Heavy metal concentrations in soils and vegetation in urban areas of Quezon City, Philippines.

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Navarrete, Ian A; Gabiana, Christella C; Dumo, Joan Ruby E; Salmo, Severino G; Guzman, Maria Aileen Leah G; Valera, Nestor S; Espiritu, Emilyn Q

2017-04-01

Limited data have been published on the chemistry of urban soils and vegetation in the Philippines. The aim of this study is to quantify the concentrations of heavy metals (i.e., Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb) in soils and vegetation in the urban landscape of Quezon City, Philippines, and to elucidate the relationships between soil properties and the concentration of heavy metals pertaining to different land uses [i.e., protected forest (LM), park and wildlife area (PA), landfill (PL), urban poor residential and industrial areas (RA), and commercial areas (CA)]. Soil (0-15 cm) and senescent plant leaves were collected and were analyzed for soil properties and heavy metal concentrations. Results revealed that the concentrations of heavy metals (i.e., Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb) in urban soils were higher in areas where anthropogenic activities or disturbance (PL, RA, and CA) were dominant as compared to the less disturbed areas (LM and PA). Organic matter and available phosphorous were strongly correlated with heavy metal concentrations, suggesting that heavy metal concentrations were primarily controlled by these soil properties. The average foliar heavy metal concentrations varied, ranging from 0 to 0.4 mg/kg for Cd, 0-10 mg/kg for Cr, 2-22 mg/kg for Cu, 0-5 mg/kg for Pb, and 11-250 mg/kg for Zn. The concentrations of Cd and Cr exceeded the critical threshold concentrations in some plants. Leaves of plants growing in PL (i.e., landfill) showed the highest levels of heavy metal contamination. Our results revealed that anthropogenic activities and disturbance caused by the rapid urbanization of the city are major contributors to the heavy metal accumulation and persistence in the soils in these areas.

Urbanization: Concepts, Trends and Analysis in Three Latin American Cities

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Piña William Alfonso

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Explanatory models on the urban expansion process have focussed mainly on the dynamic of cities in the developed countries that are characterized by a strong institutional framework, a culture of urban planning, and compliance with the rules. This paper analyses the phenomenon of urban expansion in three Latin American cities (Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile and Mexico City, taking into account cities with a strong process of urbanization and where the local administration does not have enough control over the growth of cities due to the high rate of migration determining sub-urbanization, peri-urbanization, exo-urbanization, and counter-urbanization processes similar to developed countries. However, these processes may be related to hidden or displaced urbanization in rural areas of municipalities and metropolitan areas or intermediate cities due to the dynamics of urban consolidation. In every Latin American country, the participation and combination of these phenomena are different, although the results are similar: the advance of urban expansion with more segmented, disperse and distant patterns of large urban centres. This analysis determine the characteristics of the urbanization process taking into account physical and geographic aspects, urbanization trends and socioeconomic features in cities selected of Latin America and determines their impact determining the importance to formulate adequate policies that integrates environmental and socioeconomic aspects to achieve sustainable development in urban contexts.

Population-Area Relationship for Medieval European Cities.

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Rudolf Cesaretti

Full Text Available Medieval European urbanization presents a line of continuity between earlier cities and modern European urban systems. Yet, many of the spatial, political and economic features of medieval European cities were particular to the Middle Ages, and subsequently changed over the Early Modern Period and Industrial Revolution. There is a long tradition of demographic studies estimating the population sizes of medieval European cities, and comparative analyses of these data have shed much light on the long-term evolution of urban systems. However, the next step-to systematically relate the population size of these cities to their spatial and socioeconomic characteristics-has seldom been taken. This raises a series of interesting questions, as both modern and ancient cities have been observed to obey area-population relationships predicted by settlement scaling theory. To address these questions, we analyze a new dataset for the settled area and population of 173 European cities from the early fourteenth century to determine the relationship between population and settled area. To interpret this data, we develop two related models that lead to differing predictions regarding the quantitative form of the population-area relationship, depending on the level of social mixing present in these cities. Our empirical estimates of model parameters show a strong densification of cities with city population size, consistent with patterns in contemporary cities. Although social life in medieval Europe was orchestrated by hierarchical institutions (e.g., guilds, church, municipal organizations, our results show no statistically significant influence of these institutions on agglomeration effects. The similarities between the empirical patterns of settlement relating area to population observed here support the hypothesis that cities throughout history share common principles of organization that self-consistently relate their socioeconomic networks to structured

Population-Area Relationship for Medieval European Cities.

