017-12-01
The main objective of this study is to identify how climate variability influences human comfort levels in tropical urban environments. San Juan Metropolitan Area (SJMA) of the island of Puerto Rico was chosen as a reference point. A new human discomfort index (HDI) based on environmental enthalpy is defined. This index is expanded to determine the energy required to maintain indoor human comfort levels and was compared to Total Electricity consumption for the Island of Puerto Rico. Regression analysis shows that both Temperature and HDI are good indictor to predict total electrical energy consumption. Results showed that over the past 35 years the average enthalpy have increased and have mostly been above thresholds for human comfort for SJMA. The weather stations data further shows a clear indication of urbanization biases ramping up the index considered. From the trend analysis local scale (weather station) data shows a decreasing rate of maximum cooling at -11.41 kW-h/years, and minimum is increasing at 10.64 kW-h/years. To compare human comfort levels under extreme heat wave events conditions, an event of 2014 in the San Juan area was identified. The analysis for this extreme heat event is complemented by data from the National Center for environmental Prediction (NCEP) at 250km spatial resolution, North American Re-Analysis (NARR) at 32 km spatial resolution, by simulations of the Weather Forecasting System (WRF) at a resolution of 2 km, and by weather station data for San Juan. WRF simulation's results showed an improvement for both temperature and relative humidity from the input NCEP data. It also shows that difference in Energy per Capita (EPC) in urban area during a heat wave event can increase to 16% over a non-urban area. Sensitivity analysis was done by modifying the urban land cover to the most common rural references of evergreen broadleaf forest and cropland to investigate the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect on HDI. UHI is seen to be maximum during
Developing Efficient Urban Electrical Systems Using Microgrids
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Gahagan, Michael
2010-09-15
Electric vehicles and battery storage will complicate utility operations and strain existing networks. One possible solution is the implementation of 'microgrids' autonomous electricity environments that operate within a larger electric utility grid and their 'controllers' Microgrids direct locally generated power to local demand, coordinate with centralized utility networks to meet additional demand, and pass excess supply to neighboring microgrids. This paper explains the evolution of microgrids. It details their design and operation. It also reviews their many benefits within urban settings, including minimizing customer costs while maximizing use of local generation from clean, renewable resources.
Comparison of WRF local and nonlocal boundary layer Physics in Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Ooi, M. C. G.; Chan, A.; Kumarenthiran, S.; Morris, K. I.; Oozeer, M. Y.; Islam, M. A.; Salleh, S. A.
2018-02-01
The urban boundary layer (UBL) is the internal advection layer of atmosphere above urban region which determines the exchanges of momentum, water and other atmospheric constituents between the urban land surface and the free troposphere. This paper tested the performance of three planetary boundary layer (PBL) physics schemes of Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) software to ensure the appropriate representation of vertical structure of UBL in Greater Kuala Lumpur (GKL). Comparison was conducted on the performance of respective PBL schemes to generate vertical and near-surface weather profile and rainfall. Mellor-Yamada- Janjíc (MYJ) local PBL scheme coupled with Eta MM5 surface layer scheme was found to predict the near-surface temperature and wind profile and mixing height better than the nonlocal schemes during the intermonsoonal period with least influences of the synoptic background weather.
Urban-rural fog differences in Belgrade area, Serbia
Vujović, Dragana; Todorović, Nedeljko
2018-02-01
Urban/rural fog appearance during the last 27 years in the Belgrade region is analysed using hourly meteorological records from two meteorological stations: an urban station at Belgrade-Vračar (BV) and a rural station at Belgrade-Airport (BA). The effects of urban development on fog formation are discussed through analysis of fog frequency trends and comparison with a number of meteorological parameters. The mean annual and the mean annual minimum temperatures were greater at the urban BV station than at the rural BA station. The mean monthly relative humidity and the mean monthly water vapour pressure were greater at the rural than urban station. During the period of research (1988-2014), BA experiences 425 more days with fog than BV, which means that BV experiences fog for 62.68% of foggy days at BA. Trends in the number of days with fog were statistically non-significant. We analysed the fog occurrence during different types of weather. Fog in urban BV occurred more frequently during cyclonal circulation (in 52.75% of cases). In rural BA, the trend was the opposite and fog appeared more frequently during anticyclonic circulation (in 53.58% of cases). Fog at BV occurred most frequently in stable anticyclonic weather with light wind, when a temperature inversion existed (21.86% of cases). Most frequently, fog at BA occurred in the morning and only lasted a short time, followed by clearer skies during the anticyclonic warm and dry weather (22.55% of cases).
Demand for radiotherapy in Spain.
Rodríguez, A; Borrás, J M; López-Torrecilla, J; Algara, M; Palacios-Eito, A; Gómez-Caamaño, A; Olay, L; Lara, P C
2017-02-01
Assessing the demand for radiotherapy in Spain based on existing evidence to estimate the human resources and equipment needed so that every person in Spain has access to high-quality radiotherapy when they need it. We used data from the European Cancer Observatory on the estimated incidence of cancer in Spain in 2012, along with the evidence-based indications for radiotherapy developed by the Australian CCORE project, to obtain an optimal radiotherapy utilisation proportion (OUP) for each tumour. About 50.5 % of new cancers in Spain require radiotherapy at least once over the course of the disease. Additional demand for these services comes from reradiation therapy and non-melanoma skin cancer. Approximately, 25-30 % of cancer patients with an indication for radiotherapy do not receive it due to factors that include access, patient preference, familiarity with the treatment among physicians, and especially resource shortages, all of which contribute to its underutilisation. Radiotherapy is underused in Spain. The increasing incidence of cancer expected over the next decade and the greater frequency of reradiations necessitate the incorporation of radiotherapy demand into need-based calculations for cancer services planning.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Zulu, Leo Charles [Michigan State University, Department of Geography, 103 Geography Building, East Lansing, MI 48823 (United States)
2010-07-15
This article examines woodfuel policy challenges and opportunities in Malawi two decades after woodfuel-crisis narratives and counter-narratives. A nuanced examination of woodfuel supply, demand, use, and markets illuminated options to turn stagnant policies based on charcoal 'bans' and fuel-substitution into proactive, realistic ones acknowledging woodfuel dominance and its socio-economic importance. Findings revealed growing, spatially differentiated woodfuel deficits in southern and central Malawi and around Blantyre, Zomba and Lilongwe cities. Poverty, limited electricity access, reliability and generation exacerbated by tariff subsidies, and complex fuel-allocation decisions restricted energy-ladder transitions from woodfuels to electricity, producing an enduring urban-energy mix dominated by charcoal, thereby increasing wood consumption. Diverse socio-political interests prevented lifting of the charcoal 'ban' despite progressive forest laws. Despite implementation challenges, lessons already learnt, efficiency and poverty-reduction arguments, limited government capacity, growing illegal production of charcoal in forest reserves, and its staying power, make targeted community-based forest management (CBFM) approaches more practical for regulated, commercial production of woodfuels than the status quo. New differentiated policies should include commercial woodfuel production and licensing for revenue and ecological sustainability under CBFM or concessions within and outside selected reserves, an enterprise-based approaches for poverty reduction, smallholder/private tree-growing, woodfuel-energy conserving technologies, improved electricity supply and agricultural productivity. (author)
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Zulu, Leo Charles, E-mail: zulu@msu.ed [Michigan State University, Department of Geography, 103 Geography Building, East Lansing, MI 48823 (United States)
2010-07-15
This article examines woodfuel policy challenges and opportunities in Malawi two decades after woodfuel-crisis narratives and counter-narratives. A nuanced examination of woodfuel supply, demand, use, and markets illuminated options to turn stagnant policies based on charcoal 'bans' and fuel-substitution into proactive, realistic ones acknowledging woodfuel dominance and its socio-economic importance. Findings revealed growing, spatially differentiated woodfuel deficits in southern and central Malawi and around Blantyre, Zomba and Lilongwe cities. Poverty, limited electricity access, reliability and generation exacerbated by tariff subsidies, and complex fuel-allocation decisions restricted energy-ladder transitions from woodfuels to electricity, producing an enduring urban-energy mix dominated by charcoal, thereby increasing wood consumption. Diverse socio-political interests prevented lifting of the charcoal 'ban' despite progressive forest laws. Despite implementation challenges, lessons already learnt, efficiency and poverty-reduction arguments, limited government capacity, growing illegal production of charcoal in forest reserves, and its staying power, make targeted community-based forest management (CBFM) approaches more practical for regulated, commercial production of woodfuels than the status quo. New differentiated policies should include commercial woodfuel production and licensing for revenue and ecological sustainability under CBFM or concessions within and outside selected reserves, an enterprise-based approaches for poverty reduction, smallholder/private tree-growing, woodfuel-energy conserving technologies, improved electricity supply and agricultural productivity.
Examining the Interaction of Taxi and Subway Ridership for Sustainable Urbanization
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Miaoyi Li
2017-02-01
Full Text Available A transit ridership study is an essential part of sustainability, and can provide a deep understanding of people’s travel patterns for efficient transportation development and urbanization. However, there is a lack of empirical studies comparing subway and taxi services, and their interactions within a city, that is to say, the interdependent transportation networks. Incorporating new data, this study aims to examine the spatial variation of urban taxi ridership due to the impacts of a new subway line operation opened in 2014 in Wuxi, China. We examine the spatial patterns and interactions of ridership in Wuxi by integrating taxi trajectory from GPS data and subway data from continuously collected fare transactions. The results indicated that the demand for taxi and subway usage is quite elastic with respect to both location and time, and the new subway’s opening had more influence on areas adjacent to subway stations and urban center-suburban travel. Furthermore, increases in travel time and distance would increase the demand for subway, while taxi trips largely represented movements for those locations that the subway could not reach. This paper betters the understanding of travel patterns through large volumes of transportation data for sustainable urbanization policy design.
A survey of oil product demand elasticities for developing countries
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Dahl, Carol
1994-01-01
As more and more developing countries join the ranks of the rich they will consume both more oil and higher percentage of the lighter products. To satisfy this growing demand oil production and refinery capacity that can provide the right quantity and mix of products must be developed. In a companion piece, Dahl (1993) found the total demand for oil to be price inelastic (-0.34) and income elastic (1.32) These elasticities can give information on the total quantity of oil that might be demanded, the total amount of distillation capacity that might be needed and the overall increases in product prices that might be necessary to choke off demand growth. However, with this overall growth in product demand, the more the shift towards the lighter portion of the barrel, the more complex the refinery and the greater the demand for downstream capital. To provide information on this mix in developing countries in the coming years, this paper surveys the available work on econometric demand elasticities by oil product. (author)
Pollution loads in urban runoff and sanitary wastewater.
Taebi, Amir; Droste, Ronald L
2004-07-05
While more attention has been paid in recent years to urban point source pollution control through the establishment of wastewater treatment plants in many developing countries, no considerable planning nor any serious measures have been taken to control urban non-point source pollution (urban stormwater runoff). The present study is a screening analysis to investigate the pollution loads in urban runoff compared to point source loads as a first prerequisite for planning and management of receiving water quality. To compare pollutant loads from point and non-point urban sources, the pollutant load is expressed as the weight of pollutant per hectare area per year (kg/ha.year). Unit loads were estimated in stormwater runoff, raw sanitary wastewater and secondary treatment effluents in Isfahan, Iran. Results indicate that the annual pollution load in urban runoff is lower than the annual pollution load in sanitary wastewater in areas with low precipitation but it is higher in areas with high precipitation. Two options, namely, advanced treatment (in lieu of secondary treatment) of sanitary wastewater and urban runoff quality control systems (such as detention ponds) were investigated as controlling systems for pollution discharges into receiving waters. The results revealed that for Isfahan, as a low precipitation urban area, advanced treatment is a more suitable option, but for high precipitation urban areas, urban surface runoff quality control installations were more effective for suspended solids and oxygen-demanding matter controls, and that advanced treatment is the more effective option for nutrient control.
Pollution loads in urban runoff and sanitary wastewater
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Taebi, Amir; Droste, Ronald L.
2004-01-01
While more attention has been paid in recent years to urban point source pollution control through the establishment of wastewater treatment plants in many developing countries, no considerable planning nor any serious measures have been taken to control urban non-point source pollution (urban stormwater runoff). The present study is a screening analysis to investigate the pollution loads in urban runoff compared to point source loads as a first prerequisite for planning and management of receiving water quality. To compare pollutant loads from point and non-point urban sources, the pollutant load is expressed as the weight of pollutant per hectare area per year (kg/ha·year). Unit loads were estimated in stormwater runoff, raw sanitary wastewater and secondary treatment effluents in Isfahan, Iran. Results indicate that the annual pollution load in urban runoff is lower than the annual pollution load in sanitary wastewater in areas with low precipitation but it is higher in areas with high precipitation. Two options, namely, advanced treatment (in lieu of secondary treatment) of sanitary wastewater and urban runoff quality control systems (such as detention ponds) were investigated as controlling systems for pollution discharges into receiving waters. The results revealed that for Isfahan, as a low precipitation urban area, advanced treatment is a more suitable option, but for high precipitation urban areas, urban surface runoff quality control installations were more effective for suspended solids and oxygen-demanding matter controls, and that advanced treatment is the more effective option for nutrient control
Introduction to Global Urban Climatology
Varquez, A. C. G.; Kanda, M.; Kawano, N.; Darmanto, N. S.; Dong, Y.
2016-12-01
Urban heat island (UHI) is a widely investigated phenomenon in the field of urban climate characterized by the warming of urban areas relative to its surrounding rural environs. Being able to understand the mechanism behind the UHI formation of a city and distinguish its impact from that of global climate change is indispensable when identifying adaptation and mitigation strategies. However, the lack of UHI studies many cities especially for developing countries makes it difficult to generalize the mechanism for UHI formation. Thus, there is an impending demand for studies that focus on the simultaneous analyses of UHI and its trends throughout the world. Hence, we propose a subfield of urban climatology, called "global urban climatology" (GUC), which mainly focuses on the uniform understanding of urban climates across all cities, globally. By using globally applicable methodologies to quantify and compare urban heat islands of cities with diverse backgrounds, including their geography, climate, socio-demography, and other factors, a universal understanding of the mechanisms underlying the formation of the phenomenon can be established. The implementation of GUC involves the use of globally acquired historical observation networks, gridded meteorological parameters from climate models, global geographic information system datasets; the construction of a distributed urban parameter database; and the development of techniques necessary to model the urban climate. Research under GUC can be categorized into three approaches. The collaborative approach (1st) relies on the collection of data from micro-scale experiments conducted worldwide with the aid or development of professional social networking platforms; the analytical approach (2nd) relies on the use of global weather station datasets and their corresponding objectively analysed global outputs; and the numerical approach (3rd) relies on the global estimation of high-resolution urban-representative parameters as
Understanding the visual skills and strategies of train drivers in the urban rail environment.
Naweed, Anjum; Balakrishnan, Ganesh
2014-01-01
Due to the growth of information in the urban rail environment, there is a need to better understand the ergonomics profile underpinning the visual behaviours in train drivers. The aim of this study was to examine the tasks and activities of urban/metropolitan passenger train drivers in order to better understand the nature of the visual demands in their task activities. Data were collected from 34 passenger train drivers in four different Australian states. The research approach used a novel participative ergonomics methodology that fused interviews and observations with generative tools. Data analysis was conducted thematically. Results suggested participants did not so much drive their trains, as manage the intensity of visually demanding work held in their environment. The density of this information and the opacity of the task, invoked an ergonomics profile more closely aligned with diagnostic and error detection than actual train regulation. The paper discusses the relative proportion of strategies corresponding with specific tasks, the visual-perceptual load in substantive activities, and the requisite visual skills behoving navigation in the urban rail environment. These findings provide the basis for developing measures of complexity to further specify the visual demands in passenger train driving.
Intra-Urban Movement Flow Estimation Using Location Based Social Networking Data
Kheiri, A.; Karimipour, F.; Forghani, M.
2015-12-01
In recent years, there has been a rapid growth of location-based social networking services, such as Foursquare and Facebook, which have attracted an increasing number of users and greatly enriched their urban experience. Location-based social network data, as a new travel demand data source, seems to be an alternative or complement to survey data in the study of mobility behavior and activity analysis because of its relatively high access and low cost. In this paper, three OD estimation models have been utilized in order to investigate their relative performance when using Location-Based Social Networking (LBSN) data. For this, the Foursquare LBSN data was used to analyze the intra-urban movement behavioral patterns for the study area, Manhattan, the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York city. The outputs of models are evaluated using real observations based on different criterions including distance distribution, destination travel constraints. The results demonstrate the promising potential of using LBSN data for urban travel demand analysis and monitoring.
INTRA-URBAN MOVEMENT FLOW ESTIMATION USING LOCATION BASED SOCIAL NETWORKING DATA
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
A. Kheiri
2015-12-01
Full Text Available In recent years, there has been a rapid growth of location-based social networking services, such as Foursquare and Facebook, which have attracted an increasing number of users and greatly enriched their urban experience. Location-based social network data, as a new travel demand data source, seems to be an alternative or complement to survey data in the study of mobility behavior and activity analysis because of its relatively high access and low cost. In this paper, three OD estimation models have been utilized in order to investigate their relative performance when using Location-Based Social Networking (LBSN data. For this, the Foursquare LBSN data was used to analyze the intra-urban movement behavioral patterns for the study area, Manhattan, the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York city. The outputs of models are evaluated using real observations based on different criterions including distance distribution, destination travel constraints. The results demonstrate the promising potential of using LBSN data for urban travel demand analysis and monitoring.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Waterman, T.E.; Takata, A.N.
1983-01-01
The IITRI Urban Fire Spread Model as well as others of similar vintage were constrained by computer size and running costs such that many approximations/generalizations were introduced to reduce program complexity and data storage requirements. Simplifications were introduced both in input data and in fire growth and spread calculations. Modern computational capabilities offer the means to introduce greater detail and to examine its practical significance on urban fire predictions. Selected portions of the model are described as presently configured, and potential modifications are discussed. A single tract model is hypothesized which permits the importance of various model details to be assessed, and, other model applications are identified
Potoglou, Dimitrios
The focus of this thesis is twofold. First, it offers insight on how households' car-ownership behaviour is affected by urban form and availability of local-transit at the place of residence, after controlling for socio-economic and demographic characteristics. Second, it addresses the importance of vehicle attributes, household and individual characteristics as well as economic incentives and urban form to potential demand for alternative fuelled vehicles. Data for the empirical analyses of the aforementioned research activities were obtained through an innovative Internet survey, which is also documented in this thesis, conducted in the Census Metropolitan Area of Hamilton. The survey included a retrospective questionnaire of households' number and type of vehicles and a stated choices experiment for assessing the potential demand for alternative fuelled vehicles. Established approaches and emerging trends in automobile demand modelling identified early on in this thesis suggest a disaggregate approach and specifically, the estimation of discrete choice models both for explaining car ownership and vehicle-type choice behaviour. It is shown that mixed and diverse land uses as well as short distances between home and work are likely to decrease the probability of households to own a large number of cars. Regarding the demand for alternative fuelled vehicles, while vehicle attributes are particularly important, incentives such as free parking and access to high occupancy vehicle lanes will not influence the choice of hybrids or alternative fuelled vehicles. An improved understating of households' behaviour regarding the number of cars as well as the factors and trade-offs for choosing cleaner vehicles can be used to inform policy designed to reduce car ownership levels and encourage adoption of cleaner vehicle technologies in urban areas. Finally, the Internet survey sets the ground for further research on implementation and evaluation of this data collection method.
Demand, deregulation may attract more refiners to Asia
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rhodes, A.K.
1995-01-01
As a result of rapidly increasing demand, major oil companies are eyeing Asian oil and gas markets more closely than ever. Higher earnings can be expected there than in the US or Europe, where product markets--especially light products--are expected to tighten long-term. Of the nations with growing requirements for refined products, China and India offer greater opportunity for foreign investors to enter downstream projects. Also offering excellent business prospects are Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The paper discusses oil demand, products, refining capacity, and capacity additions in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and China
Detection of multi-drug resistant Escherichia coli in the urban waterways of Milwaukee, WI
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Anthony D. Kappell
2015-04-01
Full Text Available Urban waterways represent a natural reservoir of antibiotic resistance which may provide a source of transferable genetic elements to human commensal bacteria and pathogens. The objective of this study was to evaluate antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli isolated from the urban waterways of Milwaukee, WI compared to those from Milwaukee sewage and a clinical setting in Milwaukee. Antibiotics covering 10 different families were utilized to determine the phenotypic antibiotic resistance for all 259 E. coli isolates. All obtained isolates were determined to be multi-drug resistant. The E. coli isolates were also screened for the presence of the genetic determinants of resistance including ermB (macrolide resistance, tet(M (tetracycline resistance, and β-lactamases (blaOXA, blaSHV, and blaPSE. E. coli from urban waterways showed a greater incidence of antibiotic resistance to 8 of 17 antibiotics tested compared to human derived sources. These E. coli isolates also demonstrated a greater incidence of resistance to higher numbers of antibiotics compared to the human derived isolates. The urban waterways demonstrated a greater abundance of isolates with co-occurrence of antibiotic resistance than human derived sources. When screened for 5 different antibiotic resistance genes conferring macrolide, tetracycline, and β-lactam resistance, clinical E. coli isolates were more likely to harbor ermB and blaOXA than isolates from urban waterway. These results indicate that Milwaukee’s urban waterways may select for a greater incidence of multiple antibiotic resistance organisms and likely harbor a different antibiotic resistance gene pool than clinical sources. The implications of this study are significant to understanding the presence of resistance in urban freshwater environments by supporting the idea that sediment from urban waterways serves as a reservoir of antibiotic resistance.
Tree agency and urban forest governance
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Konijnendijk, Cecil Cornelis
2016-01-01
governance also involving businesses and civic society. However, governance theory usually does not consider the role of non-human agency, which can be considered problematic due to, for example, the important role of urban trees in place making. The purpose of this paper is to provide further insight...... into the importance of considering tree agency in governance. Design/methodology/approach – Taking an environmental governance and actor network theory perspective, the paper presents a critical view of current urban forest governance, extending the perspective to include not only a wide range of human actors......, but also trees as important non-human actors. Findings – Urban forest governance has become more complex and involves a greater range of actors and actor networks. However, the agency of trees in urban forest governance is seldom well developed. Trees, in close association with local residents, create...
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Pagh, Jesper
2014-01-01
The days of long-term predict-and-provide planning that saw its heydays in the post-war decades are long gone. As our late-modern time presents us with an evermore complex and contrasting view of the world, planning has become a much more fragmented and ambivalent affair. That a country or a city...... should be run like a private corporation has increasingly become common sense, and thus the competition among entities – be it countries, regions or cities – to a greater and greater extent defines success and the means to achieve it. What has been collected under the umbrella term Strategic Urban...
Perkembangan Urban Sprawl Kota Semarang pada Wilayah Kabupaten Demak Tahun 2001-2012
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Reni Mujiandari
2014-08-01
Full Text Available Limited land resulted city expansion towards the periphery by urbanization. Sub-urban area is still depends on the city core, which is known as urban sprawl (Soetomo, 2009. Urban sprawl in Greater Semarang passed the administrative boundaries, as example in Demak District. The purpose of study is to assess urban sprawl in Greater Semarang (a case in Demak District. In this study, urban sprawl defined in two dimensions, physical and non physical dimensions. Physical dimensions include land use, building density, building function and the level of accessibility. Non- physical dimensions include population density and population of agricultural livelihoods. Urban sprawl in study area during 2001-2012 has been increased 498.685 ha (32.23 % which consists of the change from urban sprawl into non-urban sprawl 488.278 ha and changes of non-urban sprawl into urban sprawl 986.963 ha. Development of sprawl has a combination of ribbon development and leapfrog development. Area with distance of 7.5-10 km from the center of Semarang City (ring 1 is the largest growth of urban sprawl. This shows that the distance to the city center to be one of the factors that influence sprawl. Direction of development of new residential is needed to integrated with other existing settlement. Another policy that needs to be considered is the provision of mass transportation facilities and infrastructure so that people living in urban sprawl areas do not need to use a personal vehicle to go to work or to the center of Semarang.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ronghui Tan
2016-08-01
Full Text Available For the past two decades, China’s urbanization has attracted increasing attention from scholars around the world. Numerous insightful studies have attempted to determine the socioeconomic causes of the rapid urban growth in Chinese cities. However, most of these studies regarded each city as a single entity, with few considering inter-city relationships. The present study uses a gravity-based model to measure the spatial interaction among city clusters in the Wuhan urban agglomeration (WUA, which is one of China’s most rapidly urbanizing regions. The effects of spatial interaction on urban growth area were also analyzed. Empirical results indicate that, similar to urban population or employment in secondary and tertiary industries in the WUA from 2000 to 2005, the spatial interaction among city clusters is one of the main drivers of urban growth. In fact, this study finds the effects of spatial interaction as the only socioeconomic factor that affected the spatial expansion from 2005 to 2010. This finding suggests that population migration and information and commodity flows showed greater influence than the socioeconomic drivers of each city did on promoting urbanization in the WUA during this period. We thus argue that spatial interaction among city clusters should be a consideration in future regional planning.
Urban consumer willingness to pay for introduced dessert bananas ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
... therefore have a market potential. It is recommended that market development activities including organising and training farmers in improved agronomic methods, handling bananas for local markets; and promotional studies of the introduced dessert bananas among the urban consumers be done to widen their demand.
Tracking Restoration of Park and Urban Street Settings in Coronary Artery Disease Patients
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Regina Grazuleviciene
2016-05-01
Full Text Available The physiological effects of natural and urban environments on the cardiovascular system of coronary artery disease (CAD patients are not fully understood. This controlled field study examines the effects of restorative walking in a park vs. in an urban street environment on CAD patients’ stress parameters and cardiac function. Methods: Twenty stable CAD patients were randomly allocated to 7 days controlled walking in a city park or in an urban street environment group. The relationship between different environmental exposures and health effects was analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank test and exact Mann-Whitney U test. Results: The mean reduction in cortisol levels and negative effects after the walk on the first day was greater in the city park than in the urban street exposed group, while a reduction in negative effects in the urban group were greater after seven days. The reduction in diastolic blood pressure (DBP in the park group was evident on the seventh day before the walk (−4 mm Hg, p = 0.031 and 60 min after the walk (−6.00 mm Hg, p = 0.002. The cortisol slope was negatively associated with the DBP changes (r = −0.514, p < 0.05. Conclusions: Physical activity in a green environment with noise and air pollution levels lower than in an urban environment has a greater positive effect on CAD patients’ stress level and hemodynamic parameters. Mitigating green environmental influences may allow urban residents to maintain health and reduce disability.
Space evolution model and empirical analysis of an urban public transport network
Sui, Yi; Shao, Feng-jing; Sun, Ren-cheng; Li, Shu-jing
2012-07-01
This study explores the space evolution of an urban public transport network, using empirical evidence and a simulation model validated on that data. Public transport patterns primarily depend on traffic spatial-distribution, demands of passengers and expected utility of investors. Evolution is an iterative process of satisfying the needs of passengers and investors based on a given traffic spatial-distribution. The temporal change of urban public transport network is evaluated both using topological measures and spatial ones. The simulation model is validated using empirical data from nine big cities in China. Statistical analyses on topological and spatial attributes suggest that an evolution network with traffic demands characterized by power-law numerical values which distribute in a mode of concentric circles tallies well with these nine cities.
A brief history and the possible future of urban energy systems
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rutter, Paul; Keirstead, James
2012-01-01
Modern cities depend on energy systems to deliver a range of services such as heating, cooling, lighting, mobility, communications, and so on. This article examines how these urban energy systems came to be, tracing the major transitions from the earliest settlements through to today's fossil-fuelled cities. The underlying theme is “increasing efficiency under constraints” with each transition marked by increasing energy efficiency in service provision, increasing per capita energy use, increasing complexity in the energy system's structure, with innovations driven by a strategic view of the overall system, and accompanied by wider changes in technology and society. In developed countries, the future of urban energy systems is likely to continue many of these trends, with increased efficiency being driven by the constraints of climate change and rising fuel prices. Both supply and demand side technologies are discussed as potential solutions to these issues, with different impacts on the urban environment and its citizens. However in developing countries, rising urban populations and access to basic energy services will drive the next transition. - Highlights: ► Urban energy system transitions in history are reviewed. ► Common features include increased per capita energy use, growing system complexity, and technological innovation. ► Future transitions will be shaped by the constraints of climate change, rising fuel prices, and urbanisation. ► Long-term sustainability depends on ability to innovate rapidly; opportunities exist on supply and demand sides.
Urban structure and sustainable transport
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Große, Juliane
travel behaviour in a comprehensive analysis. Moreover, the phenomenon of compensatory leisure travel is addressed. For this purpose, a questionnaire survey was carried out in an urban district (Østerbro) of central Copenhagen and in a small town (Borup) in the commuter belt of Greater Copenhagen...
Urban Heat Wave Hazard Assessment
Quattrochi, Dale A.; Jedlovec, Gary; Meyer, Paul J.; LaFontaine, Frank J.; Crane, Dakota L.
2016-01-01
Heat waves are the largest cause of environment-related deaths globally. On average, over 6,000 people in the United States alone are hospitalized each summer due to excessive heat. Key elements leading to these disasters are elevated humidity and the urban heat island effect, which act together to increase apparent temperature and amplify the effects of a heat wave. Urban demographics and socioeconomic factors also play a role in determining individual risk. Currently, advisories of impending heat waves are often too generalized, with limited or no spatial variability over urban regions. This frequently contributes to a lack of specific response on behalf of the population. A goal of this project is to develop a product that has the potential to provide more specific heat wave guidance invoking greater awareness and action.
Study on temporal and spatial variations of urban land use based on land change data
Jiang, Ping; Liu, Yanfang; Fan, Min; Zhang, Yang
2009-10-01
With the rapid development of urbanization, demands of urban land increase in succession, hence, to analyze temporal and spatial variations of urban land use becomes more and more important. In this paper, the principle of trend surface analysis and formula of urban land sprawl index ( ULSI) are expatiated at first, and then based on land change data of Jiayu county, the author fits quadratic trend surface by choosing urban land area as dependent variable and urbanization and GDP as independent variables from 1996 to 2006, draws isoline of trend surface and residual values; and then urban land sprawl indexes of towns are calculated on the basis of urban land area of 1996 and 2006 and distribution map of ULSI is plotted. After analyzing those results, we can conclude that there is consanguineous relationship between urban land area and urbanization, economic level etc.
Temperature, ozone, and mortality in urban and non-urban counties in the northeastern United States.
Madrigano, Jaime; Jack, Darby; Anderson, G Brooke; Bell, Michelle L; Kinney, Patrick L
2015-01-07
Most health effects studies of ozone and temperature have been performed in urban areas, due to the available monitoring data. We used observed and interpolated data to examine temperature, ozone, and mortality in 91 urban and non-urban counties. Ozone measurements were extracted from the Environmental Protection Agency's Air Quality System. Meteorological data were supplied by the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Observed data were spatially interpolated to county centroids. Daily internal-cause mortality counts were obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics (1988-1999). A two-stage Bayesian hierarchical model was used to estimate each county's increase in mortality risk from temperature and ozone. We examined county-level associations according to population density and compared urban (≥1,000 persons/mile(2)) to non-urban (PI: 0.08, 0.83) in urban counties, while this same increase in ozone was associated with a 0.73% increase (95% PI: 0.19, 1.26) in non-urban counties. An increase in temperature from 70°F to 90°F (21.2°C 32.2°C) was associated with a 8.88% increase in mortality (95% PI: 7.38, 10.41) in urban counties and a 8.08% increase (95% PI: 6.16, 10.05) in non-urban counties. County characteristics, such as population density, percentage of families living in poverty, and percentage of elderly residents, partially explained the variation in county-level associations. While most prior studies of ozone and temperature have been performed in urban areas, the impacts in non-urban areas are significant, and, for ozone, potentially greater. The health risks of increasing temperature and air pollution brought on by climate change are not limited to urban areas.
Okurut, Kenan; Kulabako, Robinah Nakawunde; Chenoweth, Jonathan; Charles, Katrina
2015-01-01
Sanitation improvement is crucial in saving lives that are lost due to water contamination. Progress towards achieving full sanitation coverage is still slow in low-income informal settlements in most developing countries. Furthermore, resources are being wasted on installing facilities that are later misused or never used because they do not meet the local demand. Understanding demand for improved sanitation in the local context is critical if facilities are to be continually used. Various approaches that attempt to change peoples' behaviours or create demand have been reviewed to identify what they are designed to address. A multi-disciplinary research team using mixed methods is re-emphasised as a comprehensive approach for assessing demand for improved sanitation in low-income informal settlements, where the sanitation situation is more challenging than in other areas. Further research involving a multi-disciplinary research team and use of mixed methods to assess sanitation demand in informal settlements is needed.
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick
2015-01-01
A multitude of studies have focussed on the connections between urban form, location and transport behavior to inform sustainable and resilient urban planning. However, few have studied the stability of urban form and location effects under changing economic conditions. This paper presents...... an analysis of the changes in urban form and location correlates of travel distances in the Danish Zealand/Copenhagen region from before the financial crisis (2006/07) to some years after the financial downturn (2010/11). Significant changes are found in the socio-economic as well as urban form and location....../destinations. It follows that the location pattern, the geographical configuration of the urban region, is a factor in households' adaptive strategies which partly determine the possibilities for reducing travel and the possibilities for adaption and regional resilience....
Testing the environmental performance of urban agriculture as a food supply in northern climates
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Goldstein, Benjamin Paul; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Fernandez, John
2016-01-01
The past decade has seen a renaissance of urban agriculture in the world's wealthy, northern cities. The practice of producing food in and around cities is championed as a method to reduce environmental impacts of urban food demands (reducing distance from farm to fork - ‘food miles’) whilst......, though opposite findings emerge when external energy inputs are significant. In this study we perform an environmental life cycle assessment of six urban farms in Boston, US producing lettuce and tomatoes, with conventional counterparts across six impact categories. Performance of urban agriculture...... conferring a number of ancillary benefits to host cities (runoff attenuation, urban heat island mitigation) and ex-urban environments (carbon sequestration). Previous environmental assessments have found urban agriculture to be more sustainable than conventional agriculture when performed in mild climates...
Continental integration and energy demand in the United States
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Manning, D.J.
2004-01-01
This presentation highlighted some of the major issues regarding energy demand in the United States and continental integration. The energy markets in Canada and the United States are economically integrated with large cross-border investment. Therefore, the energy infrastructure can be significantly affected by inconsistencies between the two countries in policy, regulatory processes and fiscal regimes. The author discussed the inelasticity in the natural gas demand in the United States in the near-term, and how natural gas consumption, particularly for power generation, is greater than North America's supply capacity. New supplies such as liquefied natural gas and arctic gas are needed to meet growing demands. The role of renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency was also discussed. It was emphasized that imbalances in supply and demand inevitably lead to price volatility and that high prices are a major obstacle to economic growth. tabs., figs
Urban Green Infrastructure: German Experience
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Diana Olegovna Dushkova
2016-06-01
Full Text Available The paper presents a concept of urban green infrastructure and analyzes the features of its implementation in the urban development programmes of German cities. We analyzed the most shared articles devoted to the urban green infrastructure to see different approaches to definition of this term. It is based on materials of field research in the cities of Berlin and Leipzig in 2014-2015, international and national scientific publications. During the process of preparing the paper, consultations have been held with experts from scientific institutions and Administrations of Berlin and Leipzig as well as local experts from environmental organizations of both cities. Using the German cities of Berlin and Leipzig as examples, this paper identifies how the concept can be implemented in the program of urban development. It presents the main elements of green city model, which include mitigation of negative anthropogenic impact on the environment under the framework of urban sustainable development. Essential part of it is a complex ecological policy as a major necessary tool for the implementation of the green urban infrastructure concept. This ecological policy should embody not only some ecological measurements, but also a greening of all urban infrastructure elements as well as implementation of sustainable living with a greater awareness of the resources, which are used in everyday life, and development of environmental thinking among urban citizens. Urban green infrastructure is a unity of four main components: green building, green transportation, eco-friendly waste management, green transport routes and ecological corridors. Experience in the development of urban green infrastructure in Germany can be useful to improve the environmental situation in Russian cities.
The Potential of Urban Agriculture in Montréal: A Quantitative Assessment
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Daniel Haberman
2014-09-01
Full Text Available Growing food in urban areas could solve a multitude of social and environmental problems. These potential benefits have resulted in an increased demand for urban agriculture (UA, though quantitative data is lacking on the feasibility of conversion to large-scale practices. This study uses multiple land use scenarios to determine different spaces that could be allocated to vegetable production in Montréal, including residential gardens, industrial rooftops and vacant space. Considering a range of both soil-bound and hydroponic yields, the ability of these scenarios to render Montréal self-sufficient in terms of vegetable production is assessed. The results show that the island could easily satisfy its vegetable demand if hydroponics are implemented on industrial rooftops, though these operations are generally costly. Using only vacant space, however, also has the potential to meet the city’s demand and requires lower operating costs. A performance index was developed to evaluate the potential of each borough to meet its own vegetable demand while still maintaining an elevated population density. Most boroughs outside of the downtown core are able to satisfy their vegetable demand efficiently due to their land use composition, though results vary greatly depending on the farming methods used, indicating the importance of farm management.
Mechanical demands of kettlebell swing exercise.
Lake, Jason P; Lauder, Mike A
2012-12-01
The aims of this study were to establish mechanical demands of kettlebell swing exercise and provide context by comparing them to mechanical demands of back squat and jump squat exercise. Sixteen men performed 2 sets of 10 swings with 16, 24, and 32 kg, 2 back squats with 20, 40, 60, and 80% 1-repetition maximum (1RM), and 2 jump squats with 0, 20, 40, and 60% 1RM. Sagittal plane motion and ground reaction forces (GRFs) were recorded during swing performance, and GRFs were recorded during back and jump squat performances. Net impulse, and peak and mean propulsion phase force and power applied to the center of mass (CM) were obtained from GRF data and kettlebell displacement and velocity from motion data. The results of repeated measures analysis of variance showed that all swing CM measures were maximized during the 32-kg condition but that velocity of the kettlebell was maximized during the 16-kg condition; displacement was consistent across different loads. Peak and mean force tended to be greater during back and jump squat performances, but swing peak and mean power were greater than back squat power and largely comparable with jump squat power. However, the highest net impulse was recorded during swing exercise with 32 kg (276.1 ± 45.3 N·s vs. 60% 1RM back squat: 182.8 ± 43.1 N·s, and 40% jump squat: 231.3 ± 47.1 N·s). These findings indicate a large mechanical demand during swing exercise that could make swing exercise a useful addition to strength and conditioning programs that aim to develop the ability to rapidly apply force.
Analysis of Urban Households' Preference for Informal Access to ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
2016-10-02
Oct 2, 2016 ... system, demand and supply, information systems as well as social ... the price system to dictate solely the allocation and distribution of land in the .... 400 questionnaires were distributed to the respondents through a random sampling ..... Urban land and informality: An evaluation of institutional response.
Ontario demand response scenarios
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rowlands, I.H.
2005-09-01
Strategies for demand management in Ontario were examined via 2 scenarios for a commercial/institutional building with a normal summertime peak load of 300 kW between 14:00 and 18:00 during a period of high electricity demand and high electricity prices. The first scenario involved the deployment of a 150 kW on-site generator fuelled by either diesel or natural gas. The second scenario involved curtailing load by 60 kW during the same periods. Costs and benefits of both scenarios were evaluated for 3 groups: consumers, system operators and society. Benefits included electricity cost savings, deferred transmission capacity development, lower system prices for electricity, as well as environmental changes, economic development, and a greater sense of corporate social responsibility. It was noted that while significant benefits were observed for all 3 groups, they were not substantial enough to encourage action, as the savings arising from deferred generation capacity development do not accrue to individual players. The largest potential benefit was identified as lower prices, spread across all users of electricity in Ontario. It was recommended that representative bodies cooperate so that the system-wide benefits can be reaped. It was noted that if 10 municipal utilities were able to have 250 commercial or institutional customers engaged in distributed response, then a total peak demand reduction of 375 MW could be achieved, representing more than 25 per cent of Ontario's target for energy conservation. It was concluded that demand response often involves the investment of capital and new on-site procedures, which may affect reactions to various incentives. 78 refs., 10 tabs., 5 figs
Reevaluation of Turkey's hydropower potential and electric energy demand
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yueksek, Omer
2008-01-01
This paper deals with Turkey's hydropower potential and its long-term electric energy demand predictions. In the paper, at first, Turkey's energy sources are briefly reviewed. Then, hydropower potential is analyzed and it has been concluded that Turkey's annual economically feasible hydropower potential is about 188 TWh, nearly 47% greater than the previous estimation figures of 128 TWh. A review on previous prediction models for Turkey's long-term electric energy demand is presented. In order to predict the future demand, new increment ratio scenarios, which depend on both observed data and future predictions of population, energy consumption per capita and total energy consumption, are developed. The results of 11 prediction models are compared and analyzed. It is concluded that Turkey's annual electric energy demand predictions in 2010, 2015 and 2020 vary between 222 and 242 (average 233) TWh; 302 and 356 (average 334) TWh; and 440 and 514 (average 476) TWh, respectively. A discussion on the role of hydropower in meeting long-term demand is also included in the paper and it has been predicted that hydropower can meet 25-35% of Turkey's electric energy demand in 2020
Ethanol Demand in United States Gasoline Production
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Hadder, G.R.