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Cesaretti, Rudolf; Lobo, José; Bettencourt, Luís M A; Ortman, Scott G; Smith, Michael E

2016-01-01

Medieval European urbanization presents a line of continuity between earlier cities and modern European urban systems. Yet, many of the spatial, political and economic features of medieval European cities were particular to the Middle Ages, and subsequently changed over the Early Modern Period and Industrial Revolution. There is a long tradition of demographic studies estimating the population sizes of medieval European cities, and comparative analyses of these data have shed much light on the long-term evolution of urban systems. However, the next step-to systematically relate the population size of these cities to their spatial and socioeconomic characteristics-has seldom been taken. This raises a series of interesting questions, as both modern and ancient cities have been observed to obey area-population relationships predicted by settlement scaling theory. To address these questions, we analyze a new dataset for the settled area and population of 173 European cities from the early fourteenth century to determine the relationship between population and settled area. To interpret this data, we develop two related models that lead to differing predictions regarding the quantitative form of the population-area relationship, depending on the level of social mixing present in these cities. Our empirical estimates of model parameters show a strong densification of cities with city population size, consistent with patterns in contemporary cities. Although social life in medieval Europe was orchestrated by hierarchical institutions (e.g., guilds, church, municipal organizations), our results show no statistically significant influence of these institutions on agglomeration effects. The similarities between the empirical patterns of settlement relating area to population observed here support the hypothesis that cities throughout history share common principles of organization that self-consistently relate their socioeconomic networks to structured urban spaces.

A study of feral pigeon Columba livia var. in urban and suburban areas in the city of Jena, Germany

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Ferman, L. M.

2010-06-01

Full Text Available A population of feral pigeons, Columba livia var. was conducted in the city of Jena, Germany, from July to December 2007. Daily censuses were conducted by walking ten transects in a selected area of the city, five transects in built up areas and five in the suburbs. Pigeon population density was higher in urban areas than in suburbs but differences were not significant. Main behavioural activities recorded were resting, preening, flying, eating, sunning and roosting. Regular locations of activities were rooftops and roof edges in urban areas, and rooftops, eaves on balconies in suburban areas. The plumage phenotype most frequently recorded in both areas was Blue bar.

Homeowner interactions with residential trees in urban areas

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Jana Dilley; Kathleen L. Wolf

2013-01-01

Urban forests are a critical element in sustainable urban areas because of the many environmental, economic, and social benefits that city trees provide. In order to increase canopy cover in urban areas, residential homeowners, who collectively own the majority of the land in most cities, need to engage in planting and retaining trees on their properties. This...

High-capacity transport, floor area ratio and its relationship with urbanization of metropolitan areas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carvalho da Costa, B.L. de; Carvalho da Costa, F.B. de

2016-07-01

Most of the world’s population lives in urban areas (54%). Near 42% of the global urban population live in cities with more than 1 million inhabitants, where problems associated with urban sprawl such as informal settlement, social-economic changes, environmental degradation and deficient high-capacity transport (HCT) systems are common. Meanwhile, urbanization and its associated transportation infrastructure define the relationship between city and countryside, between the city’s inner core and the periphery, between the citizen and his right to move. This article discusses and presents an overview about the relationship between the planning and extension of HCT systems and urban planning, (in the figure of the floor-area ratio - FAR- prescribed in regulations). The methodological approach consists of drawing a conceptual framework and studying 33 different cities of metropolitan areas on five continents. It’s noticed that areas in cities with a high construction potential but with an insufficient HCT negatively influence in urban mobility and hence the right to the city. We consider right to the city the various social and fundamental rights that, among others, includes the right to public transportation. Therefore there’s a real need of an integrated approach of community participation, FAR distribution, urban planning and transportation planning and so that urbanization, inevitable these days, takes place in a fair and harmonious way. (Author)

Urban and peri-urban precipitation and air temperature trends in mega cities of the world using multiple trend analysis methods

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Ajaaj, Aws A.; Mishra, Ashok K.; Khan, Abdul A.

2018-04-01

Urbanization plays an important role in altering local to regional climate. In this study, the trends in precipitation and the air temperature were investigated for urban and peri-urban areas of 18 mega cities selected from six continents (representing a wide range of climatic patterns). Multiple statistical tests were used to examine long-term trends in annual and seasonal precipitation and air temperature for the selected cities. The urban and peri-urban areas were classified based on the percentage of land imperviousness. Through this study, it was evident that removal of the lag-k serial correlation caused a reduction of approximately 20 to 30% in significant trend observability for temperature and precipitation data. This observation suggests that appropriate trend analysis methodology for climate studies is necessary. Additionally, about 70% of the urban areas showed higher positive air temperature trends, compared with peri-urban areas. There were not clear trend signatures (i.e., mix of increase or decrease) when comparing urban vs peri-urban precipitation in each selected city. Overall, cities located in dry areas, for example, in Africa, southern parts of North America, and Eastern Asia, showed a decrease in annual and seasonal precipitation, while wetter conditions were favorable for cities located in wet regions such as, southeastern South America, eastern North America, and northern Europe. A positive relationship was observed between decadal trends of annual/seasonal air temperature and precipitation for all urban and peri-urban areas, with a higher rate being observed for urban areas.