1998-11-24
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (OWL) Refinery Yield Model (RYM) has been used to estimate the demand for ethanol in U.S. gasoline production in year 2010. Study cases examine ethanol demand with variations in world oil price, cost of competing oxygenate, ethanol value, and gasoline specifications. For combined-regions outside California summer ethanol demand is dominated by conventional gasoline (CG) because the premised share of reformulated gasoline (RFG) production is relatively low and because CG offers greater flexibility for blending high vapor pressure components like ethanol. Vapor pressure advantages disappear for winter CG, but total ethanol used in winter RFG remains low because of the low RFG production share. In California, relatively less ethanol is used in CG because the RFG production share is very high. During the winter in California, there is a significant increase in use of ethanol in RFG, as ethanol displaces lower-vapor-pressure ethers. Estimated U.S. ethanol demand is a function of the refiner value of ethanol. For example, ethanol demand for reference conditions in year 2010 is 2 billion gallons per year (BGY) at a refiner value of $1.00 per gallon (1996 dollars), and 9 BGY at a refiner value of $0.60 per gallon. Ethanol demand could be increased with higher oil prices, or by changes in gasoline specifications for oxygen content, sulfur content, emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCS), and octane numbers.
Controls on Biogeochemical Cycling of Nitrogen in Urban Ecosystems
Templer, P. H.; Hutyra, L.; Decina, S.; Rao, P.; Gately, C.
2017-12-01
Rates of atmospheric nitrogen deposition are declining across much of the United States and Europe, yet they remain substantially elevated by almost an order of magnitude over pre-industrial levels and occur as hot spots in urban areas. We measured atmospheric inputs of inorganic and organic nitrogen in multiple urban sites around the Boston Metropolitan area, finding that urban rates are substantially elevated compared to nearby rural areas, and that the range of these atmospheric inputs are as large as observed urban to rural gradients. Within the City of Boston, the variation in deposition fluxes can be explained by traffic intensity, vehicle emissions, and spring fertilizer additions. Throughfall inputs of nitrogen are approximately three times greater than bulk deposition inputs in the city, demonstrating that the urban canopy amplifies rates of nitrogen reaching the ground surface. Similar to many other metropolitan areas of the United States, the City of Boston has 25% canopy cover; however, 25% of this tree canopy is located above impervious pavement. Throughfall inputs that do not have soil below the canopy to retain excess nitrogen may lead to greater inputs of nitrogen into nearby waterways through runoff. Most measurement stations for atmospheric nitrogen deposition are intentionally located away from urban areas and point sources of pollution to capture regional trends. Our data show that a major consequence of this network design is that hotspots of nitrogen deposition and runoff into urban and coastal waterways is likely underestimated to a significant degree. A more complete determination of atmospheric nitrogen deposition and its fate in urban ecosystems is critical for closing regional nitrogen budgets and for improving our understanding of biogeochemical nitrogen cycling across multiple spatial scales.
Forecasting domestic water demand in the Haihe river basin under changing environment
Wang, Xiao-Jun; Zhang, Jian-Yun; Shahid, Shamsuddin; Xie, Yu-Xuan; Zhang, Xu
2018-02-01
A statistical model has been developed for forecasting domestic water demand in Haihe river basin of China due to population growth, technological advances and climate change. Historical records of domestic water use, climate, population and urbanization are used for the development of model. An ensemble of seven general circulation models (GCMs) namely, BCC-CSM1-1, BNU-ESM, CNRM-CM5, GISS-E2-R, MIROC-ESM, PI-ESM-LR, MRI-CGCM3 were used for the projection of climate and the changes in water demand in the Haihe River basin under Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 4.5. The results showed that domestic water demand in different sub-basins of the Haihe river basin will gradually increase due to continuous increase of population and rise in temperature. It is projected to increase maximum 136.22 × 108 m3 by GCM BNU-ESM and the minimum 107.25 × 108 m3 by CNRM-CM5 in 2030. In spite of uncertainty in projection, it can be remarked that climate change and population growth would cause increase in water demand and consequently, reduce the gap between water supply and demand, which eventually aggravate the condition of existing water stress in the basin. Water demand management should be emphasized for adaptation to ever increasing water demand and mitigation of the impacts of environmental changes.
URBAN TRANSPORT AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN ASIAN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Akira MORITA
2004-01-01
This paper comprises a GIS-based land use analysis on the relationship between urbanization and transport infrastructure development, b GPS-based travel behavior survey, and c interview survey on residents' satisfaction with transport infrastructures and services. It was shown that the current land use patterns largely differ depending on the existence of agricultural infrastructure development in the pre-urbanized stage. It was also confirmed by a GPS-based travel survey that travel behavior patterns in scattered development areas are significantly different from those in orderly development areas. The former areas lack not only road space but also a structured hierarchy of networks, resulting in inefficient travel behaviors with low speed and detours. The GPS survey gave clearer pictures to grasp the relationship between travel patterns of residents and their demand for the improvement of local transport services. It was indicated that local governments who are responsible for these demands often fail to meet them due to financial and institutional limitations of the current system.
Urban acid deposition. Results from the GMADS network, 1990
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Conlan, D.E.; Longhurst, J.W.S.; Gee, D.R.; Hare, S.E.
1991-07-01
This fourth annual data report of the Greater Manchester Acid Deposition Survey (GMADS) gives results from the urban precipitation chemistry network across Greater Manchester and Warrington for 1990. Full analytical methods are described along with precision and accuracy of the methods used. The spatial variability of precipitation chemistry and deposition over this urban region was investigated using a network of twenty collectors. Concentrations of non marine sulphate, ammonium, calcium and hydrogen, and nitrogen dioxide gas concentrations all show significant spatial variability. The spatial variability of the deposition rates of non marine sulphate, nitrate, ammonium, hydrogen and calcium were significant. 40 refs., 13 figs., 9 tabs., 1 app.
Hegetschweiler, K.T.; Vries, de Sjerp; Arnberger, Arne; Bell, Simon; Brennan, Michael; Siter, Nathan; Olafsson, Anton Stahl; Voigt, Annette; Hunziker, Marcel
2017-01-01
Urban green infrastructure provides a number of cultural ecosystem services that are greatly appreciated by the public. In order to benefit from these services, actual contact with the respective ecosystem is often required. Furthermore, the type of services offered depend on the physical
Visions of sustainable urban energy systems. Proceedings
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Pietzsch, Ursula [HFT Stuttgart (Germany). zafh.net - Centre of Applied Research - Sustainable Energy Technology; Mikosch, Milena [Steinbeis-Zentrum, Stuttgart (Germany). Europaeischer Technologietransfer; Liesner, Lisa (eds.)
2010-09-15
Anzioso); (20) Decentralized electricity generation and demand side management opportunities in the urban environment (David Infield); (21) Polycity final conference 2010 - 3D city-scale modelling applied to sustainable design: History, example, and future (Andreas Lippold); (22) Renewable district heating and cooling concepts with large-scale trigeneration within the Spanish polycity project (Joan Carles Bruno); (23) 3D city modelling for urban scale heating energy demand forecasting (Aneta Strzalka).
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Andrenacci, N.; Ragona, R.; Valenti, G.
2016-01-01
Highlights: • A demand-side approach to the location of charging infrastructure problem is discussed in the paper. • The analysis is based on a large data-set of private vehicle travels within the urban area of Rome. • Cluster analysis is applied to the data to find the optimal location zones for charging infrastructures. • The daily energy demand and the average number of users per day are calculated for each and every charging infrastructure. - Abstract: Despite all the acknowledged advantages in terms of environmental impact reduction, energy efficiency and noise reduction, the electric mobility market is below expectations. In fact, electric vehicles have limitations that pose several important challenges for achieving a sustainable mobility system: among them, the availability of an adequate charging infrastructure is recognized as a fundamental requirement and appropriate approaches to optimize public and private investments in this field are to be delineated. In this paper we consider actual data on conventional private vehicle usage in the urban area of Rome to carry out a strategy for the optimal allocation of charging infrastructures into portions (subareas) of the urban area, based on an analysis of a driver sample under the assumption of a complete switch to an equivalent fleet of electric vehicles. Moreover, the energy requirement for each one of the subareas is estimated in terms of the electric energy used by the equivalent fleet of electric vehicles to reach their destination. The model can be easily generalized to other problems regarding facility allocation based on user demand.
Urban form relationships with walk trip frequency and distance among youth.
Frank, Lawrence; Kerr, Jacqueline; Chapman, Jim; Sallis, James
2007-01-01
To assess the relationship among objectively measured urban form variables, age, and walking in youth. Cross-sectional analyses of travel diary data mapped against urban form characteristics within a 1-km buffer of participant's place of residence. Setting. Youth in the Atlanta, Georgia region with selection stratified by income, household size, and residential density. A total of 3161 5- to 20-year-olds who completed 2-day travel diaries. Diaries of those under 15 years were completed by a parent or legal guardian. Walking distances were calculated from a 2-day travel diary. Residential density, intersection density, land use mix, and commercial and recreation space were assessed within a 1-km network distance around residences. Analysis. Logistic regression analyses were performed for each urban form variable by age groups controlling for the demographic variables. All variables were then entered simultaneously into an analysis of the whole sample. All five urban form variables tested were related to walking. Recreation space was the only variables associated with walking across the four different age groups. All the urban form variables were related to walking in the 12 to 15 years age cohort. For this group, the odds of walking were 3. 7 times greater for those in highest- versus lowest-density tertile and 2.6 times greater for those with at least one commercial and 2.5 times greater for those with at least one recreational destination within 1 km from home. In the analysis of the full sample, number of cars, recreation space, and residential density were most strongly related to walking. Access to recreation or open space was the most important urban form variable related to walking for all age groups. Children aged 12 to 15 years old may be particularly influenced by urban form.
Hur, Sungchul; Nam, Kisung; Kim, Jungsoo; Kwak, Changjae
2018-01-01
An urban runoff model that is able to compute the runoff, the pollutant loadings, and the concentrations of water-quality constituents in urban drainages during the first flush was developed. This model, which is referred to as FFC-QUAL, was modified from the existing ILLUDAS model and added for use during the water-quality analysis process for dry and rainy periods. For the dry period, the specifications of the coefficients for the discharge and water quality were used. During rainfall, we used the Clark and time-area methods for the runoff analyses of pervious and impervious areas to consider the effects of the subbasin shape; moreover, four pollutant accumulation methods and the washoff equation for computing the water quality each time were used. According to the verification results, FFC-QUAL provides generally similar output as the measured data for the peak flow, total runoff volume, total loadings, peak concentration, and time of peak concentration for three rainfall events in the Gunja subbasin. In comparison with the ILLUDAS, SWMM, and MOUSE models, there is little difference between these models and the model developed in this study. The proposed model should be useful in urban watersheds because of its simplicity and its capacity to model common pollutants (e.g., biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, Escherichia coli, suspended solids, and total nitrogen and phosphorous) in runoff. The proposed model can also be used in design studies to determine how changes in infrastructure will affect the runoff and pollution loads. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Movement and physical demands of school and university rugby union match-play in England
Read, Dale; Weaving, Daniel; Phibbs, Padraic; Darrall-Jones, Joshua; Roe, Gregory; Weakley, Jonathon; Hendricks, Sharief; Till, Kevin; Jones, Ben
2017-01-01
Background In England, rugby union is a popular sport and is widely played within schools. Despite the large participation numbers, the movement and physical demands of the sport and how they progress by age have not been explored. Method Ninety-six male rugby union players wore microtechnology devices during six rugby union matches within the education pathway to investigate the movement and physical demands of match-play. To quantify the positional differences and progression by age, data were obtained for participants at the under 16 (U16) (n=31 participants), under 18 (U18) (n=34 participants) and university (n=31 participants) levels. Players were further divided in forwards and backs. Data were analysed using magnitude-based inferences. Results For the movement demands, U16 total distance and ‘striding’ was likely higher for forwards than backs, whereas at U18, unclear differences were observed and from university players the inverse was observed (very likely). In all age groups sprint distance was likely to very likely greater for backs than forwards. Forwards had greater physical demands than backs at all age groups. For consecutive age groups, U16 had a likely higher relative distance than U18, and U18 had a likely lower relative distance than university players. Physical demands were similar across age groups for forwards, and greater for backs at older age groups. Conclusion The movement and physical demands of rugby union players participating in schools (U16 and U18), may not be as expected, however, the findings from university players show a similar pattern to the senior game. PMID:28879027
[Factors influencing the satisfaction of demands on services for elderly with visual disability].
Zhang, Lei; Li, Wenfei; Zhu, Jieping; Huang, Tingting; Zhu, Lin; Chen, Gong; Zheng, Xiaoying
2014-09-01
To investigate the status and associated factors of demand satisfaction (DS) of services for older adults with visual disability (OAVD). Based on the 2nd National Sample Survey on Disability in 2006, a total number of 24 017 OAVD cases were included. Associated relationships among demographic, health-related, social, economic factors and services of DS, including health demand (Type I), basic livelihood demand (Type II), and environmental support demand (Type III) were analyzed. The proportions of DS of Type I, II, III services for OAVD were 35.1% , 9.3% and 4.3% respectively. Eight factors as:having pension insurance (OR = 1.64), living in urban areas (OR = 1.54), per capita household income at ≥5 000 or over Yuan (OR = 1.46)were favorable ones on OAVD DS while at age ≥80 or above (OR = 0.90), being male (OR = 0.93)were adverse factors of Type I. Four factors as:being male (OR = 1.43), living in urban areas (OR = 1.15), subjects defined as grade II (OR = 1.36) and grade I (OR = 1.70) etc., were favorable factors on OAVD DS. Five factors as: range of age groups at 15-59 (OR = 0.57) or at ≥60 (OR = 0.45), per capita household income at 1 000-1 999 Yuan (OR = 0.77), 2 000-4 999 Yuan (OR = 0.58) and ≥5 000 Yuan (OR = 0.39) were adverse factors of Type II. Factors as: living in urban areas (OR = 1.23), defined as grade II (OR = 1.38) and grade I (OR = 1.34), having pension insurance (OR = 1.62) and per capita household income at ≥5 000 Yuan (OR = 1.42) etc., were favorable factors of Type III. The DS degree of older adults with visual disability was generally very low while factors as: per capita household income, situation on social insurance, age, degree of disability, age when disability was identified, areas of residence, gender, grade of disability, marriage status, levels of education etc., were significantly associated with the service on DS.
Xing, Rui; Hanaoka, Tatsuya; Kanamori, Yuko; Dai, Hancheng; Masui, Toshihiko
2015-06-01
Recently, energy use in the urban residential sector of China has drastically increased due to higher incomes and urbanization. The fossil fuels dominant energy supply has since worsened the air quality, especially in urban areas. In this study we estimate the future energy service demands in Chinese urban residential areas, and then use an AIM/Enduse model to evaluate the emission reduction potential of CO2, SO2, NOx and PM. Considering the climate diversity and its impact on household energy service demands, our analysis is down-scaled to the provincial-level. The results show that in most of the regions, penetration of efficient technologies will bring CO2 emission reductions of over 20% compared to the baseline by the year 2030. Deployment of energy efficient technologies also co-benefits GHG emission reduction. However, efficient technology selection appears to differ across provinces due to climatic variation and economic disparity. For instance, geothermal heating technology is effective for the cold Northern areas while biomass technology contributes to emission reduction the most in the warm Southern areas.
Data-driven Travel Demand Modelling and Agent-based Traffic Simulation in Amsterdam Urban Area
Melnikov, V.R.; Krzhizhanovskaya, V.V.; Lees, M.H.; Boukhanovsky, A.V.
2016-01-01
The goal of this project is the development of a large-scale agent-based traffic simulation system for Amsterdam urban area, validated on sensor data and adjusted for decision support in critical situations and for policy making in sustainable city development, emission control and electric car
Urban transformation for the development and enhancement of the consolidated city
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Alessandro Claudi de Saint Mihiel
2016-11-01
Full Text Available The demand to adapt the urban amenities to increasingly complex settlement needs, articulated and oriented to the energy efficiency of buildings, led to the need to undertake operational strategies to meet the existing challenges, developing projects for the transformation of the urban, historical or marginal environment. Some recent experiences of urban regeneration, increasingly declined towards an idea of compact and dense city, are meeting new energy settings, mobility, social inclusion, sustainable development. The role of technology choices appears crucial to the quality of interventions in areas of compromised material and immaterial integrity, that can become a research object for new eco-oriented design approaches.
Benefits of restoring ecosystem services in urban areas
T. Elmqvist; H. Setala; S.N. Handel; S. van der Ploeg; J. Aronson; J.N. Blignaut; E. Gomez-Baggethun; D.J. Nowak; J. Kronenberg; R. de Groot
2015-01-01
Cities are a key nexus of the relationship between people and nature and are huge centers of demand for ecosystem services and also generate extremely large environmental impacts. Current projections of rapid expansion of urban areas present fundamental challenges and also opportunities to design more livable, healthy and resilient cities (e.g. adaptation to climate...
Demand for energy in rural and urban centres of Ethiopia; An econometric analysis
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Kidane, Asmerom (Addis Ababa Univ. (ET). Dept. of Statistics)
1991-04-01
The paper starts by briefly discussing the current energy situation in Ethiopia. The major source of energy in Ethiopia is traditional and the major consumer is the household. A simple model of household utility function where energy consumption is the major variable is developed and a reduced form is derived. To make the model operational a simultaneous equation system describing the demand for and supply of traditional and modern energy sources has been specified. The model is closed by equating the demand for energy with the supply. Data from the national energy survey were used to estimate the model. The major finding of the study is that price of traditional energy plays an important role in the consumption of fuelwood and other traditional energy sources. By manipulating the price variable the government may be able to control the high rate of depletion of forest resources. (author).
Yalçıntaş, Murat; Bulu, Melih; Küçükvar, Murat; Samadi, Hamidreza
2015-01-01
Yayın, Endüstri Mühendisliği Bölümü ile ortak hazırlanmıştır; ancak tekrara düşmemek için ilk yazarın bölümü alınmıştır. The metropolitan city of Istanbul is becoming overcrowded and the demand for clean water is steeply rising in the city. The use of analytical approaches has become more and more critical for forecasting the water supply and demand balance in the long run. In this research, Istanbul’s water supply and demand data is collected for the period during 2006 and 2014. Then, usi...
Fuel demand elasticities for energy and environmental policies: Indian sample survey evidence
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Gundimeda, Haripriya; Koehlin, Gunnar
2008-01-01
India has been running large-scale interventions in the energy sector over the last decades. Still, there is a dearth of reliable and readily available price and income elasticities of demand to base these on, especially for domestic use of traditional fuels. This study uses the linear approximate Almost Ideal Demand System (LA-AIDS) using micro data of more than 100,000 households sampled across India. The LA-AIDS model is expanded by specifying the intercept as a linear function of household characteristics. Marshallian and Hicksian price and expenditure elasticities of demand for four main fuels are estimated for both urban and rural areas by different income groups. These can be used to evaluate recent and current energy policies. The results can also be used for energy projections and carbon dioxide simulations given different growth rates for different segments of the Indian population. (author)
Existing and Future Urban Knowledge
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Andersen, Hans Thor; Atkinson, Robert
2013-01-01
In recent years there has been a rising focus on urban issues at both European and national levels, the well being of cities and the quality of life of their citizens has taken on greater salience for economic and political reasons. This situation has developed not least because the vast majority...
Clustering and Support Vector Regression for Water Demand Forecasting and Anomaly Detection
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Antonio Candelieri
2017-03-01
Full Text Available This paper presents a completely data-driven and machine-learning-based approach, in two stages, to first characterize and then forecast hourly water demand in the short term with applications of two different data sources: urban water demand (SCADA data and individual customer water consumption (AMR data. In the first case, reliable forecasting can be used to optimize operations, particularly the pumping schedule, in order to reduce energy-related costs, while in the second case, the comparison between forecast and actual values may support the online detection of anomalies, such as smart meter faults, fraud or possible cyber-physical attacks. Results are presented for a real case: the water distribution network in Milan.
Energy Supply and Demand Planning Aspects in Slovenia
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Tomsic, M.; Urbancic, A.; Al Mansour, F.; Merse, S.
1997-01-01
Slovenia can be considered a sufficiently homogenous region, even though specific climatic conditions exist in some parts of the country. Urban regions with high energy consumptions density differ in logistic aspects and in the potential of renewable energy sources. The difference in household energy demand is not significant. The planning study is based on the ''Integrated Resource Planning'' approach. A novel energy planning tool, the MESAP-PlaNet energy system model, supplemented by auxiliary models of technology penetration, electricity demand analysis and optimal expansion planning (the WASP package) has been used. The following segments has been treated in detail: industry, households and both central and local supply systems. Three intensities of energy efficiency strategies are compared: Reference, Moderate and Intensive. The intensity of demand side management programs influence the level and dynamics of activation of conservation potentials. Energy tax is considered in the Moderate and Intensive strategies. On the supply side the issue of domestic coal use is discussed. Reduction in the use of coal is linked to energy efficiency strategies. It has been found that energy efficiency strategies consistently improve economic efficiency, security of supply and protection of health and environment. The only conflicting area is social acceptability, due to both the energy tax reform and the loss of mining jobs. (author)
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Gately, D.
1992-01-01
This paper describes a framework for analyzing the imperfect price-reversibility (hysteresis) of oil demand. The oil demand reductions following the oil price increases of the 1970s will not be completely reversed by the price cuts of the 1980s, nor is it necessarily true that these partial demand reversals themselves will be reversed exactly by future price increases. The author decomposes price into three monotonic series: price increases to maximum historic levels, price cuts, and price recoveries (increases below historic highs). He would expect that the response to price cuts would be no greater than to price recoveries, which in turn would be no greater than for increases in maximum historic price. For evidence of imperfect price-reversibility, he tests econometrically the following US data: vehicle miles per driver, the fuel efficiency of the automobile fleet, and gasoline demand per driver. In each case, the econometric results allow him to reject the hypothesis of perfect price-reversibility. The data show smaller response to price cuts than to price increases. This has dramatic implications for projections of gasoline and oil demand, especially under low-price assumptions. 26 refs., 13 figs., 3 tabs
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Gledsneli Maria Lima Lins
2010-12-01
Full Text Available Water has a decisive influence on populations’ life quality – specifically in areas like urban supply, drainage, and effluents treatment – due to its sound impact over public health. Water rational use constitutes the greatest challenge faced by water demand management, mainly with regard to urban household water consumption. This makes it important to develop researches to assist water managers and public policy-makers in planning and formulating water demand measures which may allow urban water rational use to be met. This work utilized the multivariate techniques Factor Analysis and Multiple Linear Regression Analysis – in order to determine the participation level of socioeconomic and climatic variables in monthly urban household consumption changes – applying them to two districts of Campina Grande city (State of Paraíba, Brazil. The districts were chosen based on socioeconomic criterion (income level so as to evaluate their water consumer’s behavior. A 9-year monthly data series (from year 2000 up to 2008 was utilized, comprising family income, water tariff, and quantity of household connections (economies – as socioeconomic variables – and average temperature and precipitation, as climatic variables. For both the selected districts of Campina Grande city, the obtained results point out the variables “water tariff” and “family income” as indicators of these district’s household consumption.
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Goldstein, Benjamin Paul; Birkved, Morten; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky
2014-01-01
. One possible mitigation strategy to these issues is increasing food production in and around cities using urban agriculture (UA). Through a literature review, we found claims surrounding UA as a way to attenuate a cornucopia of environmental burdens due to urban food needs, but that their veracity......Presently, the supply chain supporting urban food consumption is placing stress on the environment at the planetary, regional and local scales. Despite the urban origin of global food demands, cities supply little of their own food, and are susceptible to disruptions across the global supply chain...
Urban hydrology in mountainous middle eastern cities
Grodek, T.; Lange, J.; Lekach, J.; Husary, S.
2011-03-01
The Mediterranean climate together with the type of urban setting found in mountainous Middle Eastern cities generate much lower runoff yields than previously reported and than usually estimated for urban design. In fact, a close analysis shows that most of the rainwater remains within the cities as a possible source for urban groundwater recharge. The present study examined two locales - Ramallah, an old traditional Palestinian Arab town, and Modiin, a new township in Israel - both situated on the karstic Yarkon Taninim aquifer. This aquifer supplies the only high-quality drinking water in the region (one quarter of the Israeli-Palestinian water demand), which is characterized by dense populations and limited water resources. This paper provides the first measured information on the hydrological effects of urbanization in the area. It was found that the shift of the mountainous natural steep slopes into a series of closed-terraces with homes and gardens create areas that are disconnected from the urban runoff response. Roofs drained into the attached gardens create favorable recharge units. Mainly low-gradient roads became the principal source for urban runoff already following 1-4 mm of rainfall. Parallel roads converted single peak hydrographs towards multi-peak runoff responses, increasing flow duration and reducing peak discharges. The remaining urban area (public parks, natural areas, etc.) generated runoff only as a result of high-magnitude rainstorms. All of the above conditions limited urban runoff coefficients to an upper boundary of only 35% and 30% (Ramallah and Modiin, respectively). During extreme rainstorms (above 100 mm) similar runoff coefficients were measured in urban and natural catchments as a result of the limited areas contributing to runoff in the urban areas, while natural terrain does not have these artificial limits. Hence, the effects of urbanization decrease with event magnitude and there is significant potential for urban groundwater
Urban hydrology in mountainous middle eastern cities
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T. Grodek
2011-03-01
Full Text Available The Mediterranean climate together with the type of urban setting found in mountainous Middle Eastern cities generate much lower runoff yields than previously reported and than usually estimated for urban design. In fact, a close analysis shows that most of the rainwater remains within the cities as a possible source for urban groundwater recharge. The present study examined two locales – Ramallah, an old traditional Palestinian Arab town, and Modiin, a new township in Israel – both situated on the karstic Yarkon Taninim aquifer. This aquifer supplies the only high-quality drinking water in the region (one quarter of the Israeli-Palestinian water demand, which is characterized by dense populations and limited water resources.
This paper provides the first measured information on the hydrological effects of urbanization in the area. It was found that the shift of the mountainous natural steep slopes into a series of closed-terraces with homes and gardens create areas that are disconnected from the urban runoff response. Roofs drained into the attached gardens create favorable recharge units. Mainly low-gradient roads became the principal source for urban runoff already following 1–4 mm of rainfall. Parallel roads converted single peak hydrographs towards multi-peak runoff responses, increasing flow duration and reducing peak discharges. The remaining urban area (public parks, natural areas, etc. generated runoff only as a result of high-magnitude rainstorms. All of the above conditions limited urban runoff coefficients to an upper boundary of only 35% and 30% (Ramallah and Modiin, respectively. During extreme rainstorms (above 100 mm similar runoff coefficients were measured in urban and natural catchments as a result of the limited areas contributing to runoff in the urban areas, while natural terrain does not have these artificial limits. Hence, the effects of urbanization decrease with event magnitude and there is significant
Urban Extension: Aligning with the Needs of Urban Audiences Through Subject-Matter Centers
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Brad Gaolach
2017-06-01
Full Text Available The educational program model is the principle approach Extension uses to deliver on its mission of “taking knowledge to the people.” However, with county-based faculty fully engaged in long-term program delivery, they may have little or no capacity to address emerging issues faced by urban communities. Urban governments often seek the research capacity of a university in addition to, or instead of, the traditional Extension programming model but sometimes turn first to other urban-serving universities. Washington State University Extension has addressed these challenges by establishing subject-matter centers. This article examines how subject-matter centers can add capacity to traditional Extension offices in order to be responsive to emerging local needs, suggesting models that other university Extension programs may use or adapt to their local communities. These models also foster more community engagement and articulate greater public value for the institution as a whole.
The United States rheumatology workforce: supply and demand, 2005-2025.
Deal, Chad L; Hooker, Roderick; Harrington, Timothy; Birnbaum, Neal; Hogan, Paul; Bouchery, Ellen; Klein-Gitelman, Marisa; Barr, Walter
2007-03-01
To develop and apply a model that allows prediction of current and future supply and demand for rheumatology services in the US. A supply model was developed using the age and sex distribution of current physicians, retirement and mortality rates, the number of fellowship slots and fill rates, and practice patterns of rheumatologists. A Markov projection model was used to project needs in 5-year increments from 2005 to 2025. The number of rheumatologists for adult patients in the US in 2005 is 4,946. Male and female rheumatologists are equally distributed up to age 44; above age 44, men predominate. The percent of women in adult rheumatology is projected to increase from 30.2% in 2005 to 43.6% in 2025. The mean number of visits per rheumatologist per year is 3,758 for male rheumatologists and 2,800 for female rheumatologists. Assuming rheumatology supply and demand are in equilibrium in 2005, the demand for rheumatologists in 2025 is projected to exceed supply by 2,576 adult and 33 pediatric rheumatologists. The primary factors in the excess demand are an aging population which will increase the number of people with rheumatic disorders, growth in the Gross Domestic Product, and flat rheumatology supply due to fixed numbers entering the workforce and to retirements. The productivity of younger rheumatologists and women, who will make up a greater percentage of the future workforce, may also have important effects on supply. Unknown effects that could influence these projections include technology advances, more efficient practice methods, changes in insurance reimbursements, and shifting lifestyles. Current data suggest that the pediatric rheumatology workforce is experiencing a substantial excess of demand versus supply. Based on assessment of supply and demand under current scenarios, the demand for rheumatologists is expected to exceed supply in the coming decades. Strategies for the profession to adapt to this changing health care landscape include increasing
The Urban Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Threat to Human Security and Sustainable Development
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Mediel Hove
2013-03-01
Full Text Available Urban centres have existed and have been evolving for many centuries across the world. However, the accelerated growth of urbanisation is a relatively recent phenomenon. The enormous size of urban populations and more significantly, the rapidity with which urban areas have been and are growing in many developing countries have severe social, economic and physical repercussions. This paper argues that the accelerated growth of urbanisation has amplified the demand for key services. However, the provision of shelter and basic services such as water and sanitation, education, public health, employment and transport has not kept pace with this increasing demand. Furthermore, accelerated and poorly managed urbanisation has resulted in various types of atmospheric, land and water pollution thereby jeopardising human security. This paper offers the conclusion that the increased environmental, social and economic problems associated with rapid urbanisation pose a threat to sustainable development, human security and, crucially, peace.
Estimating demand schedules in hedonic analysis
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Panduro, Toke Emil; Jensen, Cathrine Ulla; Lundhede, Thomas
The hedonic pricing method has been used extensively to obtain implicit prices for availability of urban green space, but few hedonic studies have obtained households’ preference parameters. We estimate willingness to pay functions for park availability in Copenhagen using an approach that places...... identifying restrictions on the utility function. We do this for two different measures of park availability. We apply our results to a policy scenario and show how estimates of aggregate welfare changes are highly sensitive to the measure of park availability applied. Thus, the approach in this study applies...... an alternative path for estimation of demand schedules for public goods using hedonic data. The findings also stress the importance of paying attention to how public goods are defined when undertaking welfare economic policy analyses....
Closing the nutrient loops in (peri) urban farming systems through composting
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Nigatu, Abebe Nigussie
waste management practices in developing countries and ensure sustainable crop production via the biotransformation of urban waste into a high-quality soil amendment. First, I aimed at determining the causes for the limited use of organic amendments in small-scale urban farming systems. I interviewed...... 220 urban farmers in Ethiopia and found that competition for agricultural waste between fuel, feed and soil amendment is a major cause for the limited use of organic amendments. I demonstrated that allocation of agricultural waste for soil amendment is linked with farmers’ livelihood strategies. I...... also studied variation in compost demand among different farmer groups, and the socio-economic variables which explained these variations. Gaseous losses of ammonia and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions occur during composting of nitrogen-rich urban waste. Several technologies could reduce these losses...
Small Steps Make Meaningful Change in Transforming Urban Schools
Miranda, Antoinette Halsell; Radliff, Kisha M.; Della Flora, Olympia A.
2018-01-01
Urban schools in the United States are generally viewed as having greater challenges than their suburban and rural counterparts. Most notably, they often have lower academic achievement and much of the educational reform movement has been aimed at urban schools in an attempt to close the achievement gap. Although much of the focus in recent years…
Boda, Ravi Kiran; Majeti, Narasimha Vara Prasad; Suthari, Sateesh
2017-08-01
Ricinus communis L. (castor bean or castor oil plant) was found growing on metal-contaminated sites (4) of peri-urban Greater Hyderabad comprises of erstwhile industrial areas viz Bollaram, Patancheru, Bharatnagar, and Kattedan industrial areas. During 2013-2017, about 60 research papers have appeared focusing the role of castor bean in phytoremediation of co-contaminated soils, co-generation of biomaterials, and environmental cleanup, as bioenergy crop and sustainable development. The present study is focused on its use as a multipurpose phytoremediation crop for phytostabilization and revegetation of waste disposed peri-urban contaminated soils. To determine the plant tolerance level, metal accumulation, chlorophyll, protein, proline, lipid peroxidation, oil content, and soil properties were characterized. It was noticed that the castor plant and soils have high concentration of metals such as cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn). The soils have high phosphorous (P), adequate nitrogen (N), and low concentration of potassium (K). Iron (Fe) concentrations ranged from1672±50.91 to 2166±155.78 mg kg -1 in the soil. The trend of metal accumulation Fe>Zn>Mn>Pb>Cd was found in different plant parts at polluted sites. The translocation of Cd and Pb showed values more than one in industrial areas viz Bollaram, Kattedan, and Bharatnagar indicating the plants resistance to metal toxicity. Chlorophyll and protein content reduced while proline and malondialdehyde increased due to its tolerance level under metal exposure. The content of ricinoleic acid was higher, and the fatty acids composition of polluted areas was almost similar to that of the control area. Thus, R. communis L. can be employed for reclamation of heavy metal contaminated soils.
COMPARISON OF SUSTAINABILITY BETWEEN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT CONSIDERING URBAN STRUCTURE
Masanobu KII
2003-01-01
It is said that the car is convenient but consumes high-energy per passenger, while public transport is an environmentally friendly mode but needs high cost of investment and management. However, this view does not take account of urban structure such as population size and density. For instance, higher population density would cause congestion and consequent inconvenience for car usage. This may shift demand to public transport use. On the other hand, in a lower density of urban area, public...
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Juliana Siqueira-Gay
2017-10-01
Full Text Available In the practice of urban and environmental planning, especially in the context of adaptation to environmental changes, there is a demand for studies that integrate social, economic and environmental information of the population and related risk. Particularly in large urban centers, waterproofing and verticalization have the potential to increase local air temperature, triggering the phenomenon of heat islands. Therefore, this phenomenon has side effects such as public health problems, pollution and changes in the air circulation. In view of the risks and consequences of the urban heat islands, this paper aims to analyze the priority areas for implementing measures to mitigate the effects of the urban heat islands phenomenon in São Paulo City (Brazil. A vulnerability index was proposed considering the social and environmental dimensions, relating the capacity of adaptation, sensitivity and exposure to the occurrence of the phenomenon of urban heat islands. Besides that, measures to mitigate the effects associated with heat islands in urban planning were identified. The central regions are critical for exposure and the outskirts, for adaptive capacity and sensitivity, both considered priorities for the implementation of mitigation measures. In addition, strategies such as implementation and conservation of green spaces, preservation of water bodies, urban design change, as well as use of materials with high reflectance are also listed and partially foreseen in the Municipal Strategic Master Plan to mitigate the effects of urban heat island.
Collaborative autonomous systems in models of urban logistics
Arango Serna, Martín Darío; Serna Uran, Conrado Augusto; Alvarez Uribe, Karla Cristina; Arango Serna, Martín Darío
2012-01-01
Cities growth and along with them the exchange and distribution of goods and services has led in recent years to a greater increasing interest for the optimization of logistic processes carried out in urban areas. In this article, the main approaches and solutions which have been proposed from academic research will be described, focusing mainly on collaborative autonomic logistics, which is offered as an attractive solution to the urban goods distribution problems in complex cities.
CITATION ANALYSIS OF URBAN PLANNING SCHOLARS IN THE U.S.
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Sanchez Thomas W
2015-03-01
Full Text Available This article provides a complete citation analysis for the field of urban planning in the U.S. Urban planning is multi-disciplinary with a rich tradition of debate about the knowledge domain of both research and practice. Urban planning includes consideration of social, economic, technological, environmental, and political systems that are highly sophisticated, which therefore has an extensive body of scholarship. The article argues that Google Scholar is an appropriate source of citation data for urban planning and includes a brief example of one urban planning scholar to demonstrate GS citation patterns. This is followed by the results of a descriptive analysis showing general patterns of citation activity for urban planning schools. A greater depth of analysis is required to better understand the dynamics of these scholarly activities.
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Tkáč Štefan
2015-11-01
Full Text Available To achieve the smart growth and equitable development in the region, urban planners should consider also lateral energies represented by the energy urban models like further proposed EEPGC focused on energy distribution via connections among micro-urban structures, their onsite renewable resources and the perception of micro-urban structures as decentralized energy carriers based on pre industrialized era. These structures are still variously bound when part of greater patterns. After the industrial revolution the main traded goods became energy in its various forms. The EEPGC is focused on sustainable energy transportation distances between the villages and the city, described by the virtual “energy circles”. This more human scale urbanization, boost the economy in micro-urban areas, rising along with clean energy available in situ that surely gives a different perspective to human quality of life in contrast to overcrowded multicultural mega-urban structures facing generations of problems and struggling to survive as a whole.
Tkáč, Štefan
2015-11-01
To achieve the smart growth and equitable development in the region, urban planners should consider also lateral energies represented by the energy urban models like further proposed EEPGC focused on energy distribution via connections among micro-urban structures, their onsite renewable resources and the perception of micro-urban structures as decentralized energy carriers based on pre industrialized era. These structures are still variously bound when part of greater patterns. After the industrial revolution the main traded goods became energy in its various forms. The EEPGC is focused on sustainable energy transportation distances between the villages and the city, described by the virtual "energy circles". This more human scale urbanization, boost the economy in micro-urban areas, rising along with clean energy available in situ that surely gives a different perspective to human quality of life in contrast to overcrowded multicultural mega-urban structures facing generations of problems and struggling to survive as a whole.
Holidays in lights: Tracking cultural patterns in demand for energy services
Román, Miguel O.; Stokes, Eleanor C.
2015-06-01
Successful climate change mitigation will involve not only technological innovation, but also innovation in how we understand the societal and individual behaviors that shape the demand for energy services. Traditionally, individual energy behaviors have been described as a function of utility optimization and behavioral economics, with price restructuring as the dominant policy lever. Previous research at the macro-level has identified economic activity, power generation and technology, and economic role as significant factors that shape energy use. However, most demand models lack basic contextual information on how dominant social phenomenon, the changing demographics of cities, and the sociocultural setting within which people operate, affect energy decisions and use patterns. Here we use high-quality Suomi-NPP VIIRS nighttime environmental products to: (1) observe aggregate human behavior through variations in energy service demand patterns during the Christmas and New Year's season and the Holy Month of Ramadan and (2) demonstrate that patterns in energy behaviors closely track sociocultural boundaries at the country, city, and district level. These findings indicate that energy decision making and demand is a sociocultural process as well as an economic process, often involving a combination of individual price-based incentives and societal-level factors. While nighttime satellite imagery has been used to map regional energy infrastructure distribution, tracking daily dynamic lighting demand at three major scales of urbanization is novel. This methodology can enrich research on the relative importance of drivers of energy demand and conservation behaviors at fine scales. Our initial results demonstrate the importance of seating energy demand frameworks in a social context.
Holiday in Lights: Tracking Cultural Patterns in Demand for Energy Services
Roman, Miguel O.; Stokes, Eleanor C.
2015-01-01
Successful climate change mitigation will involve not only technological innovation, but also innovation in how we understand the societal and individual behaviors that shape the demand for energy services. Traditionally, individual energy behaviors have been described as a function of utility optimization and behavioral economics, with price restructuring as the dominant policy lever. Previous research at the macro-level has identified economic activity, power generation and technology, and economic role as significant factors that shape energy use. However, most demand models lack basic contextual information on how dominant social phenomenon, the changing demographics of cities, and the sociocultural setting within which people operate, affect energy decisions and use patterns. Here we use high-quality Suomi-NPP VIIRS nighttime environmental products to: (1) observe aggregate human behavior through variations in energy service demand patterns during the Christmas and New Year's season and the Holy Month of Ramadan and (2) demonstrate that patterns in energy behaviors closely track sociocultural boundaries at the country, city, and district level. These findings indicate that energy decision making and demand is a sociocultural process as well as an economic process, often involving a combination of individual price-based incentives and societal-level factors. While nighttime satellite imagery has been used to map regional energy infrastructure distribution, tracking daily dynamic lighting demand at three major scales of urbanization is novel. This methodology can enrich research on the relative importance of drivers of energy demand and conservation behaviors at fine scales. Our initial results demonstrate the importance of seating energy demand frameworks in a social context.
Renewal or rehabilitation of urban river and stream corridors
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Matjaž Mikoš
2001-01-01
Full Text Available Analyses of the morphological state of urban streams and rivers in the Municipality of Ljubljana and research concerning the hydrographical network show that the condition of their morphological preservation is alarming. Efforts put in the new spatial development concept, guidelines and proposals for urban rehabilitation are therefore also an opportunity for rehabilitation measures on the municipal hydrographical network. Adequate care should be given to their improved morphological state even because of the recently adopted European framework water directive (annex 5, that after a certain period demands such a status of surface water in signatory countries.
Implications of agricultural transitions and urbanization for ecosystem services.
Cumming, Graeme S; Buerkert, Andreas; Hoffmann, Ellen M; Schlecht, Eva; von Cramon-Taubadel, Stephan; Tscharntke, Teja
2014-11-06
Historically, farmers and hunter-gatherers relied directly on ecosystem services, which they both exploited and enjoyed. Urban populations still rely on ecosystems, but prioritize non-ecosystem services (socioeconomic). Population growth and densification increase the scale and change the nature of both ecosystem- and non-ecosystem-service supply and demand, weakening direct feedbacks between ecosystems and societies and potentially pushing social-ecological systems into traps that can lead to collapse. The interacting and mutually reinforcing processes of technological change, population growth and urbanization contribute to over-exploitation of ecosystems through complex feedbacks that have important implications for sustainable resource use.