Determinants of urban sprawl in European cities.

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Oueslati, Walid; Alvanides, Seraphim; Garrod, Guy

2015-07-01

This paper provides empirical evidence that helps to answer several key questions relating to the extent of urban sprawl in Europe. Building on the monocentric city model, this study uses existing data sources to derive a set of panel data for 282 European cities at three time points (1990, 2000 and 2006). Two indices of urban sprawl are calculated that, respectively, reflect changes in artificial area and the levels of urban fragmentation for each city. These are supplemented by a set of data on various economic and geographical variables that might explain the variation of the two indices. Using a Hausman-Taylor estimator and random regressors to control for the possible correlation between explanatory variables and unobservable city-level effects, we find that the fundamental conclusions of the standard monocentric model are valid in the European context for both indices. Although the variables generated by the monocentric model explain a large part of the variation of artificial area, their explanatory power for modelling the fragmentation index is relatively low.

[Problems resulting from the absorption of small towns into urban areas in major Third World cities].

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Mckee, D L

1985-01-01

The tendency toward hypertrophy of large metropolitan areas in the Third World has been a subject of concern to economists and other social scientists for some time. Inability to absorb vast waves of migrants into the organized labor force or to provide adequate infrastructure and services are serious problems in many growing cities of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. A different phenomenon created by perpetual urban expansion has been relatively neglected: the problems caused when preexisting urban areas are absorbed into the metropolis. The tendency of squatter settlements to constrict normal urban growth and expansion and to impede rational provision of services has been recognized, but the absorption of small cities does not necessarily produce identical problems. Small cities absorbed into a metropolis lose their identity in the successive waves of suburban proliferation. Los Angeles in the US may be considered the prototype of the phenomenon in which multiple preexisting urban zones are absorbed into the same metropolis without formation of any visible center of gravity. In some cases, small cities may be completely engulfed by the encroaching metropolis, if transit routes or availability of land makes them interesting to developers. The livelihood of residents may be threatened if they are no longer able to cultivate gardens or raise small animals. Local services may deteriorate. The youngest and most able residents are likely to abandon such places for the greater opportunities of the city, leaving the aged and less qualified to fend for themselves. Jobs may disappear and traditional commercial relations may be destroyed without being replaced. The future wellbeing of residents depends on their ability to maneuver in the new metropolitan environment, but many will be unable to adjust for lack of training, the weight of immovable property, or diverse personal considerations. Planning could help to reduce the problems that occasional survival of some small

Analysis on Residents’ Travel Activity Pattern in Historic Urban Areas: A Case Study of Historic Urban Area of Yangzhou, China

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Mao Ye

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Travel behaviors and activity patterns in the historic urban area of a city are expected to be different from the overall situations in the city area. The primary objective of this study is to analyze the residents’ travel activity patterns in historic urban area. Based on survey data conducted in the historic urban area of Yangzhou, the travel activities of local residents in a whole day were classified into five types of patterns. The multinomial logit (MNL model was developed to evaluate the impacts of explanatory variables on the choices of activity patterns. The results showed that the choice of activity pattern was significantly impacted by five contributing factors including the gender, age, occupation, car ownership, and number of electric bikes in household. The other variables, which were the family population, preschoolers, number of conventional bikes in household, motorcycle ownership, and income, were found to be not significantly related to the choice of activities. The results of this study from historic urban area were compared to findings of previous studies from overall urban area. The comparison showed that the impacts of factors on activity pattern in the historic urban area were different from those in the overall area. Findings of this study provide important suggestions for the policy makings to improve the traffic situations in historic urban areas of cities.

The road to liberating citizens While governing the urban areas. The tale of two cities: Cairo and buenos aires

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Azza Sirry

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The relation between the political agenda, the social and economic policies, and urban planning and fabric of cities as a product cannot be missed. And as cities are centres of national economic growth and given that the future of the world will be urban it is thus ironic that the majority of the population of almost all cities in almost all developing countries lives in houses that are below standards, in areas that lack services and basic infrastructure. Furthermore, the people who live in these areas suffer from high present of socio-economic problems such as unemployment and literacy. The poorest of the population have to pay more for their houses, service and infrastructure provision. And they lack access to formal credit and thus to opportunities (Sirry 2004. The cities have become places of frustration instead of places of hope and opportunities. It is not thus surprising that the world is witnessing a wave of upheavals all over its’ cities. In the two case studies the article will try to discuss the background of the country and the political, social, and economic conditions and the physical outcome that is manifested in the image of its cities specially the capital city and how can the change towards democracy help the country, its cities and the urban population. The period covered is called by many the contemporary period, it starts in 50’s in Egypt and 70’s in Argentine.