Skiles, Martha Priedeman; Cunningham, Marc; Inglis, Andrew; Wilkes, Becky; Hatch, Ben; Bock, Ariella; Barden-O'Fallon, Janine
2015-03-01
Previous studies have identified positive relationships between geographic proximity to family planning services and contraceptive use, but have not accounted for the effect of contraceptive supply reliability or the diminishing influence of facility access with increasing distance. Kernel density estimation was used to geographically link Malawi women's use of injectable contraceptives and demand for birth spacing or limiting, as drawn from the 2010 Demographic and Health Survey, with contraceptive logistics data from family planning service delivery points. Linear probability models were run to identify associations between access to injectable services-measured by distance alone and by distance combined with supply reliability-and injectable use and family planning demand among rural and urban populations. Access to services was an important predictor of injectable use. The probability of injectable use among rural women with the most access by both measures was 7‒8 percentage points higher than among rural dwellers with the least access. The probability of wanting to space or limit births among urban women who had access to the most reliable supplies was 18 percentage points higher than among their counterparts with the least access. Product availability in the local service environment plays a critical role in women's demand for and use of contraceptive methods. Use of kernel density estimation in creating facility service environments provides a refined approach to linking women with services and accounts for both distance to facilities and supply reliability. Urban and rural differences should be considered when seeking to improve contraceptive access.
Energy demand projection of China using a path-coefficient analysis and PSO–GA approach
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yu Shiwei; Zhu Kejun; Zhang Xian
2012-01-01
Highlights: ► The effect mechanism of China’s energy demand is investigated detailedly. ► A hybrid algorithm PSO–GA optimal energy demands estimating model for China. ► China’s energy demand will reach 4.48 billion tce in 2015. ► The proposed method forecast shows its superiority compared with others. - Abstract: Energy demand projection is fundamental to rational energy planning formulation. The present study investigates the direct and indirect effects of five factors, namely GDP, population, proportion of industrial, proportion of urban population and coal percentage of total energy consumption on China’s energy demand, implementing a path-coefficient analysis. On this basis, a hybrid algorithm, Particle Swarm Optimization and Genetic Algorithm optimal Energy Demand Estimating (PSO–GA EDE) model, is proposed for China. The coefficients of the three forms of the model (linear, exponential and quadratic model) are optimized by proposed PSO–GA. To obtain a combinational prediction of three forms, a departure coefficient method is applied to get the combinational weights. The results show that the China’s energy demand will be 4.48 billion tce in 2015. Furthermore; the proposed method forecast shows its superiority compared with other single optimization method such as GA, PSO or ACO and multiple linear regressions.
Forecasting domestic water demand in the Haihe river basin under changing environment
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X.-J. Wang
2018-02-01
Full Text Available A statistical model has been developed for forecasting domestic water demand in Haihe river basin of China due to population growth, technological advances and climate change. Historical records of domestic water use, climate, population and urbanization are used for the development of model. An ensemble of seven general circulation models (GCMs namely, BCC-CSM1-1, BNU-ESM, CNRM-CM5, GISS-E2-R, MIROC-ESM, PI-ESM-LR, MRI-CGCM3 were used for the projection of climate and the changes in water demand in the Haihe River basin under Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs 4.5. The results showed that domestic water demand in different sub-basins of the Haihe river basin will gradually increase due to continuous increase of population and rise in temperature. It is projected to increase maximum 136.22 × 108 m3 by GCM BNU-ESM and the minimum 107.25 × 108 m3 by CNRM-CM5 in 2030. In spite of uncertainty in projection, it can be remarked that climate change and population growth would cause increase in water demand and consequently, reduce the gap between water supply and demand, which eventually aggravate the condition of existing water stress in the basin. Water demand management should be emphasized for adaptation to ever increasing water demand and mitigation of the impacts of environmental changes.
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Makii Muthalib
2016-06-01
Full Text Available Functional Muscle metabolic demand during contractions evoked by neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES has been consistently documented to be greater than voluntary contractions (VOL at the same force level (10-50% maximal voluntary contraction-MVC. However, we have shown using a near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS technique that local muscle metabolic demand is similar between NMES and VOL performed at MVC levels, thus controversy exists. This study therefore compared biceps brachii muscle metabolic demand (tissue oxygenation index-TOI and total hemoglobin volume-tHb during a 10s isometric contraction of the elbow flexors between NMES (stimulation frequency of 30Hz and current level to evoke 30% MVC and VOL at 30% MVC (VOL-30%MVC and MVC (VOL-MVC level in 8 healthy men (23-33-y. Greater changes in TOI and tHb induced by NMES than VOL-30%MVC confirm previous studies of a greater local metabolic demand for NMES than VOL at the same force level. The same TOI and tHb changes for NMES and VOL-MVC suggest that local muscle metabolic demand and intramuscular pressure were similar between conditions. In conclusion, these findings indicate that NMES induce a similar local muscle metabolic demand as that of maximal VOL.
Muthalib, Makii; Kerr, Graham; Nosaka, Kazunori; Perrey, Stephane
2016-06-13
Functional Muscle metabolic demand during contractions evoked by neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) has been consistently documented to be greater than voluntary contractions (VOL) at the same force level (10-50% maximal voluntary contraction-MVC). However, we have shown using a near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technique that local muscle metabolic demand is similar between NMES and VOL performed at MVC levels, thus controversy exists. This study therefore compared biceps brachii muscle metabolic demand (tissue oxygenation index-TOI and total hemoglobin volume-tHb) during a 10s isometric contraction of the elbow flexors between NMES (stimulation frequency of 30Hz and current level to evoke 30% MVC) and VOL at 30% MVC (VOL-30%MVC) and MVC (VOL-MVC) level in 8 healthy men (23-33-y). Greater changes in TOI and tHb induced by NMES than VOL-30%MVC confirm previous studies of a greater local metabolic demand for NMES than VOL at the same force level. The same TOI and tHb changes for NMES and VOL-MVC suggest that local muscle metabolic demand and intramuscular pressure were similar between conditions. In conclusion, these findings indicate that NMES induce a similar local muscle metabolic demand as that of maximal VOL.
Can the urban poor afford modern energy? The case of Ethiopia
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kebede, Bereket; Bekele, Almaz; Kedir, Elias
2002-01-01
Comparing rough measures of costs of using modern fuels and purchasing power of the urban poor in Ethiopia, this article finds that, while kerosene is relatively cheap even for the very poor, electricity is extremely expensive even for the relatively well to do. The upper stratum of the poor may have the purchasing power to access butane gas. In addition, the article examines the relevance of the 'energy ladder' hypothesis. Generally, both at the aggregate level and for individual urban areas, the prediction from the hypothesis holds; but our results indicate that the relevance of the hypothesis weakens on lower levels of aggregation implying significant inter-city variations. Finally, demand equations for each fuel are econometrically estimated and the elasticities are used to examine price and income effects. The budget elasticities indicate that with economic growth, the demand for traditional fuels will increase. In addition, the cross-price elasticities show that increase in the price of a traditional fuel mainly shifts demand towards other traditional fuels rather than towards modern fuels. This slows down the transition towards modern fuels. The article concludes by presenting policy recommendations arising from the analysis. (Author)
Can the urban poor afford modern energy? The case of Ethiopia
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Kebede, Bereket [Oxford Univ., St Antony' s Coll., Oxford (United Kingdom); Bekele, Almaz [Central Statistical Authority, Transport and Finance Dept., Addis Ababa (Ethiopia); Kedir, Elias [Addis Ababa Univ., Dept. of Economics, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)
2002-09-01
Comparing rough measures of costs of using modern fuels and purchasing power of the urban poor in Ethiopia, this article finds that, while kerosene is relatively cheap even for the very poor, electricity is extremely expensive even for the relatively well to do. The upper stratum of the poor may have the purchasing power to access butane gas. In addition, the article examines the relevance of the 'energy ladder' hypothesis. Generally, both at the aggregate level and for individual urban areas, the prediction from the hypothesis holds; but our results indicate that the relevance of the hypothesis weakens on lower levels of aggregation implying significant inter-city variations. Finally, demand equations for each fuel are econometrically estimated and the elasticities are used to examine price and income effects. The budget elasticities indicate that with economic growth, the demand for traditional fuels will increase. In addition, the cross-price elasticities show that increase in the price of a traditional fuel mainly shifts demand towards other traditional fuels rather than towards modern fuels. This slows down the transition towards modern fuels. The article concludes by presenting policy recommendations arising from the analysis. (Author)
Scale Mismatches in Management of Urban Landscapes
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Sara T. Borgström
2006-12-01
Full Text Available Urban landscapes constitute the future environment for most of the world's human population. An increased understanding of the urbanization process and of the effects of urbanization at multiple scales is, therefore, key to ensuring human well-being. In many conventional natural resource management regimes, incomplete knowledge of ecosystem dynamics and institutional constraints often leads to institutional management frameworks that do not match the scale of ecological patterns and processes. In this paper, we argue that scale mismatches are particularly pronounced in urban landscapes. Urban green spaces provide numerous important ecosystem services to urban citizens, and the management of these urban green spaces, including recognition of scales, is crucial to the well-being of the citizens. From a qualitative study of the current management practices in five urban green spaces within the Greater Stockholm Metropolitan Area, Sweden, we found that 1 several spatial, temporal, and functional scales are recognized, but the cross-scale interactions are often neglected, and 2 spatial and temporal meso-scales are seldom given priority. One potential effect of the neglect of ecological cross-scale interactions in these highly fragmented landscapes is a gradual reduction in the capacity of the ecosystems to provide ecosystem services. Two important strategies for overcoming urban scale mismatches are suggested: 1 development of an integrative view of the whole urban social-ecological landscape, and 2 creation of adaptive governance systems to support practical management.
Blair, Andrew
2004-07-01
of people affected by arthritis will increase by nearly 50%. A huge increase in numbers affected with musculoskeletal conditions will require significant increases in health care resources, including hospital beds and facilities, orthopaedic surgeons and other health care professionals. New Zealand has been slow to acknowledge and plan for the increased demand for health services which is looming. Growing New Zealand's economy will help, but alone will not be enough. It is more than just finding the financial resources to better meet the demand. The enormous demands on the availability of treatment resources including hospital facilities and trained health care professionals must be addressed. There are major workforce issues to be faced. The change in population distribution between young and old will have an impact and it will be necessary to ensure that there are sufficient numbers of properly trained health care professionals available at all levels. It is hoped that improvements in preventative care programmes and new technologies and treatment techniques may reduce the rate of demand. As the health of our population is improved through targeted programmes dealing with obesity, diabetes, smoking and accident prevention, it may be possible to reallocate or change the focus of resources within the health and hospital sectors. Many countries are developing national strategies for their aging population. Clearly the New Zealand Government needs to move swiftly to develop a plan to manage the increased burden that is developing as a result of the aging population. That plan must create an environment which facilitates, encourages and supports greater private investment in healthcare facilities and healthcare delivery. Incentives must be created to motivate individuals to take greater responsibility for their healthcare needs and the funding of it. The development of a long term strategy to meet the challenges of the aging population is a priority.
A Glimpse of Urban Youth Unemployment in Ethiopia | Gizaw ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The objective of this article is to explore the employment status, issues, causes, and possible policy options. The study used both secondary and primary data sources. The study indicated that urban youth unemployment in Ethiopia is fast growing mainly due to the imbalance between the demand and supply sides of the job ...
Job Satisfaction of Elementary Principals in Large Urban Communities
Mitchell, Cathryn M.
2010-01-01
The purpose of this study was to determine job satisfaction levels of elementary principals in "major urban" districts in Texas and to identify strategies these principals used to cope with the demands of the position. Additionally, the project sought to find structures and supports needed to attract and retain principals in the…
Clifford Holmes, J.K.; Slinger, J.H.; Musango, J.K.; Brent, A.C.; Palmer, C.G.
2014-01-01
This paper explores the challenges faced by small municipalities in providing water services in a developing-world context of increasing urban demand. The paper uses a case study of the Sundays River Valley Municipality (SRVM) in South Africa. The municipality faces multiple dilemmas in reconciling
Retailing and service activities: main agents and their urban insertion
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Heliana Comin Vargas
2000-12-01
Full Text Available This article presents the im portance of retailing and service activities in term s of social and econom ic developm ent, and the action of the different retailing and services agents related to the urban space. It tries to make clear the conflicts among all these agents, showing the present scenery of big cities, having as a reference the city of São Paulo, which are facing a strong increase on the retailing offer com pared to the demand. Finally, it points out som e aspects which should be thought or rethought in order to prepare efficient urban policies that could be able to control the relationship between retail and city searching for better patterns of urban quality
Keramitsoglou, Iphigenia; Kiranoudis, Chris T.; Sismanidis, Panagiotis
2016-08-01
The Urban Heat Island (UHI) is an adverse environmental effect of urbanization that increases the energy demand of cities, impacts the human health, and intensifies and prolongs heatwave events. To facilitate the study of UHIs the Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing of the National Observatory of Athens (IAASARS/NOA) has developed an operational real-time system that exploits remote sensing image data from Meteosat Second Generation - Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (MSG-SEVIRI) and generates high spatiotemporal land surface temperature (LST) and 2 m air temperature (TA) time series. These datasets form the basis for the generation of higher value products and services related to energy demand and heat-related health issues. These products are the heatwave hazard (HZ); the HUMIDEX (i.e. an index that describes the temperature felt by an individual exposed to heat and humidity); and the cooling degrees (CD; i.e. a measure that reflects the energy needed to cool a building). The spatiotemporal characteristics of HZ, HUMIDEX and CD are unique (1 km/5 min) and enable the appraisal of the spatially distributed heat related health risk and energy demand of cities. In this paper, the real time generation of the high spatiotemporal HZ, HUMIDEX and CD products is discussed. In addition, a case study corresponding to Athens' September 2015 heatwave is presented so as to demonstrate their capabilities. The overall aim of the system is to provide high quality data to several different end users, such as health responders, and energy suppliers. The urban thermal monitoring web service is available at http://snf-652558.vm.okeanos.grnet.gr/treasure/portal/info.html.
The Modern Management of Urban Planning and the Controlling Planning
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
1991-01-01
<正> Since 1980s,with the further reform of political and economic systems,the urban construc-tion in our country has undergone great changes,greater than ever.Such changes pose a series ofnew problems to urban planning:How should planning be suitable for the development of moderncities?How should planning management coordinate with urban planning?How to carry out ur-ban planning under new situations? etc.The answers to these problems lie in one point:urbanplanning and plann ing management must be restructured.Only when the former is well com-bined with the latter can the above problems be solved satisfactorily.This article provides someviews in this respect.
Open innovation in urban energy systems
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Arnold, M. [Technische Universitaet Muenchen, TUM School of Management, Freising (Germany); Barth, V. [Carl von Ossietzky Universitaet Oldenburg, Ecological Economics, Oldenburg (Germany)
2012-08-15
Despite recent efforts, existing urban energy systems still hardly meet the demands of sustainable development or climate change. Meeting these targets thus will require innovations that use energy much more efficiently and emit far less greenhouse gases. These innovations need to be made on the production as well as the consumption side, on all levels, and need to cover not only technical aspects, but even more service solutions. While many of these solutions still need to be developed, some are already invented but only exist in limited market segments. Opening closed urban planning processes and using open innovation tools can foster bottom-up urban energy system transformation by addressing the interactive ways of decision-making integrating company representatives and citizens. While open innovation tools like (open) innovation workshops or ideas competitions are already used by several companies to find and develop new designs and products, there is yet little experience with energy efficiency ideas and bottom-up changes. Therefore, we analyse energy-efficient ideas generated in three different ideas competitions. We discuss the findings for theory and research on open innovation approaches and bottom-up urban changes. Our results show that there are a vast number of ideas available in the public. Open innovation tools offer advanced possibilities to generate energy-efficient solutions.
Chritz, K.; Buchert, M.; Walker, J. C.; Mendoza, D.; Pataki, D. E.; Xu, X.; Lin, J. C.
2017-12-01
Generating long term records of fossil fuel emissions of urban environments is complicated by the fact that direct observations of emissions and urban atmospheric CO2 concentrations were only collected in the recent past. Radiocarbon (14C) in tree rings from urban trees can provide archives of fossil fuel emissions that may track population growth over time, as higher population density is typically correlated with increased vehicular traffic and associated CO2 emissions, which are radiocarbon dead. We present radiocarbon measurements (n=125) from five roadside green ash trees (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) located in three cities of northern Utah - Salt Lake City (urban, 2016 population: 193,744), Logan City (agricultural, 2016 population: 49,110) and Heber (rural, 2016 population: 14,969). Urban trees were cored in four cardinal directions and ring widths were measured and counted to establish a chronology. One ring from every third year in a single core from each tree was removed and holocellulose was extracted from bulk wood of individual rings for 14C analysis. Fraction CO2 from fossil fuel burning (CO2-ff) was calculated using a simple mass-balance calculation from measured 14C values and remote background atmospheric 14CO2 values for NH Zone 2. The data from all three cities indicate a general trend of increasing CO2-ff uptake by the trees from 1980s to present, as expected with increased population growth and vehicular traffic. However, records in all three cities show unique elevated CO2-ff prior to the 1980s, assuming similar climate patterns through time, diverging from historic population size. We employed atmospheric simulations from the STILT (Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport) models for each of these trees to create footprints to determine source areas for CO2. These footprints reveal that atmospheric sampling areas can be large for certain trees, and other sources of 14C dead carbon, such as coal and natural gas from industrial emissions
Urban tourism destinations in South Africa: Divergent trajectories 2001–2012
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Christian M. Rogerson
2014-07-01
Full Text Available Cities are growing tourism destinations in both developed and developing countries. For policymakers in many cities the promotion of tourism is a vital issue. The phenomenon of urban tourism has emerged as a significant research topic in tourism and urban studies. The South African experience has been one of the most well documented cases in urban tourism in the developing world. Most existing research is focussed on supply-side issues of the establishment of new tourism products in cities or of the impacts of growing urban tourism. This article examines urban tourism from a demand-side perspective and interrogates the performance of South Africa’s eight metropolitan areas as tourism destinations over the period 2001-2012.The analysis reveals that the metropolitan areas as a group are expanding in significance as tourism destinations. Divergent pathways or trajectories of development are apparent in terms of unpacking the performance of the eight different areas.
David A. Pyke; Jeanne C. Chambers; Mike Pellant; Steven T. Knick; Richard F. Miller; Jeffrey L. Beck; Paul S. Doescher; Eugene W. Schupp; Bruce A. Roundy; Mark Brunson; James D. McIver
2015-01-01
Sagebrush steppe ecosystems in the United States currently occur on only about one-half of their historical land area because of changes in land use, urban growth, and degradation of land, including invasions of non-native plants. The existence of many animal species depends on the existence of sagebrush steppe habitat. The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus...
Rosier, C. L.; Van Stan, J. T., II; Trammell, T. L.
2017-12-01
Urbanization alters environmental conditions such as temperature, moisture, carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) deposition affecting critical soil processes (e.g., C storage). Urban soils experience elevated N deposition (e.g., transportation, industry) and decreased soil moisture via urban heat island that can subsequently alter soil microbial community structure and activity. However, there is a critical gap in understanding how increased temperatures and pollutant deposition influences soil microbial community structure and soil C/N cycling in urban forests. Furthermore, canopy structural differences between individual tree species is a potentially important mechanism facilitating the deposition of pollutants to the soil. The overarching goal of this study is to investigate the influence of urbanization and tree species structural differences on the bacterial and fungal community and C and N content of soils experiencing a gradient of urbanization pressures (i.e., forest edge to interior; 150-m). Soil cores (1-m depth) were collected near the stem (urban pressure (i.e., forest edge). We further expect trees located on the edge of forest fragments will maintain greater surface soil (urbanization alters soil microbial community composition via reduced soil moisture and carbon storage potential via deposition gradients. Further analyses will answer important questions regarding how individual tree species alters urban soil C storage, N retention, and microbial dynamics.
Socio-economic differentials in child stunting are consistently larger in urban than rural areas
Menon, Purnima; Ruel, Marie T.; Morris, Saul Sutkover
2000-01-01
Urban-rural comparisons of childhood undernutrition suggest that urban populations are better-off than rural populations. However, these comparisons could mask the large differentials that exist among socioeconomic groups in urban areas. Data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for 11 countries from three regions were used to test the hypothesis that intra-urban differentials in child stunting were greater than intra-rural differentials, and that the prevalence of stunting among the...
Pubertal development timing in urban Chinese boys.