Universal scaling of the distribution of land in urban areas

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Riascos, A. P.

2017-09-01

In this work, we explore the spatial structure of built zones and green areas in diverse western cities by analyzing the probability distribution of areas and a coefficient that characterize their respective shapes. From the analysis of diverse datasets describing land lots in urban areas, we found that the distribution of built-up areas and natural zones in cities obey inverse power laws with a similar scaling for the cities explored. On the other hand, by studying the distribution of shapes of lots in urban regions, we are able to detect global differences in the spatial structure of the distribution of land. Our findings introduce information about spatial patterns that emerge in the structure of urban settlements; this knowledge is useful for the understanding of urban growth, to improve existing models of cities, in the context of sustainability, in studies about human mobility in urban areas, among other applications.

Urban Agriculture: Search for Agricultural Practice in Urbanized Rural Areas

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Celile Özçiçek Dölekoğlu

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Rapid urbanization in developing countries involves unplanned migration, unemployment and poverty. The steady shrinking of rural areas and the use of agricultural land for other purposes are progressively increasing the pressure on natural resources. This development on the one hand increases the risk to food security, and on the other triggers climate change. The rural population who migrate to the cities or who are absorbed into urban areas continue their agricultural activities in the urban in order to provide themselves with an income or to maintain their food security. In the big cities of the developed world, contact with nature is kept by means of hobby gardens, recreational areas and urban and suburban plant and animal farming, and creative ideas such as roof gardens can be found. This development, known as urban agriculture, is practiced by 800 million people in the world. Urban agriculture has many economic, social and environmental benefits, but it may also have risks and adverse effects. In this study, the developments in this area in Turkey and the world are presented, and all aspects of its effects and outcomes are discussed.

Urban scaling and the production function for cities.

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Lobo, José; Bettencourt, Luís M A; Strumsky, Deborah; West, Geoffrey B

2013-01-01

The factors that account for the differences in the economic productivity of urban areas have remained difficult to measure and identify unambiguously. Here we show that a microscopic derivation of urban scaling relations for economic quantities vs. population, obtained from the consideration of social and infrastructural properties common to all cities, implies an effective model of economic output in the form of a Cobb-Douglas type production function. As a result we derive a new expression for the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) of urban areas, which is the standard measure of economic productivity per unit of aggregate production factors (labor and capital). Using these results we empirically demonstrate that there is a systematic dependence of urban productivity on city population size, resulting from the mismatch between the size dependence of wages and labor, so that in contemporary US cities productivity increases by about 11% with each doubling of their population. Moreover, deviations from the average scale dependence of economic output, capturing the effect of local factors, including history and other local contingencies, also manifest surprising regularities. Although, productivity is maximized by the combination of high wages and low labor input, high productivity cities show invariably high wages and high levels of employment relative to their size expectation. Conversely, low productivity cities show both low wages and employment. These results shed new light on the microscopic processes that underlie urban economic productivity, explain the emergence of effective aggregate urban economic output models in terms of labor and capital inputs and may inform the development of economic theory related to growth.

Interaction between Cities and Climate Change: Modelling Urban Morphology and Local Urban Planning Scenarios from Open Datasets across European Cities

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Thomas, Bart; Stevens, Catherine; Grommen, Mart

2015-04-01

Cities are characterised by a large spatiotemporal diversity of local climates induced by a superposition of various factors and processes interacting at global and regional scales but also at the micro level such as the urban heat island effect. As urban areas are known as 'hot spots' prone to climate and its variability over time leading to changes in the severity and occurrence of extreme events such as heat waves, it is of crucial importance to capture the spatial heterogeneity resulting from variations in land use land cover (LULC) and urban morphology in an effective way to drive local urban climate simulations. The first part of the study conducted in the framework of the NACLIM FP7 project funded by the European Commission focusses on the extraction of land surface parameters linked to urban morphology characteristics from detailed 3D city models and their relationship with openly accessible European datasets such as the degree of soil sealing and disaggregated population densities from the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC). While it has been demonstrated that good correlations can be found between those datasets and the planar and frontal area indices, the present work has expanded the research to other urban morphology parameters including the average and variation of the building height and the sky view factor. Correlations up to 80% have been achieved depending on the considered parameter and the specific urban area including the cities of Antwerp (Belgium), Berlin (Germany) and Almada (Portugal) represented by different climate and urban characteristics. Moreover, the transferability of the established relations has been investigated across the various cities. Secondly, a flexible and scalable approach as a function of the required the level of detail has been elaborated to update the various morphology parameters in case of integration with urban planning data to analyse the local impact of future land use scenarios

Urban hydrology in mountainous middle eastern cities

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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

Measuring Transit Oriented Development of Existing Urban Areas around Metro Stations in Faridabad City

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Sat Pal

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Urban population in Indian cities is encouraging auto reliance and having unsafe economic, social and environmental consequences. Land-use-change patterns are the outcome of the complex relations between the human and the physical surroundings. To address these issues the planners are moving beyond land use planning to a sustainable development. Transit and Land use planning are important components to achieve sustainable future of urban development. TOD is a planning tool to encourage this integration. This paper discusses the land use scenario and opportunity around four Metro transit stations in Faridabad city. Different methods and various sets of indicators are considered to evaluate and measure TOD index in this study. This study will evaluate and measure the Faridabad city in the context of land use around Metro Stations to support TOD. This paper seeks to answer how to promote walkable communities, compact and transit-oriented development (TOD that incorporates mixed land use development, including neighbourhood schools, retail and business related space and a mix range of housing types within walkable distance. This paper concludes that the stations area which had a low TOD score needs to have policy for improvement. If planned efficiently, TODs can realize the sustainable development with considerable change in the urban development that focuses on pedestrian based neighbourhood planning.

Concentrations of heavy metals in urban soils of Havana city, Cuba

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diaz Rizo, O.; Echevarria Castillo, F.; Arado Lopez, J. O.; Hernandez Merlo, M.

2011-01-01

Concentrations of Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb and Fe in the top-soils (0-10 cm) of Havana city urbanized and un-urbanized areas were measured by X-ray fluorescence analysis. The mean Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb contents in the urban topsoil samples from Havana City (151 ± 90, 13.9 ± 4.1, 66 ± 26, 101 ± 51, 240 ± 132 and 101 ± 61 mg.kg -1 , respectively) were compared with mean concentrations for other cities around the world. The results revealed higher concentrations of heavy metals in topsoil samples from industrial sites. Lowest heavy metal contents were determined in the un-urbanized areas. The comparison with Dutch soil quality guidelines showed a slightly contamination with Cr, Co, Ni Cu and Zn in all studied sites and with Pb in industrial soils. On the other hand, the metal-to-iron normalisation using Earth crust contents as background showed that soils from urbanized areas in Havana city (industrial sites, parks and school grounds) are moderately enriched by zinc, moderately to severe enriched (city parks and school grounds) and severe enriched (industrial sites) by lead. (Author)

Smart City: thinking About Urban Intelligence

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Romano Fistola

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Anticipating future urban settings where technologies enable actions and interactions among individuals unimaginable only a few years ago, has always been one of the  research topics most interesting of the urban sciences although probably not sufficiently considered in the town planning field, in the last twenty years.The acceleration towards these issues, which can be generally identified with the name Smart City, has been strong also because of the recent calls of the European Community and the Italian Ministry of Education and Research. In this important change, supported by a number of technology companies, devices and media, it seems experience a discontinuity in the theoretical definition of the processes involved in structuring and management of the Smart City. Numerous investigations on this topic seem to be developed away from urban sciences and away from the main subject area of interest: the urban planning. In this paper we attempt to bring back the dynamics of development of the Smart Cities in their natural site of theoretical development, by recovering operational approaches and methodological references related to the study of the relationship between new technologies and changes inside the urban system, never really considered in order to envisage a new process of urban and regional planning.

Echinococcosis and other parasitic infections in domestic dogs from urban areas of an Argentinean Patagonian city

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Verónica Flores

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In urban populations of South America, dogs with free access to public areas represent a public health concern. The primary consequence of roaming dogs on human health is the transmission of infectious and parasitic diseases mainly through feces contamination. The main diseases likely to be transmitted are hydatidosis or echinococcosis, larva migrans, and giardiasis. In Argentina, hydatidosis ranks among the most prevalent zoonosis. Although it is considered a rural disease, the circulation of this parasite in urban areas has been documented. The aim of this work was to survey intestinal parasites in canine feces from two low-income urban neighborhoods of Bariloche city, Argentina, and to assess their seasonal variation. During 2016, 188 fresh dog feces were collected from sidewalks in 40 randomly selected blocks from the neighborhoods. Each sample was processed by Sheater flotation and tested for a coproantigen (CAg by ELISA. The percentage of parasitized feces was 65.3% (95% CI: 55.9%-73.8%. Eleven parasite species were found, 3 protozoan, 3 cestodes, and 5 nematodes. Echinococcus sp. was present in 9.3% of the samples (95% CI: 4.7%-16.1%. Canine echinococcosis rates resulted similar to rates found previously in other neighborhoods of the city. The life cycle of Echinococcus sp. is sustained in urban areas by the entry of parasitized livestock, domiciliary slaughtering, and inadequate deposition of offal. The risk of Echinococcus sp. transmission to people in these neighborhoods is very high, due to high density of free-roaming dogs and high percentages of infected feces, similar to percentages observed in rural areas.

City-integrated renewable energy for urban sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

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.

Urban physiology: city ants possess high heat tolerance.