Ma, H-M; Chen, S-K; Chen, R-M; Zhu, C; Xiong, F; Li, T; Wang, W; Liu, G-L; Luo, X-P; Liu, L; Du, M-L
2011-10-01
We describe current pubertal development in healthy urban Chinese boys. A cross-sectional study of the pubertal development of 18,807 urban Chinese boys aged from 3.50 to 18.49years was conducted between 2003 and 2005. Testicular volume was evaluated with a Prader orchidometer. Pubic hair development was assessed according to the Tanner method. Data on spermarche were collected using the status quo method. Probit analysis was used to calculate the median age and 95% CI at different stages of testicular development, pubic hair development and spermarche. By age 9, 12.99% of the boys had a testicular volume of 4mL or greater. The median age of onset of puberty defined as the age at attainment of testicular volume of 4mL or greater was 10.55 (95% CI 10.27-10.79) years. The median age for onset of pubic hair development (PH(2) ) and spermarche was 12.78 (95%CI 12.67-12.89) years and 14.05 (95%CI 13.80-14.32) years, respectively. Pubertal onset in urban Chinese boys is earlier than currently used clinical norms but their pubic hair development occurs relatively late in comparison with the reported data from numerous other countries. There is also evidence of a secular trend towards an earlier age of spermarche since 1979 in Chinese urban boys. © 2011 The Authors. International Journal of Andrology © 2011 European Academy of Andrology.
B. de Goei (Bastiaan); M.J. Burger (Martijn); F.G. van Oort (Frank); M. Kitson (Michael)
2009-01-01
textabstractIn contemporary literature on changing urban systems, it is often argued that the traditional central place conceptualisation is outdated and should be replaced by a network view that emphasises the increasing criss-crossing pattern of interdependencies between spatial units. This paper
Demand Side Management: An approach to peak load smoothing
Gupta, Prachi
A preliminary national-level analysis was conducted to determine whether Demand Side Management (DSM) programs introduced by electric utilities since 1992 have made any progress towards their stated goal of reducing peak load demand. Estimates implied that DSM has a very small effect on peak load reduction and there is substantial regional and end-user variability. A limited scholarly literature on DSM also provides evidence in support of a positive effect of demand response programs. Yet, none of these studies examine the question of how DSM affects peak load at the micro-level by influencing end-users' response to prices. After nearly three decades of experience with DSM, controversy remains over how effective these programs have been. This dissertation considers regional analyses that explore both demand-side solutions and supply-side interventions. On the demand side, models are estimated to provide in-depth evidence of end-user consumption patterns for each North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) region, helping to identify sectors in regions that have made a substantial contribution to peak load reduction. The empirical evidence supports the initial hypothesis that there is substantial regional and end-user variability of reductions in peak demand. These results are quite robust in rapidly-urbanizing regions, where air conditioning and lighting load is substantially higher, and regions where the summer peak is more pronounced than the winter peak. It is also evident from the regional experiences that active government involvement, as shaped by state regulations in the last few years, has been successful in promoting DSM programs, and perhaps for the same reason we witness an uptick in peak load reductions in the years 2008 and 2009. On the supply side, we estimate the effectiveness of DSM programs by analyzing the growth of capacity margin with the introduction of DSM programs. The results indicate that DSM has been successful in offsetting the
Heterogeneous Deployment to Meet Traffic Demand in a Realistic LTE Urban Scenario
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Coletti, Claudio; Hu, Liang; Nguyen, Huan Cong
2012-01-01
growth of mo-bile broadband traffic. Emphasis is put on how to optimally as-sign the spectrum for the different networks layers in an evolved HetNet including outdoor and indoor small cells. The study is conducted for a “Hot-Zone” scenario, i.e. a high-traffic area within a realistic dense urban...... performance with a minimum user data rate of 1 Mbps is achieved when deploying small cells on dedicated channels rather than co-channel deployment. Fur-thermore, the joint pico and femto deployment turns out to be the right trade-off between increased base station density and en-hanced network capacity....
Regional electric power demand elasticities of Japan's industrial and commercial sectors
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hosoe, Nobuhiro; Akiyama, Shu-ichi
2009-01-01
In the assessment and review of regulatory reforms in the electric power market, price elasticity is one of the most important parameters that characterize the market. However, price elasticity has seldom been estimated in Japan; instead, it has been assumed to be as small as 0.1 or 0 without proper examination of the empirical validity of such a priori assumptions. We estimated the regional power demand functions for nine regions, in order to quantify the elasticity, and found the short-run price elasticity to be 0.09-0.30 and the long-run price elasticity to be 0.12-0.56. Inter-regional comparison of our estimation results suggests that price elasticity in rural regions is larger than that in urban regions. Popular assumptions of small elasticity of 0.1, for example, could be suitable for examining Japan's aggregate power demand but not power demand functions that focus on respective regions. Furthermore, assumptions about smaller elasticity values such as 0.01 and 0 could not be supported statistically by this study.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Zhang Chuanguo; Lin Yan
2012-01-01
As urbanization accelerates, urban areas play a leading role in energy consumption and CO 2 emissions in China. The existing research is extensively concerned with the relationships between urbanization, energy consumption and CO 2 emissions in recent years, but little attention has been paid to the regional differences. This paper is an analysis of the impact of urbanization on energy consumption and CO 2 emissions at the national and regional levels using the STIRPAT model and provincial panel data from 1995 to 2010 in China. The results showed that urbanization increases energy consumption and CO 2 emissions in China. The effects of urbanization on energy consumption vary across regions and decline continuously from the western region to the central and eastern regions. The impact of urbanization on CO 2 emissions in the central region is greater than that in the eastern region. The impact of urbanization on energy consumption is greater than the impact on CO 2 emissions in the eastern region. And some evidences support the argument of compact city theory. These results not only contribute to advancing the existing literature, but also merit particular attention from policy makers and urban planners in China. - Highlights: ► We analyze the impact of urbanization on energy use and CO 2 emissions in China. ► Urbanization increases energy consumption and CO 2 emissions in China. ► The effects of urbanization on energy use and CO 2 emissions vary across regions.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Virna Vaneza Gutiérrez
2015-07-01
Full Text Available This work advances the understanding of compensation demanded for environmental impacts on atmosphere, lakes and rivers, soil, and ocean generated by mining, urban, fishing and agriculture activities. Our aims are to determine whether compensation demanded depends on the standard variables used in the field of risk perception (as perceived risk, public acceptability and trust in regulating authorities, and to explore whether these relationships depend on the environment affected and on the economic activity generating the impacts. General Linear Models were used to analyze survey responses from 427 citizens of Santiago, Chile. Results showed that compensation demanded depends on perceived risk, acceptability, and on the economic activity, but not on the environment affected. Acceptability depends on trust in authorities, on perceived risk and on the economic activity. Perceived risk depends on trust, the economic activity and the environment affected. Overall, environmental impacts from the mining industry are perceived as riskier, less acceptable, and have a higher compensation demanded than those generated by the other sectors. These results suggest that to achieve sustainable development, regulations should consider not only environmental impacts but also the economic activity originating them.
Climate change and cities: why urban agendas are central to adaptation and mitigation
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Reid, Hannah; Satterthwaite, David
2007-12-15
Cities could hold the key to slowing and eventually stopping global warming. Most greenhouse gas emissions are generated from producing the goods and services used by middle- and upper-income urban consumers. Keeping global warming within safe limits demands far more energy-efficient urban buildings and production systems and urban lifestyles that are far less carbon-intensive. It is up to high-income nations — the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions past and present — to show how such a transformation can be combined with high living standards. However, urgent action is also needed in the urban areas of low- and middleincome countries, both through mitigation to curb greenhouse gas emissions, and adaptation to the serious risks that climate change brings.
Caste, Class, and Urbanization: The Shaping of Religious Community in Contemporary India
Stroope, Samuel
2012-01-01
Building on the implications of qualitative work from India and urbanism theories, I aim to understand whether religious bonding social capital in contemporary India increases with greater urbanization and whether such increases are moderated by caste or social class position. Results from multinomial logistic regression on 1,417 Hindu respondents…
: Urban design, urban project, urban art, urban composition ... a question of vocabulary?
Pinson , Daniel
2014-01-01
Actes à paraître; International audience; The term "urbanism" of Pierre Clerget (1910) put the mess in the practice and the formations in France. Urban planning is thus, on the academic level, a coexistence of disciplinary approaches, which does not help to a multidisciplinary urban training. Thinking about "urban design", after beautifull city, urban composition, or alongside the urban project and other territorial approaches can help to see more clearly in town planning.; Le terme « urbanis...
The power to choose. Demand response in liberalized electricity markets
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
2003-01-01
Highly volatile electricity prices are becoming a more frequent and unwanted characteristic of modern electricity wholesale markets. But low demand elasticity, mainly the result of a lack of incentives and consumers' inability to control demand, means that consumer behaviour is not reflected in the cost of energy. This study analyses the impact of price-responsive demand and shows how pricing, policy and technology can be used to inform consumer behaviour and choice. Informed choice and market-based valuation of electricity supply will ensure liberalized markets are competitive, efficient, less volatile and able to provide long term security of supply. Significant benefits will occur even if only 5% of customers become responsive to price-incentives and information. And customers will respond to well designed programs, thereby developing a role in ensuring efficient price formulation for electricity. This study analyses the economic, efficiency and security benefits and identifies the changes in electricity tariffs and the network infrastructure needed to achieve greater demand response
Energy demand, poverty and the urban environment in Jordan
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Jaber, J.O.; Probert, S.D.
2001-01-01
This paper presents some insights into the prime problems of energy and related environmental issues as well as urbanisation in Jordan. The country has very limited natural resources: water is scarce; arable land is limited; and fossil-fuel sources are few. Moreover, the population is increasing rapidly. Hence, problems are arising. During the last 30 years, the country has experienced vast changes in its infrastructure with respect to the housing, urbanisation, commerce, agriculture and industry. Such developments have led to increasing demographic stresses: unemployment has increased and poverty is experienced by more than half of the population. The pressures have resulted in a high percentage of the population moving from rural to urban areas and so society is becoming less self-sufficient. At present, energy consumption in the residential sector accounts for about one quarter of the kingdom's fuel consumption. Kerosene, bottled LPG, diesel fuel and electricity are the main forms of energy used by households, but kerosene is still the dominant fuel because about 83% of households depend on it for space and water heating. The use of open fires and/or portable stoves has led to an increasing number of people being killed each year by suffocation or suffering health problems due to the inhalation of fumes and gaseous pollutants. Thus a national plan to achieve energy thrift and protect the environment, as well as accomplish the more rational utilisation of the limited natural resources available, is urgently needed and should be enacted soon. (author)
Designing cost effective water demand management programs in Australia.
White, S B; Fane, S A
2002-01-01
This paper describes recent experience with integrated resource planning (IRP) and the application of least cost planning (LCP) for the evaluation of demand management strategies in urban water. Two Australian case studies, Sydney and Northern New South Wales (NSW) are used in illustration. LCP can determine the most cost effective means of providing water services or alternatively the cheapest forms of water conservation. LCP contrasts to a traditional approach of evaluation which looks only at means of increasing supply. Detailed investigation of water usage, known as end-use analysis, is required for LCP. End-use analysis allows both rigorous demand forecasting, and the development and evaluation of conservation strategies. Strategies include education campaigns, increasing water use efficiency and promoting wastewater reuse or rainwater tanks. The optimal mix of conservation strategies and conventional capacity expansion is identified based on levelised unit cost. IRP uses LCP in the iterative process, evaluating and assessing options, investing in selected options, measuring the results, and then re-evaluating options. Key to this process is the design of cost effective demand management programs. IRP however includes a range of parameters beyond least economic cost in the planning process and program designs, including uncertainty, benefit partitioning and implementation considerations.
Measuring Thermal Characteristics of Urban Landscapes
Luvall, Jeffrey C.; Quattrochi, Dale A.; Rickman, Doug L.
1999-01-01
The additional heating of the air over the city is the result of the replacement of naturally vegetated surfaces with those composed of asphalt, concrete, rooftops and other man-made materials. The temperatures of these artificial surfaces can be 20 to 40 C higher than vegetated surfaces. Materials such as asphalt store much of the sun's energy and remains hot long after sunset. This produces a dome of elevated air temperatures 5 to 8 C greater over the city, compared to the air temperatures over adjacent rural areas. This effect is called the "urban heat island". Urban landscapes are a complex mixture of vegetated and nonvegetated surfaces. It is difficult to take enough temperature measurements over a large city area to characterize the complexity of urban radiant surface temperature variability. However, the use of remotely sensed thermal data from airborne scanners are ideal for the task. In a study funded by NASA, a series of flights over Huntsville, Alabama were performed in September 1994 and over Atlanta, Georgia in May 1997. Analysis of thermal energy responses for specific or discrete surfaces typical of the urban landscape (e.g., asphalt, building rooftops, vegetation) requires measurements at a very fine spatial scale (i.e., urban forest in both mitigating the urban heat island effect, in making cities more aesthetically pleasing and more habitable environments, and in overall cooling of the community. In this presentation we will examine the techniques of analyzing remotely sensed data for measuring the effect of various urban surfaces on their contribution to the urban heat island effect.
A comparative study on prediction methods for China's medium- and long-term coal demand
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Li, Bing-Bing; Liang, Qiao-Mei; Wang, Jin-Cheng
2015-01-01
Given the dominant position of coal in China's energy structure and in order to ensure a safe and stable energy supply, it is essential to perform a scientific and effective prediction of China's medium- and long-term coal demand. Based on the historical data of coal consumption and related factors such as GDP (Gross domestic product), coal price, industrial structure, total population, energy structure, energy efficiency, coal production and urbanization rate from 1987 to 2012, this study compared the prediction effects of five types of models. These models include the VAR (vector autoregressive model), RBF (radial basis function) neural network model, GA-DEM (genetic algorithm demand estimation model), PSO-DEM (particle swarm optimization demand estimation model) and IO (input–output model). By comparing the results of different models with the corresponding actual coal consumption, it is concluded that with a testing period from 2006 to 2012, the PSO-DEM model has a relatively optimal predicted effect on China's total coal demand, where the MAPE (mean absolute percentage error) is close to or below 2%. - Highlights: • The prediction effects of five methods for China's coal demand were compared. • Each model has acceptable prediction results, with MAPE below 5%. • Particle swarm optimization demand estimation model has better forecast efficacy.
Ho, M. W.; Devineni, N.; Cook, E. R.; Lall, U.
2017-12-01
As populations and associated economic activity in the US evolve, regional demands for water likewise change. For regions dependent on surface water, dams and reservoirs are critical to storing and managing releases of water and regulating the temporal and spatial availability of water in order to meet these demands. Storage capacities typically range from seasonal storage in the east to multi-annual and decadal-scale storage in the drier west. However, most dams in the US were designed with limited knowledge regarding the range, frequency, and persistence of hydroclimatic extremes. Demands for water supplied by these dams have likewise changed. Furthermore, many dams in the US are now reaching or have already exceeded their economic design life. The converging issues of aging dams, improved knowledge of hydroclimatic variability, and evolving demands for dam services result in a pressing need to evaluate existing reservoir capacities with respect to contemporary water demands, long term hydroclimatic variability, and service reliability into the future. Such an effort is possible given the recent development of two datasets that respectively address hydroclimatic variability in the conterminous United States over the past 555 years and human water demand related water stress over the same region. The first data set is a paleoclimate reconstruction of streamflow variability across the CONUS region based on a tree-ring informed reconstruction of the Palmer Drought Severity Index. This streamflow reconstruction suggested that wet spells with shorter drier spells were a key feature of 20th century streamflow compared with the preceding 450 years. The second data set in an annual cumulative drought index that is a measure of water balance based on water supplied through precipitation and water demands based on evaporative demands, agricultural, urban, and industrial demands. This index identified urban and regional hotspots that were particularly dependent on water
Stanojevic Jerkovic, Olivera; Sauliune, Skirmante; Šumskas, Linas; Birt, Christopher A; Kersnik, Janko
2017-05-01
Ageing imposes extra financial burdens on social and health services in developed countries. Self-rated health (SRH) is considered to be both a reliable measurement of overall health status including morbidity and mortality and an important predictor of hospitalization, functional impairment and greater demand for health-care services in the elderly. Our aim was to identify factors associated with poor SRH in elderly populations and investigate possible differences between urban areas in Slovenia, Lithuania and UK. Data were obtained from population-based surveys from the European Urban Health Indicator System Part 2 project. The stratified representative sample (41% men and 59% women) consisted of a total of 2547 respondents aged ≥65 from the urban areas in the three countries. The prevalence of poor SRH was highest in Lithuanian urban areas. The strongest factors associated with poor SRH were low education [OR (odds ratio) 4.3, 95% CI (confidence interval) 2.5-7.3, P Slovenia) (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1-3.7, P = 0,023), female sex (Lithuania) (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.0-4.2, P = 0.058) and inadequate physical activity (UK) (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.3-3.6, P = 0,003). Despite different levels of poor SRH, the factors associated with poor SRH were similar for the urban areas of the three countries. Factors associated with poor SRH in the urban areas could also reflect either cultural differences or specific situations for elderly in that country, which need further research. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Grenzeback, L. R. [Cambridge Systematics Inc., Cambridge, MA (United States); Brown, A. [Cambridge Systematics Inc., Cambridge, MA (United States); Fischer, M. J. [Cambridge Systematics Inc., Cambridge, MA (United States); Hutson, N. [Cambridge Systematics Inc., Cambridge, MA (United States); Lamm, C. R. [Cambridge Systematics Inc., Cambridge, MA (United States); Pei, Y. L. [Cambridge Systematics Inc., Cambridge, MA (United States); Vimmerstedt, L. [Cambridge Systematics Inc., Cambridge, MA (United States); Vyas, A. D. [Cambridge Systematics Inc., Cambridge, MA (United States); Winebrake, J. J. [Cambridge Systematics Inc., Cambridge, MA (United States)
2013-03-01
Freight transportation demand is projected to grow to 27.5 billion tons in 2040, and by extrapolation, to nearly 30.2 billion tons in 2050, requiring ever-greater amounts of energy. This report describes the current and future demand for freight transportation in terms of tons and ton-miles of commodities moved by truck, rail, water, pipeline, and air freight carriers. It outlines the economic, logistics, transportation, and policy and regulatory factors that shape freight demand; the possible trends and 2050 outlook for these factors, and their anticipated effect on freight demand and related energy use. After describing federal policy actions that could influence freight demand, the report then summarizes the available analytical models for forecasting freight demand, and identifies possible areas for future action.
Antimony Accumulation Risk in Lettuce Grown in Brazilian Urban Gardens
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Silvia Mancarella
2016-08-01
Full Text Available More than 80% of the Brazilian population inhabits urban areas. Diffused poverty and the lack of fresh vegetables have generated malnutrition and unbalanced diets. Thus, the interest in growing food locally, in urban allotments and community gardens, has increased. However, urban agriculture may present some risks caused by the urban pollution. Road traffic is considered the biggest source of heavy metals in urban areas. Hence, the objective of the study was the assessment of the accumulation of heavy metals in an urban garden in the city of Recife, at different distances from a road with high traffic burden. The results showed that the distance from the street decreased the accumulation of many potentially toxic elements. Furthermore, the human health risk was estimated, revealing that greater danger was associated with the accumulation of antimony. Concentration of other elements in the leaf tissues were within previously reported thresholds.
Shared Urban Greywater Recycling Systems: Water Resource Savings and Economic Investment
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Dexter V.L. Hunt
2013-07-01
Full Text Available The water industry is becoming increasingly aware of the risks associated with urban supplies not meeting demands by 2050. Greywater (GW recycling for non-potable uses (e.g., urinal and toilet flushing provides an urban water management strategy to help alleviate this risk by reducing main water demands. This paper proposes an innovative cross connected system that collects GW from residential buildings and recycles it for toilet/urinal flushing in both residential and office buildings. The capital cost (CAPEX, operational cost (OPEX and water saving potential are calculated for individual and shared residential and office buildings in an urban mixed-use regeneration area in the UK, assuming two different treatment processes; a membrane bioreactor (MBR and a vertical flow constructed wetland (VFCW. The Net Present Value (NPV method was used to compare the financial performance of each considered scenario, from where it was found that a shared GW recycling system (MBR was the most economically viable option. The sensitivity of this financial model was assessed, considering four parameters (i.e., water supply and sewerage charges, discount rate(s, service life and improved technological efficiency, e.g., low flush toilets, low shower heads, etc., from where it was found that shared GW systems performed best in the long-term.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
P. Deines
2010-07-01
Full Text Available Microbiology in Urban Water Systems (MUWS is an integrated project, which aims to characterize the microorganisms found in both potable water distribution systems and sewer networks. These large infrastructure systems have a major impact on our quality of life, and despite the importance of these systems as major components of the water cycle, little is known about their microbial ecology. Potable water distribution systems and sewer networks are both large, highly interconnected, dynamic, subject to time and varying inputs and demands, and difficult to control. Their performance also faces increasing loading due to increasing urbanization and longer-term environmental changes. Therefore, understanding the link between microbial ecology and any potential impacts on short or long-term engineering performance within urban water infrastructure systems is important. By combining the strengths and research expertise of civil-, biochemical engineers and molecular microbial ecologists, we ultimately aim to link microbial community abundance, diversity and function to physical and engineering variables so that novel insights into the performance and management of both water distribution systems and sewer networks can be explored. By presenting the details and principals behind the molecular microbiological techniques that we use, this paper demonstrates the potential of an integrated approach to better understand how urban water system function, and so meet future challenges.