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Michael J Angilletta

Full Text Available Urbanization has caused regional increases in temperature that exceed those measured on a global scale, leading to urban heat islands as much as 12 degrees C hotter than their surroundings. Optimality models predict ectotherms in urban areas should tolerate heat better and cold worse than ectotherms in rural areas. We tested these predications by measuring heat and cold tolerances of leaf-cutter ants from South America's largest city (São Paulo, Brazil. Specifically, we compared thermal tolerances of ants from inside and outside of the city. Knock-down resistance and chill-coma recovery were used as indicators of heat and cold tolerances, respectively. Ants from within the city took 20% longer to lose mobility at 42 degrees C than ants from outside the city. Interestingly, greater heat tolerance came at no obvious expense of cold tolerance; hence, our observations only partially support current theory. Our results indicate that thermal tolerances of some organisms can respond to rapid changes in climate. Predictive models should account for acclimatory and evolutionary responses during climate change.

Spatial temporal analysis of urban heat hazard in Tangerang City

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Wibowo, Adi; Kuswantoro; Ardiansyah; Rustanto, Andry; Putut Ash Shidiq, Iqbal

2016-11-01

Urban heat is a natural phenomenon which might caused by human activities. The human activities were represented by various types of land-use such as urban and non-urban area. The aim of this study is to identify the urban heat behavior in Tangerang City as it might threats the urban environment. This study used three types of remote sensing data namely, Landsat TM, Landsat ETM+ and Landsat OLI-TIRS, to capture the urban heat behavior and to analysis the urban heat signature of Tangerang City in 2001, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. The result showed that urban heat signature change dynamically each month based on the sun radiation. The urban heat island covered only small part of Tangerang City in 2001, but it was significantly increased and reached 50% of the area in 2012. Based on the result on urban heat signature, the threshold for threatening condition is 30 oC which recognized from land surface temperature (LST). The effective temperature (ET) index explains that condition as warm, uncomfortable, increase stress due to sweating and blood flow and may causing cardiovascular disorder.

Detection of Urban-Induced Rainfall Anomalies in a Major Coastal City

Science.gov (United States)

Shepherd, J. Marshall; Burian, Steven J.

2002-01-01

Urban heat islands (UHIs) are caused by the heat-retaining properties of surfaces usually found in urban cities like asphalt and concrete. The UHI can typically be observed on the evening TV weather map as warmer temperatures over the downtown of major cities and cooler temperatures in the suburbs and surrounding rural areas. The UHI has now become a widely acknowledged, observed, and researched phenomenon because of its broad environmental and societal implications. Interest in the UHI will intensify in the future as existing urban areas expand and rural areas urbanize. By the year 2025, more than 60% of the world s population will live in cities, with higher percentages expected in developed nations. The urban growth rate in the United States, for example, is estimated to be 12.5%, and the recent 2000 Census found that more than 80% of the population currently lives in urban areas. Furthermore, the U.S. population is not only growing but is tending to concentrate more in urban areas within the environmentally sensitive coastal zones. Urban growth creates unique and often contentious issues for policymakers related to land use zoning, transportation planning, agricultural production, housing and development, pollution, and natural resources protection. Urban expansion and its associated TJHIs also have measurable impacts on weather and climate processes. The UHI has been documented to affect local and regional temperature, wind patterns, and air quality

URBAN LANDSCAPE SPATIAL PATTERN ESTIMATION OF CITIES IN SHANDONG PROVINCE USING NIGHTTIME LUMINOSITY DATA

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J. Fan

2017-09-01

Full Text Available China’s cities have been undergoing rapid and intense urbanization processes in the past few decades. Shandong is a coastal province which is located in East China with big economy and population scales, and which also plays an important role in the rapid process of China’s modernization. The DMSP/OLS dataset has been widely used for the urban development assessments in long time-series and large spatial scales situations. In this paper, we used a time series of nighttime light data to estimate the landscape spatial pattern changes of cities in Shandong province from 1994 to 2012. Nine landscape metrics were calculated and analyzed to figure out the spatial patterns of urban area developments of the cities in Shandong province. The landscape metrics include the number of patches (NP, the landscape total area (TA, the aggregation index (AI, the largest patch index (LPI, the mean patch area (AREA_MN, the landscape shape index (LSI, the total edge length (TE, the edge density (ED, and the mean radius of gyration (GYRATE_MN. The experimental results reveal that, in 1994–2012, the total urban area of cities in Shandong province expanded for 1.17 times, the average urban area increased by about 93.00%, the average annual growth rate of the TE metric is 2.67 %, while the ED metric decreased about 1.44 % annually. Bigger cities in this area show relative slower urbanization development processes, such as Jinan and Qingdao. Coastal cities represented much more rapid expansion velocities than inland cities. In the middle area of Shandong province, the connectivity between developed urban areas was constantly increased.