The urban forests of Philadelphia
David J. Nowak; Allison R. Bodine; Robert Hoehn; Alexis Ellis; Sarah C. Low; Lara A. Roman; Jason G. Henning; Emily Stephan; Tom Taggert; Ted. Endreny
2016-01-01
An analysis of the urban forest in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, reveals that this city has an estimated 2.9 million trees (encompassing all woody plants greater than 1 inch diameter at breast height [d.b.h]) with tree canopy that covers 20 percent of the city. The most common tree species are spicebush, black cherry, ash, tree-of-heaven, and boxelder, but the most...
Edmondson, Jill L; Davies, Zoe G; Gaston, Kevin J; Leake, Jonathan R
2014-08-01
Modern agriculture, in seeking to maximize yields to meet growing global food demand, has caused loss of soil organic carbon (SOC) and compaction, impairing critical regulating and supporting ecosystem services upon which humans also depend. Own-growing makes an important contribution to food security in urban areas globally, but its effects on soil qualities that underpin ecosystem service provision are currently unknown. We compared the main indicators of soil quality; SOC storage, total nitrogen (TN), C : N ratio and bulk density (BD) in urban allotments to soils from the surrounding agricultural region, and between the allotments and other urban greenspaces in a typical UK city. A questionnaire was used to investigate allotment management practices that influence soil properties. Allotment soils had 32% higher SOC concentrations and 36% higher C : N ratios than pastures and arable fields and 25% higher TN and 10% lower BD than arable soils. There was no significant difference between SOC concentration in allotments and urban non-domestic greenspaces, but it was higher in domestic gardens beneath woody vegetation. Allotment soil C : N ratio exceeded that in non-domestic greenspaces, but was lower than that in garden soil. Three-quarters of surveyed allotment plot holders added manure, 95% composted biomass on-site, and many added organic-based fertilizers and commercial composts. This may explain the maintenance of SOC, C : N ratios, TN and low BD, which are positively associated with soil functioning. Synthesis and applications . Maintenance and protection of the quality of our soil resource is essential for sustainable food production and for regulating and supporting ecosystem services upon which we depend. Our study establishes, for the first time, that small-scale urban food production can occur without the penalty of soil degradation seen in conventional agriculture, and maintains the high soil quality seen in urban greenspaces. Given the
Demand access communications for TDRSS users
Zillig, David; Weinberg, Aaron; Mcomber, Robert
1994-01-01
The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) has long been used to provide reliable low and high-data rate relay services between user spacecraft in Earth orbit and the ground. To date, these TDRSS services have been implemented via prior scheduling based upon estimates of user needs and mission event timelines. While this approach may be necessary for large users that require greater amounts of TDRSS resources, TDRSS can potentially offer the planned community of smaller science missions (e.g., the small explorer missions), and other emerging users, the unique opportunity for services on demand. In particular, innovative application of the existing TDRSS Multiple Access (MA) subsystem, with its phased array antenna, could be used to implement true demand access services without modification to either the TDRSS satellites or the user transponder, thereby introducing operational and performance benefits to both the user community and the Space Network. In this paper, candidate implementations of demand access service via the TDRSS MA subsystem are examined in detail. Both forward and return link services are addressed and a combination of qualitative and quantitative assessments are provided. The paper also identifies further areas for investigation in this ongoing activity that is being conducted by GSFC/Code 531 under the NASA Code O Advanced Systems Program.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tulu Tolla TURA
2016-11-01
Full Text Available The global surface temperature shows an increment of 0.50.1C per decade and 1.050.3C per century from 1880-2014 with greater increases in cities than non-urban areas. Global communities are shifting towards urbanization due to various factors. Urbanization has caused lack of stable condition for dwellers due to environmental and anthropogenic factors such as land cover changes. Urban temperature rising is the main factors hindering urban dwellers at global level due to insufficient green areas. Social institutions are playing important role in urban greening and urban climate regulation. Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church has long history in indigenous trees biodiversity conservation that plays largely greening role in urban and rural parts of the country. However, there is a research gap in Ethiopia regarding the role of urban green area in the church yards in regulating urban temperature and microclimate change. Therefore, the study evaluated the role of church managed forests in Addis Ababa in regulating surface temperature. Surface temperature inside four church forests at a buffer radius of 0–50 m, 50–100 m, 100–200 m and 200–500 m estimated using Landsat image thermal band 6 of 1986, 2000 and 2010 and ground measurement by ambient thermometer at 10:00 am, 12:30 am and 3:00 pm local time. The ground measurement was done in order to validate satellite image analysis. Plant species diversity, DBH, H, HC, BH and BA was measured. There were 1167 trees in the four studied churches. The mean temperatures of the studied sites were 22.50.1, 23.250.2, 240.6, 24.61.1 and 25.52.2C on site,0–50 m, 50–100 m, 100–200m and 200–500 m respectively for 1986 images; 23.20.5, 23.31.0, 24.32.1, 24.82.2 and 25.51.8C on site, 0-50 m, 50–100 m, 100–200 m and 200–500 m respectively for 2000 images and 23.20.3, 23.270.2, 23.71.6, 241.4 and 24.71.3C on site, 0–50 m, 50–100 m
Grower demand for sensor-controlled irrigation
Lichtenberg, Erik; Majsztrik, John; Saavoss, Monica
2015-01-01
Water scarcity is likely to increase in the coming years, making improvements in irrigation efficiency increasingly important. An emerging technology that promises to increase irrigation efficiency substantially is a wireless irrigation sensor network that uploads sensor data into irrigation management software, creating an integrated system that allows real-time monitoring and control of moisture status that has been shown in experimental settings to reduce irrigation costs, lower plant loss rates, shorten production times, decrease pesticide application, and increase yield, quality, and profit. We use an original survey to investigate likely initial acceptance, ceiling adoption rates, and profitability of this new sensor network technology in the nursery and greenhouse industry. We find that adoption rates for a base system and demand for expansion components are decreasing in price, as expected. The price elasticity of the probability of adoption suggests that sensor networks are likely to diffuse at a rate somewhat greater than that of drip irrigation. Adoption rates for a base system and demand for expansion components are increasing in specialization in ornamental production: growers earning greater shares of revenue from greenhouse and nursery operations are willing to pay more for a base system and are willing to purchase larger numbers of expansion components at any given price. We estimate that growers who are willing to purchase a sensor network expect investment in this technology to generate significant profit, consistent with findings from experimental studies.
Woody Vegetation Composition and Structure in Peri-urban Chongming Island, China
Zhao, Min; Escobedo, Francisco J.; Wang, Ruijing; Zhou, Qiaolan; Lin, Wenpeng; Gao, Jun
2013-05-01
Chongming, the world's largest alluvial island, is located within the municipality of Shanghai, China. Recent projects have now linked peri-urban Chongming to Shanghai's urban core and as a result will soon undergo substantial changes from urbanization. We quantitatively analyzed the structure and composition of woody vegetation across subtropical, peri-urban Chongming as a basis for sustainable management of these rapidly urbanizing subtropical ecosystems elsewhere. We used 178 permanent, random plots to statistically and spatially analyze woody plant composition and tree structure across the 1,041 km2 of Chongming. A total of 2,251 woody plants were measured comprising 42 species in 37 genera. We statistically and geospatially analyzed field data according to land uses and modeled air pollution removal by trees. Average tree diameter at breast height, total height, and crown widths on transportation land uses were greater than other land uses. These same values were lowest on forest land use and greater tree cover was associated with areas of increased anthropogenic activity. Less than 20 % of the woody vegetation was exotic and a species richness index was significantly different between land uses due to legacy effects. Composition of agriculture and forest land uses were similar to residential and transportation. Tree cover across Chongming was also estimated to annually remove 1,400 tons of air pollutants. We propose that this integrated and quantitative method can be used in other subtropical, peri-urban areas in developing countries to establish baseline trends for future sustainability objectives and to monitor the effects of urbanization and climate change.
Minten, Bart; Reardon, Thomas; Vandeplas, Anneleen
2009-01-01
"Food supply chains are being transformed in a number of developing countries due to widespread changes in urban food demand. To better anticipate the impact of this transformation and thus assist in the design of appropriate policies, it is important to understand the changes that are occurring in these supply chains. In a case study of India, we find that overall urban consumption is increasing; the urban food basket is shifting away from staples toward high-value products; and modern marke...
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Nguyen, Daniel Xuyen
This paper presents a model of trade that explains why firms wait to export and why many exporters fail. Firms face uncertain demands that are only realized after the firm enters the destination. The model retools the timing of uncertainty resolution found in productivity heterogeneity models....... This retooling addresses several shortcomings. First, the imperfect correlation of demands reconciles the sales variation observed in and across destinations. Second, since demands for the firm's output are correlated across destinations, a firm can use previously realized demands to forecast unknown demands...... in untested destinations. The option to forecast demands causes firms to delay exporting in order to gather more information about foreign demand. Third, since uncertainty is resolved after entry, many firms enter a destination and then exit after learning that they cannot profit. This prediction reconciles...
Data-driven modeling of solar-powered urban microgrids.
Halu, Arda; Scala, Antonio; Khiyami, Abdulaziz; González, Marta C
2016-01-01
Distributed generation takes center stage in today's rapidly changing energy landscape. Particularly, locally matching demand and generation in the form of microgrids is becoming a promising alternative to the central distribution paradigm. Infrastructure networks have long been a major focus of complex networks research with their spatial considerations. We present a systemic study of solar-powered microgrids in the urban context, obeying real hourly consumption patterns and spatial constraints of the city. We propose a microgrid model and study its citywide implementation, identifying the self-sufficiency and temporal properties of microgrids. Using a simple optimization scheme, we find microgrid configurations that result in increased resilience under cost constraints. We characterize load-related failures solving power flows in the networks, and we show the robustness behavior of urban microgrids with respect to optimization using percolation methods. Our findings hint at the existence of an optimal balance between cost and robustness in urban microgrids.
Guerrero-López, Carlos M; Unar-Munguía, Mishel; Colchero, M Arantxa
2017-02-10
Chile is the second world's largest per capita consumer of caloric beverages. Caloric beverages are associated with overweight, obesity and other chronic diseases. The objective of this study is to estimate the price elasticity of demand for soft drinks, other sugar-sweetened beverages and high-energy dense foods in urban areas in Chile in order to evaluate the potential response of households' consumption to changes in prices. We used microdata from the VII Family Budget Survey 2012-2013, which collects information on expenditures made by Chilean urban households on items such as beverages and foods. We estimated a Linear Approximation of an Almost Ideal Demand System Model to derive own and cross price elasticities of milk, coffee, tea and other infusions, plain water, soft drinks, other flavored beverages, sweet snacks, sugar and honey, and desserts. We considered the censored nature of the data and included the Inverse Mills Ratio in each equation of the demand system. We estimated a Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System and a two-part model as sensitivity analysis. We found an own price-elasticity of -1.37 for soft drinks. This implies that a price increase of 10% is associated with a reduction in consumption of 13.7%. We found that the rest of food and beverages included in the demand system behave as substitutes for soft drinks. For instance, plain water showed a cross-price elasticity of 0.63: a 10% increase in price of soft drinks could lead to an increase of 6.3% of plain water. Own and cross price elasticities were similar between models. The demand of soft drinks is price sensitive among Chilean households. An incentive system such as subsidies to non-sweetened beverages and tax to soft drinks could lead to increases in the substitutions for other healthier beverages.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Carlos M. Guerrero-López
2017-02-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Chile is the second world’s largest per capita consumer of caloric beverages. Caloric beverages are associated with overweight, obesity and other chronic diseases. The objective of this study is to estimate the price elasticity of demand for soft drinks, other sugar-sweetened beverages and high-energy dense foods in urban areas in Chile in order to evaluate the potential response of households’ consumption to changes in prices. Methods We used microdata from the VII Family Budget Survey 2012–2013, which collects information on expenditures made by Chilean urban households on items such as beverages and foods. We estimated a Linear Approximation of an Almost Ideal Demand System Model to derive own and cross price elasticities of milk, coffee, tea and other infusions, plain water, soft drinks, other flavored beverages, sweet snacks, sugar and honey, and desserts. We considered the censored nature of the data and included the Inverse Mills Ratio in each equation of the demand system. We estimated a Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System and a two-part model as sensitivity analysis. Results We found an own price-elasticity of −1.37 for soft drinks. This implies that a price increase of 10% is associated with a reduction in consumption of 13.7%. We found that the rest of food and beverages included in the demand system behave as substitutes for soft drinks. For instance, plain water showed a cross-price elasticity of 0.63: a 10% increase in price of soft drinks could lead to an increase of 6.3% of plain water. Own and cross price elasticities were similar between models. Conclusions The demand of soft drinks is price sensitive among Chilean households. An incentive system such as subsidies to non-sweetened beverages and tax to soft drinks could lead to increases in the substitutions for other healthier beverages.
An economic production model for time dependent demand with rework and multiple production setups
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
S.R. Singh
2014-04-01
Full Text Available In this paper, we present a model for time dependent demand with multiple productions and rework setups. Production is demand dependent and greater than the demand rate. Production facility produces items in m production setups and one rework setup (m, 1 policy. The major reason of reverse logistic and green supply chain is rework, so it reduces the cost of production and other ecological problems. Most of the researchers developed a rework model without deteriorating items. A numerical example and sensitivity analysis is shown to describe the model.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jennie Moore
2015-04-01
Full Text Available The global urban transition increasingly positions cities as important influencers in determining sustainability outcomes. Urban sustainability literature tends to focus on the built environment as a solution space for reducing energy and materials demand; however, equally important is the consumption characteristics of the people who occupy the city. While size of dwelling and motor vehicle ownership are partially influenced by urban form, they are also influenced by cultural and socio-economic characteristics. Dietary choices and purchases of consumable goods are almost entirely driven by the latter. Using international field data that document urban ways of living, I develop lifestyle archetypes coupled with ecological footprint analysis to develop consumption benchmarks in the domains of: food, buildings, consumables, transportation, and water that correspond to various levels of demand on nature’s services. I also explore the dimensions of transformation that would be needed in each of these domains for the per capita consumption patterns of urban dwellers to achieve ecological sustainability. The dimensions of transformation needed commensurate with ecological carrying capacity include: a 73% reduction in household energy use, a 96% reduction in motor vehicle ownership, a 78% reduction in per capita vehicle kilometres travelled, and a 79% reduction in air kilometres travelled.
The Specificity of Rugby Union Training Sessions in Preparation for Match Demands.
Campbell, Patrick G; Peake, Jonathan M; Minett, Geoffrey M
2018-04-01
Investigations into the specificity of rugby union training practices in preparation for competitive demands have predominantly focused on physical and physiological demands. The evaluation of the contextual variance in perceptual strain or skill requirements between training and matches in rugby union is unclear, yet holistic understanding may assist to optimize training design. This study evaluated the specificity of physical, physiological, perceptual, and skill demands of training sessions compared with competitive match play in preprofessional, elite club rugby union. Global positioning system devices, video capture, heart rate, and session ratings of perceived exertion were used to assess movement patterns, skill completions, physiologic, and perceptual responses, respectively. Data were collected across a season (training sessions n = 29; matches n = 14). Participants (n = 32) were grouped in playing positions as: outside backs, centers, halves, loose forwards, lock forwards, and front row forwards. Greater total distance, low-intensity activity, maximal speed, and meters per minute were apparent in matches compared with training in all positions (P 0.90). Similarly, match heart rate and session ratings of perceived exertion responses were higher than those recorded in training (P 0.8). Key skill completions for forwards (ie, scrums, rucks, and lineouts) and backs (ie, kicks) were greater under match conditions than in training (P 1.50). Considerable disparities exist between the perceptual, physiological, and key skill demands of competitive matches versus training sessions in preprofessional rugby union players. Practitioners should consider the specificity of training tasks for preprofessional rugby players to ensure the best preparation for match demands.
Alleviating Urban Energy Poverty in Latin America
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
NONE
2006-02-15
This regional study is comprised of three case studies, which concentrate on Greater Buenos Aires, Caracas and Rio de Janeiro - Caju. Each case focuses on the analysis of specific aspects of urban poverty, energy availability and policies to improve living conditions from the energy point of view. Unlike other developing regions in the world, the problem of energy poverty in Latin America has been concentrated increasingly in the large cities and urban areas. This problem has deep systemic, economic, political, structural and cultural roots. Providing basic energy services to the urban poor is an issue that requires far more attention and expertise than it is receiving today, and therefore WEC has taken the initiative to address this issue, and the results of their study are presented in this report.
Williams, B Adam; Kidane, Teklay; Chirwa, Geoffrey; Tesfaye, Neghist; Prescott, Marta R; Scotney, Soleine T; Valle, Moussa; Abebe, Sintayehu; Tambuli, Adija; Malewezi, Bridget; Mohammed, Tahir; Kobayashi, Emily; Wootton, Emily; Wong, Renee; Dosani, Rahima; Subramaniam, Hamsa; Joseph, Jessica; Yavuz, Elif; Apple, Aliza; Le Tallec, Yann; Kang'ethe, Alice
2016-06-01
Understanding post-launch demand for new vaccines can help countries maximize the benefits of immunization programmes. In particular, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) should ensure adequate resource planning with regards to stock consumption and service delivery for new vaccines, whereas global suppliers must produce enough vaccines to meet demand. If a country underestimates the number of children seeking vaccination, a stock-out of commodities will create missed opportunities for saving lives. We describe the post-launch demand for the first dose of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV1) in Ethiopia and Malawi and the first dose of rotavirus vaccine (Rota1) in Malawi, with focus on the new birth cohort and the 'backlog cohort', comprised of older children who are still eligible for vaccination at the time of launch. PCV1 and Rota1 uptake were compared with the demand for the first dose of pentavalent vaccine (Penta1), a routine immunization that targets the same age group and immunization schedule. In the first year, the total demand for PCV1 was 37% greater than that of Penta1 in Ethiopia and 59% greater in Malawi. In the first 6 months, the demand of Rota1 was only 5.9% greater than Penta1 demand in Malawi. Over the first three post-introduction months, 70.7% of PCV1 demand in Ethiopia and 71.5% of demand in Malawi came from children in the backlog cohort, whereas only 28.0% of Rota1 demand in Malawi was from the backlog cohort. The composition of demand was impacted by time elapsed since vaccine introduction and age restrictions. Evidence suggests that countries' plans should account for the impact of backlog demand, especially in the first 3 months post-introduction. LMICs should request for higher stock volumes when compared with routine needs, plan social mobilization activities to reach the backlog cohort and allocate human resources and cold chain capacity to accommodate high demand following vaccine introduction. © The Author 2016. Published by
Renouf, Marguerite A; Kenway, Steven J; Lam, Ka Leung; Weber, Tony; Roux, Estelle; Serrao-Neumann, Silvia; Choy, Darryl Low; Morgan, Edward A
2018-06-15
Water sensitive interventions are being promoted to reduce the adverse impacts of urban development on natural water cycles. However it is currently difficult to know the best strategy for their implementation because current and desired urban water performance is not well quantified. This is particularly at the city-region scale, which is important for strategic urban planning. This work aimed to fill this gap by quantifying the water performance of urban systems within city-regions using 'urban water metabolism' evaluation, to inform decisions about water sensitive interventions. To do this we adapted an existing evaluation framework with new methods. In particular, we used land use data for defining system boundaries, and for estimating natural hydrological flows. The criteria for gauging the water performance were water efficiency (in terms of water extracted externally) and hydrological performance (how much natural hydrological flows have changed relative to a nominated pre-urbanised state). We compared these performance criteria for urban systems within three Australian city-regions (South East Queensland, Melbourne and Perth metropolitan areas), under current conditions, and after implementation of example water sensitive interventions (demand management, rainwater/stormwater harvesting, wastewater recycling and increasing perviousness). The respective water efficiencies were found to be 79, 90 and 133 kL/capita/yr. In relation to hydrological performance, stormwater runoff relative to pre-urbanised flows was of most note, estimated to be 2-, 6- and 3- fold, respectively. The estimated performance benefits from water sensitive interventions suggested different priorities for each region, and that combined implementation of a range of interventions may be necessary to make substantive gains in performance. We concluded that the framework is suited to initial screening of the type and scale of water sensitive interventions needed to achieve desired water
The environmental pedagogy in the construction of an ethics for the urban life
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Noguera de Echeverri, Ana Patricia
2001-01-01
In this paper on ask the instrumental rationalities presents in the environmental urban process in since contemporary studies about city show us, not as model and not as category although, like a success where the lines that make him are of that density like that have a rhizome form. The urban success like rur-urban-agrarian rhizome, demands an ethic and pedagogic about urban environmental that make the deconstruction of the modernity theories ethic, and pedagogies and de other side and hermeneutic attitude that allow, to understand a net complexity of value relations between the ecosystem, expressions forms and the cultures expressions forms. On porpoise an environmental of the ethic, pedagogic and education and not speak more about the environmental ethic, pedagogic and education, like news disciplinarians or interdisciplinary compartments
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Cheng Li
2017-11-01
Full Text Available Urban sustainability is a great concern worldwide. However, how to evaluate urban sustainability is still a big challenge because sustainable development is multifaceted and scale dependent, which demands various assessment methods and indicators that often do not reach a consensus. In this study, we assessed urban sustainability of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD, China during 2000–2014 at two spatial scales (corresponding to the administrative levels of province and prefecture. A theme-based indicator framework, cluster analysis and Mann–Kendall test were used for urban sustainability assessment. Our results showed that the overall (OS, social (SS, and economic sustainability (EcS scores for two provinces and sixteen prefectural cities increased from 2000 to 2014 in general, but the environmental sustainability (EnS scores decreased over time. According to the performance of SS, EnS and EcS at the prefectural level, three distinct city clusters were identified: Cluster 1 with high SS and EcS but low EnS; Cluster 2 with low SS and EcS but high EnS; and Cluster 3 with moderate SS, EnS and EcS. The three sustainability dimensions—society, environment and economy—all changed over time and differed among cities at the two administrative levels. Our results implied that, according to the “strong sustainability” perspective, the cities of the YRD became less sustainable or unsustainable because the social and economic progresses were at the expense of the environment. The level of urban sustainability was lower at the provincial level than the prefectural level, implying that the problems of unsustainability are even greater at the provincial level than the prefectural level in the YRD region.