Urban Landscape Spatial Pattern Estimation of Cities in Shandong Province Using Nighttime Luminosity Data

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, J.; He, H.; Hu, T.; Li, G.; Gao, H.; Zhao, X.

2017-09-01

China's cities have been undergoing rapid and intense urbanization processes in the past few decades. Shandong is a coastal province which is located in East China with big economy and population scales, and which also plays an important role in the rapid process of China's modernization. The DMSP/OLS dataset has been widely used for the urban development assessments in long time-series and large spatial scales situations. In this paper, we used a time series of nighttime light data to estimate the landscape spatial pattern changes of cities in Shandong province from 1994 to 2012. Nine landscape metrics were calculated and analyzed to figure out the spatial patterns of urban area developments of the cities in Shandong province. The landscape metrics include the number of patches (NP), the landscape total area (TA), the aggregation index (AI), the largest patch index (LPI), the mean patch area (AREA_MN), the landscape shape index (LSI), the total edge length (TE), the edge density (ED), and the mean radius of gyration (GYRATE_MN). The experimental results reveal that, in 1994-2012, the total urban area of cities in Shandong province expanded for 1.17 times, the average urban area increased by about 93.00%, the average annual growth rate of the TE metric is 2.67 %, while the ED metric decreased about 1.44 % annually. Bigger cities in this area show relative slower urbanization development processes, such as Jinan and Qingdao. Coastal cities represented much more rapid expansion velocities than inland cities. In the middle area of Shandong province, the connectivity between developed urban areas was constantly increased.

Spatial-temporal change of land surface temperature across 285 cities in China: An urban-rural contrast perspective.

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Peng, Jian; Ma, Jing; Liu, Qianyuan; Liu, Yanxu; Hu, Yi'na; Li, Yingru; Yue, Yuemin

2018-09-01

As an important theme in global climate change and urban sustainable development, the changes of land surface temperature (LST) and surface urban heat island (SUHI) have been more and more focused by urban ecologists. This study used land-use data to identify the urban-rural areas in 285 cities in China and comparatively analyzed LST in urban-rural areas with the perspective of spatial-temporal dynamics heterogeneity. The results showed that, 98.9% of the cities exhibited SUHI effect in summer nighttime and the effect was stronger in northern cities than that in southern cities. In 2010, the mean SUHI intensity was the largest in summer daytime, with 4.6% of the cities having extreme SUHI of over 4°C. From 2001 to 2010, the nighttime LST of most cities increased more quickly in urban areas compared with rural areas, with an increasing tendency of the urban-rural LST difference. The difference in the urban- rural LST change rate was concentrated in the range of 0-0.1°C/year for 68.0% of cities in winter and 70.8% of cities in summer. For the higher LST increasing in urban areas compared with rural areas, there were more cities in summer than winter, indicating that the summer nighttime was the key temporal period for SUHI management. Based on the change slope of urban-rural LST, cities were clustered into four types and the vital and major zones for urban thermal environment management were identified in China. The vital zone included cities in Hunan, Hubei and other central rising provinces as well as the Beibu Gulf of Guangxi Province. The major zone included most of the cities in Central Plain Urban Agglomeration, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta. These results can provide scientific basis for SUHI adaptation in China. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Urban revitalization at downtown areas: discussions on the case of the city of São Paulo

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Cíntia Nigro

2006-08-01

Full Text Available This article: refers to the recent interventions and present revitalisation projects taking place at São Paulo city centre. It deals with the importance that has been attributed to the urban central areas through the years and the way in which these particular spaces are constant targets of public interventions. The case of São Paulo is treated through the process of "urban revitalisation". The text focuses on the need to speak about the context of this process within a wider one, that of "urban reestructuraron" - which leads to "gentrification" and spatial segregation phenomenon

Environmental Response of Small Urban Parks in Context of Dhaka City

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Tabassum, S.

2018-01-01

Urban green spaces are essential element of urban life which, due to their structure and multi functionality, can play an exemplary role in the vitality and quality of urban life. Urban Parks are not only used as active recreational and leisure areas for its citizens but also an important catalyst for community development and enhancement. These spaces in the city act like its lungs and play a critical role in supporting the ecological and environmental system. In the dense urban areas, even Small Parks (less than one acre in size) can also contribute a lot to improve environmental quality of city life. In a populated city where it is difficult to incorporate large Public Parks, these small green area can complement large Public Park system. Accordingly the study is concerned to evaluate the environmental performances of Small Parks on the built environments of urban Dhaka. The analysis identifies that Small Parks has strong environmental impact, the intensity of which depends on the type and quality of its vegetation, its design parameters, connectivity and of course on surrounding urban morphology. And it is confirmed that park with more canopy tree is suitable for our environment and therefore a good combination of vegetation (wide canopy trees at periphery, medium canopy trees beside internal walkway and small canopy tree, shrub and grass cover elsewhere) are recommended for better environmental performance of Small Parks. The research will be an approach to find the ways and means to restore the Small Parks of Dhaka city to ensure the livability of the city and enhance the quality of city image.