Pondell, C.; van Doorn, A.; MacAvoy, S. E.
2017-12-01
Urban environments offer students interesting opportunities to explore and examine how human modified landscapes influence biodiversity, nutrient cycling, and water quality. Students demanding applied field experiences from their undergraduate environmental science (ENVS) programs can be well served in urban settings. Here, we present strategies for integrating urban areas into the undergraduate field experience. Urban locations provide an opportunity for a different type of local "field-work" than would otherwise be available. In the intro level undergraduate ENVS class, we use our campus, the surrounding neighborhood and city as well as a nearby National Park for field exercises. Here we share lesson plans for field activities that can be completed with incoming undergraduate students, and show how these activities help students gain quantitative and investigative competency.
Structuring a generative model for urban design : Linking GIS to shape grammars
Beirao, J.; Duarte, J.; Stouffs, R.
2008-01-01
Urban Design processes need to adopt flexible and adaptive procedures to respond to the evolving demands of the contemporary city. To support such dynamic processes, a specific design methodology and a supporting tool are needed. This design methodology considers the development of a design system
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Anon.
2000-01-01
Could US consumption of natural gas rise by as much as 13 quadrillion Btu (quads) over the next 20 years? A new study conducted for the American Gas Foundation by Washington Policy and Analysis says it's certainly a possibility if appropriate policies are implemented. 'Fueling the Future: Natural Gas and New Technologies for a Cleaner 21. Century', confirms what natural gas industry professionals have long suspected: changes in US energy policy that favor increased use of natural gas could improve air quality, conserve energy and reduce reliance on imported oil from politically unstable countries. Consequently, the study forecasts that the environmental, economic and efficiency advantages of natural gas-combined with advances in gas-related technologies and the introduction of new end-use technologies - could help push. US gas consumption into the 35-quad range over the next two decades. Currently, American gas demand is close to 22 quads a year. The study tracks two scenarios: a 'current projection', which shows gas demand reaching nearly 30 quads by 2020, and an 'accelerated projection', which foresees demand topping 35 quads by then based on the adoption of national policies encouraging greater use of natural gas. (authors)
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Pantaleo, Antonio M.; Giarola, Sara; Bauen, Ausilio; Shah, Nilay
2014-01-01
Highlights: • Application of a MILP tool for optimal sizing and location of heating and CHP plants to serve residential energy demand. • Trade-offs between local vs centralized heat generation, district heating vs natural gas distribution systems. • Assessment of the key factors influencing the use of biomass and district heating in residential areas. - Abstract: The paper presents the application of a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) methodology to optimize multi-biomass and natural gas supply chain strategic design for heat and power generation in urban areas. The focus is on spatial and temporal allocation of biomass supply, storage, processing, transport and energy conversion (heat and CHP) to match the heat demand of residential end users. The main aim lies on the assessment of the trade-offs between centralized district heating plants and local heat generation systems, and on the decoupling of the biomass processing and biofuel energy conversion steps. After a brief description of the methodology, which is presented in detail in Part I of the research, an application to a generic urban area is proposed. Moreover, the influence of energy demand typologies (urban areas energy density, heat consumption patterns, buildings energy efficiency levels, baseline energy costs and available infrastructures) and specific constraints of urban areas (transport logistics, air emission levels, space availability) on the selection of optimal bioenergy pathways for heat and power is assessed, by means of sensitivity analysis. On the basis of these results, broad considerations about the key factors influencing the use of bioenergy into urban energy systems are proposed. Potential further applications of this model are also described, together with main barriers for development of bioenergy routes for urban areas
Land use scenarios for greater Copenhagen
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Fertner, Christian; Jørgensen, Gertrud; Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick
2012-01-01
Urban planning and development in Denmark can be characterised by a relatively strong planning framework. Land use scenarios based on empirically derived dynamics of urban growth are practically never applied. However, modelling approaches do offer a methodology to explore the pressures in an urban...... region, as well as an approach to understand urban development patterns outside the ‘spatial masterplan’. In this context we will present the results of a modelling exercise addressing future land use change in the metropolitan area of Copenhagen, Denmark, and the impact of the current regional planning...... short period of time. The set-up and the results were discussed with a few experts from the Danish Ministry of the Environment and its value as discussion input recognized. The approach offers a lot of possibilities to discuss urban growth and spatial planning policies, even in a country with a strong...
Refueling availability for alternative fuel vehicle markets: Sufficient urban station coverage
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Melaina, Marc; Bremson, Joel
2008-01-01
Alternative fuel vehicles can play an important role in addressing the challenges of climate change, energy security, urban air pollution and the continued growth in demand for transportation services. The successful commercialization of alternative fuels for vehicles is contingent upon a number of factors, including vehicle cost and performance. Among fuel infrastructure issues, adequate refueling availability is one of the most fundamental to successful commercialization. A commonly cited source reports 164,300 refueling stations in operation nationwide. However, from the perspective of refueling availability, this nationwide count tends to overstate the number of stations required to support the widespread deployment of alternative fuel vehicles. In terms of spatial distribution, the existing gasoline station networks in many urban areas are more than sufficient. We characterize a sufficient level of urban coverage based upon a subset of cities served by relatively low-density station networks, and estimate that some 51,000 urban stations would be required to provide this sufficient level of coverage to all major urban areas, 33 percent less than our estimate of total urban stations. This improved characterization will be useful for engineering, economic and policy analyses. (author)
Restorative Qualities of and Preference for Natural and Urban Soundscapes.
Krzywicka, Paulina; Byrka, Katarzyna
2017-01-01
Psychological restoration in urban agglomerations has become a growing challenge. Although scientific proof of the significance of nature is irrefutable, an increase in built-up areas has led to a decrease in urban greenery. Thus, a growing need for restorativeness in urban surroundings has emerged. To investigate whether positively evaluated sonic environments, represented by natural and urban sounds, have comparable restorative qualities we conducted two studies. The aim of the first (Study 1) was to explore the restorative qualities of positively assessed natural and urban sounds. Participants ( N = 88) were asked to listen and to rate 22 recordings (each 1 min long) either from natural or urban environments. In the second (Study 2) we investigated whether positively evaluated sonic environments (natural and urban), demand for restoration (feeling relaxed or fatigued) and company (being alone or with a friend) affect the restorative qualities of natural and urban soundscapes. After reading assigned scenarios (feeling relaxed or fatigued; being alone or with a friend), participants ( N = 120) were asked to imagine a walk in presented sonic environments and to complete forms (one for each sonic environment) concerning the restorative qualities of given soundscapes (natural and urban). Top five recordings of natural and urban sonic environments were selected from Study 1 and combined into a 154-s soundtrack, to provide a background for the imagined walks in both settings. Our findings confirmed that natural sounds are perceived more favorably than urban recordings. Even when only the most positively assessed soundscapes were compared, nature was still perceived as being more restorative than urban areas. Company of a friend was found to be more beneficial in the urban surroundings, particularly when there was no need for restoration.
Restorative Qualities of and Preference for Natural and Urban Soundscapes
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Paulina Krzywicka
2017-10-01
Full Text Available Psychological restoration in urban agglomerations has become a growing challenge. Although scientific proof of the significance of nature is irrefutable, an increase in built-up areas has led to a decrease in urban greenery. Thus, a growing need for restorativeness in urban surroundings has emerged. To investigate whether positively evaluated sonic environments, represented by natural and urban sounds, have comparable restorative qualities we conducted two studies. The aim of the first (Study 1 was to explore the restorative qualities of positively assessed natural and urban sounds. Participants (N = 88 were asked to listen and to rate 22 recordings (each 1 min long either from natural or urban environments. In the second (Study 2 we investigated whether positively evaluated sonic environments (natural and urban, demand for restoration (feeling relaxed or fatigued and company (being alone or with a friend affect the restorative qualities of natural and urban soundscapes. After reading assigned scenarios (feeling relaxed or fatigued; being alone or with a friend, participants (N = 120 were asked to imagine a walk in presented sonic environments and to complete forms (one for each sonic environment concerning the restorative qualities of given soundscapes (natural and urban. Top five recordings of natural and urban sonic environments were selected from Study 1 and combined into a 154-s soundtrack, to provide a background for the imagined walks in both settings. Our findings confirmed that natural sounds are perceived more favorably than urban recordings. Even when only the most positively assessed soundscapes were compared, nature was still perceived as being more restorative than urban areas. Company of a friend was found to be more beneficial in the urban surroundings, particularly when there was no need for restoration.
Keller, Marielle; Kuylenstierna, Iris
2016-01-01
Abstract Since there is an increased uncertainty of future customer demand industries and firms have to be more responsive meeting this volatile demand. Making the supply chain more efficient is one way of doing this. Iggesund Paperboard AB (IPAB) wants a greater consciousness about their future customer demand of the supply chain and therefore an investigation of the predicted future customer demand is made. This investigation included secondary data analysis and in-depth interviews with e...
The effectiveness of conservation interventions to overcome the urban-environmental paradox.
McDonald, Robert I
2015-10-01
Globally, urbanization is rapidly growing cities and towns at a historically unprecedented rate, and this rapid urban growth is influencing many facets of the environment. This paper reviews the effectiveness of conservation interventions that are designed to increase urban sustainability. It presents evidence for an apparent urban-environmental paradox: while the process of urban growth converts natural habitat to other land covers and degrades natural resources and ecosystem function, the increase in human population can increase demand for natural resources and ecosystem services. The fundamental problem that many conservation interventions try to address is that most facets of the environment are common or public goods, and are hence undervalued in decision making (market failure). The paper presents a threefold classification of conservation interventions in cities: conservation in the city (protecting biodiversity), conservation by the city (reducing per capita resource and energy use), and conservation for cities (projects that maintain or enhance ecosystem services). It ends by discussing methods for spatially targeting conservation interventions of all three types and for quantifying the effectiveness of interventions retrospectively. © 2015 New York Academy of Sciences.
Institutions in transitioning peri-urban communities: spatial differences in groundwater access
Gomes, Sharlene L.; Hermans, Leon M.
2016-05-01
Urbanization creates challenges for water management in an evolving socio-economic context. This is particularly relevant in transitioning peri-urban areas like Khulna, Bangladesh where competing demands have put pressure on local groundwater resources. Users are unable to sufficiently meet their needs through existing institutions. These institutions provide the rules for service provision and act as guidelines for actors to resolve their water related issues. However, the evolving peri-urban context can produce fragmented institutional arrangements. For example in Khulna, water supply is based on urban and rural boundaries that has created water access issues for peri-urban communities. This has motivated local actors to manage their groundwater needs in various ways. General institutional theories are well developed in literature, yet little is known about institutions in transitioning peri-urban areas. Institutions that fail to adapt to changing dynamics run the risk of becoming obsolete or counter-productive, hence the need for investigating institutional change mechanisms in this context. This paper examines peri-urban case studies from Khulna using the Institutional Analysis and Development framework to demonstrate how institutions have contributed to spatial differences in groundwater access with local actors investing in formal and informal institutional change as a means of accessing groundwater.
Coal demand prediction based on a support vector machine model
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Jia, Cun-liang; Wu, Hai-shan; Gong, Dun-wei [China University of Mining & Technology, Xuzhou (China). School of Information and Electronic Engineering
2007-01-15
A forecasting model for coal demand of China using a support vector regression was constructed. With the selected embedding dimension, the output vectors and input vectors were constructed based on the coal demand of China from 1980 to 2002. After compared with lineal kernel and Sigmoid kernel, a radial basis function(RBF) was adopted as the kernel function. By analyzing the relationship between the error margin of prediction and the model parameters, the proper parameters were chosen. The support vector machines (SVM) model with multi-input and single output was proposed. Compared the predictor based on RBF neural networks with test datasets, the results show that the SVM predictor has higher precision and greater generalization ability. In the end, the coal demand from 2003 to 2006 is accurately forecasted. l0 refs., 2 figs., 4 tabs.
The active learning hypothesis of the job-demand-control model: an experimental examination.
Häusser, Jan Alexander; Schulz-Hardt, Stefan; Mojzisch, Andreas
2014-01-01
The active learning hypothesis of the job-demand-control model [Karasek, R. A. 1979. "Job Demands, Job Decision Latitude, and Mental Strain: Implications for Job Redesign." Administration Science Quarterly 24: 285-307] proposes positive effects of high job demands and high job control on performance. We conducted a 2 (demands: high vs. low) × 2 (control: high vs. low) experimental office workplace simulation to examine this hypothesis. Since performance during a work simulation is confounded by the boundaries of the demands and control manipulations (e.g. time limits), we used a post-test, in which participants continued working at their task, but without any manipulation of demands and control. This post-test allowed for examining active learning (transfer) effects in an unconfounded fashion. Our results revealed that high demands had a positive effect on quantitative performance, without affecting task accuracy. In contrast, high control resulted in a speed-accuracy tradeoff, that is participants in the high control conditions worked slower but with greater accuracy than participants in the low control conditions.
Rural-urban household energy use and inter-relation in the Central Region of the Sudan
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Elgizouli, I.A.R.
1990-01-01
Urban and rural household energy consumption accounts for the major part of total energy consumption in most African countries. It ranges between 50 and 70 percent in African countries with medium per capita incomes and between 58 and 93 percent in those with low per capita incomes. Satisfying household energy needs takes up a substantial portion of the income of the urban household, while in the rural areas much time and effort are spent collecting wood instead of in more productive activities. Woodfuel meets over 85 percent of household energy demand in most African countries. This high level of consumption will remain, irrespective of the country's per capita income: woodfuel will continue to play a major role in the economics of developing countries and especially in the living standards of both rural and urban poor. The two major issues which must be considered are whether the forest resources are going to meet the future demand for woodfuel and whether prices will remain affordable to the low income groups. This paper deals with household energy issues with special reference to the Central Region in the Sudan. It assesses local resources in the region, analyzes consumption patterns of both rural and urban households, and discusses possible solutions to the impact of current energy practices
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Chaturvedi, Vaibhav; Eom, Jiyong; Clarke, Leon E.; Shukla, Priyadarshi R.
2014-01-01
With increasing population, income, and urbanization, meeting the energy service demands for the building sector will be a huge challenge for Indian energy policy. Although there is broad consensus that the Indian building sector will grow and evolve over the coming century, there is little understanding of the potential nature of this evolution over the longer term. The present study uses a technologically detailed, service based building energy model nested in the long term, global, integrated assessment framework, GCAM, to produce scenarios of the evolution of the Indian buildings sector up through the end of the century. The results support the idea that as India evolves toward developed country per-capita income levels, its building sector will largely evolve to resemble those of the currently developed countries (heavy reliance on electricity both for increasing cooling loads and a range of emerging appliance and other plug loads), albeit with unique characteristics based on its climate conditions (cooling dominating heating and even more so with climate change), on fuel preferences that may linger from the present (for example, a preference for gas for cooking), and vestiges of its development path (including remnants of rural poor that use substantial quantities of traditional biomass). - Highlights: ► Building sector final energy demand in India will grow to over five times by century end. ► Space cooling and appliance services will grow substantially in the future. ► Energy service demands will be met predominantly by electricity and gas. ► Urban centers will face huge demand for floor space and building energy services. ► Carbon tax policy will have little effect on reducing building energy demands
Free Primary Education Policy and Pupil School Mobility in Urban Kenya
Oketch, Moses; Mutisya, Maurice; Ngware, Moses; Ezeh, Alex C.; Epari, Charles
2010-01-01
This paper examines pupil school mobility in urban Kenya using African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC) household survey data which contain information on pupil transfers between schools. The aim is to identify which school characteristics attract the greatest demand for incoming transfers. The analysis reveals that there are frequent…
The public health response to 'do-it-yourself' urbanism.
Sibbald, Shannon L; Graham, Ross; Gilliland, Jason
2017-09-01
Greater understanding of the important and complex relationship between the built environment and human health has made 'healthy places' a focus of public health and health promotion. While current literature concentrates on creating healthy places through traditional decision-making pathways (namely, municipal land use planning and urban design processes), this paper explores do-it-yourself (DIY) urbanism: a movement circumventing traditional pathways to, arguably, create healthy places and advance social justice. Despite being aligned with several health promotion goals, DIY urbanism interventions are typically illegal and have been categorized as a type of civil disobedience. This is challenging for public health officials who may value DIY urbanism outcomes, but do not necessarily support the means by which it is achieved. Based on the literature, we present a preliminary approach to health promotion decision-making in this area. Public health officials can voice support for DIY urbanism interventions in some instances, but should proceed cautiously.
Roig, C. D. A.; Feitosa, F. D. F.; Monteiro, A. M. V.
2016-12-01
Cities are mainly a product of collective consumption and there is a pressing need to expand and deepen the discussion about the quality of access to collective goods and services in the urban world: the availability of electricity and potable water and its interrelation with the lack of solid waste management and wastewater treatment leading to pollution of water sources.This study attempts to measure urban stratification through access conditions to collective goods in the metropolitan regions of Sao Paulo State (SPS) by contributing with a research method that incorporates collective consumption as a core component of the population-environment relationship. The use of spatial analysis allows the examination of the structure and distribution of accessibility to sanitation services and basic urban infrastructure.The water stress situation in SPS is dramatic. The average water loss within these distribution systems is 34,3% and a 39% average sewage treatment rate of all wastewater generated. The SPS also imports 60,6% of electricity from other states that use mostly hydroelectric power which imposes greater pressure on the country's water resources. The energy and water crisis has harmed a number of essential rights related mostly to resource access and service continuity as suburban residents of poor municipalities are the ones most affected by disruptions.SPS is the most populous state of Brazil and this region of study is responsible for 75% of total State population with 83% of State GDP. There has been a major increase in water use conflicts such as power generation, urban water supply (including the Rio de Janeiro water demand) and the dilution of urban sewage and solid waste disposal. These collective consumption access problems demonstrate the urgent need for better integrated metropolitan management of natural resources and the urban commons.
Utilising green and bluespace to mitigate urban heat island intensity.
Gunawardena, K R; Wells, M J; Kershaw, T
2017-04-15
It has long been recognised that cities exhibit their own microclimate and are typically warmer than the surrounding rural areas. This 'mesoscale' influence is known as the urban heat island (UHI) effect and results largely from modification of surface properties leading to greater absorption of solar radiation, reduced convective cooling and lower water evaporation rates. Cities typically contain less vegetation and bodies of water than rural areas, and existing green and bluespace is often under threat from increasing population densities. This paper presents a meta-analysis of the key ways in which green and bluespace affect both urban canopy- and boundary-layer temperatures, examined from the perspectives of city-planning, urban climatology and climate science. The analysis suggests that the evapotranspiration-based cooling influence of both green and bluespace is primarily relevant for urban canopy-layer conditions, and that tree-dominated greenspace offers the greatest heat stress relief when it is most needed. However, the magnitude and transport of cooling experienced depends on size, spread, and geometry of greenspaces, with some solitary large parks found to offer minimal boundary-layer cooling. Contribution to cooling at the scale of the urban boundary-layer climate is attributed mainly to greenspace increasing surface roughness and thereby improving convection efficiency rather than evaporation. Although bluespace cooling and transport during the day can be substantial, nocturnal warming is highlighted as likely when conditions are most oppressive. However, when both features are employed together they can offer many synergistic ecosystem benefits including cooling. The ways in which green and bluespace infrastructure is applied in future urban growth strategies, particularly in countries expected to experience rapid urbanisation, warrants greater consideration in urban planning policy to mitigate the adverse effects of the UHI and enhance climate