Heavy Metal Pollution in Settled Dust Associated with Different Urban Functional Areas in a Heavily Air-Polluted City in North China

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Wan, Dejun; Han, Zhangxiong; Yang, Jinsong; Yang, Guanglin; Liu, Xingqi

2016-01-01

Understanding variations of heavy metals in atmospheric particles between different functional areas is significant for pollution control and urban planning in cities. To reveal pollution and spatial distribution of heavy metals in atmospheric particles from different urban functional areas in Shijiazhuang in North China, 43 settled dust samples were collected over the main urban area and heavy metal concentrations were determined in their pollution indexes (IPIs) of the ten heavy metals are 2.7–13.6 (5.7 ± 2.2), suggesting high or very high pollution levels of most dust. Relatively lower IPIs occur mainly in the administration-education area, the commercial area, and other unclassified sites; while peaks occur mainly in the North Railway Station, the northeastern industrial area, and some sites near heavily trafficked areas, implying the significant influence of intensive industrial (including coal combustion) and traffic activities on atmospheric heavy metal accumulation. These results suggest a clear need of mitigating atmospheric heavy metal pollution via controlling emissions of toxic metals (especially Cd and Pb) from industrial and traffic sources in the city. PMID:27834903

Heavy Metal Pollution in Settled Dust Associated with Different Urban Functional Areas in a Heavily Air-Polluted City in North China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Dejun; Han, Zhangxiong; Yang, Jinsong; Yang, Guanglin; Liu, Xingqi

2016-11-10

Understanding variations of heavy metals in atmospheric particles between different functional areas is significant for pollution control and urban planning in cities. To reveal pollution and spatial distribution of heavy metals in atmospheric particles from different urban functional areas in Shijiazhuang in North China, 43 settled dust samples were collected over the main urban area and heavy metal concentrations were determined in their pollution indexes (IPIs) of the ten heavy metals are 2.7-13.6 (5.7 ± 2.2), suggesting high or very high pollution levels of most dust. Relatively lower IPIs occur mainly in the administration-education area, the commercial area, and other unclassified sites; while peaks occur mainly in the North Railway Station, the northeastern industrial area, and some sites near heavily trafficked areas, implying the significant influence of intensive industrial (including coal combustion) and traffic activities on atmospheric heavy metal accumulation. These results suggest a clear need of mitigating atmospheric heavy metal pollution via controlling emissions of toxic metals (especially Cd and Pb) from industrial and traffic sources in the city.

Urban structure analysis of mega city Mexico City using multisensoral remote sensing data

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Taubenböck, H.; Esch, T.; Wurm, M.; Thiel, M.; Ullmann, T.; Roth, A.; Schmidt, M.; Mehl, H.; Dech, S.

2008-10-01

Mega city Mexico City is ranked the third largest urban agglomeration to date around the globe. The large extension as well as dynamic urban transformation and sprawl processes lead to a lack of up-to-date and area-wide data and information to measure, monitor, and understand the urban situation. This paper focuses on the capabilities of multisensoral remotely sensed data to provide a broad range of products derived from one scientific field - remote sensing - to support urban managing and planning. Therefore optical data sets from the Landsat and Quickbird sensors as well as radar data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and the TerraSAR-X sensor are utilised. Using the multi-sensoral data sets the analysis are scale-dependent. On the one hand change detection on city level utilising the derived urban footprints enables to monitor and to assess spatiotemporal urban transformation, areal dimension of urban sprawl, its direction, and the built-up density distribution over time. On the other hand, structural characteristics of an urban landscape - the alignment and types of buildings, streets and open spaces - provide insight in the very detailed physical pattern of urban morphology on higher scale. The results show high accuracies of the derived multi-scale products. The multi-scale analysis allows quantifying urban processes and thus leading to an assessment and interpretation of urban trends.

Are autonomous cities our urban future?

Science.gov (United States)

Norman, Barbara

2018-05-29

Cities are rapidly expanding in size, wealth and power, with some now larger than nation states. Smart city solutions and strong global urban networks are developing to manage massive urban growth. However, cities exist within a wider system and it may take more than technological advances, innovation and city autonomy to develop a sustainable urban future.

[Spatial scale effect of urban land use landscape pattern in Shanghai City].

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Li-Hua; Yue, Wen Ze; Cao, Yu

2007-12-01

Based on geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) techniques, the landscape classes of urban land use in Shanghai City were extracted from SPOT images with 5 m spatial resolution in 2002, and then, the classified data were applied to quantitatively explore the change patterns of several basic landscape metrics at different scales. The results indicated that landscape metrics were sensitive to grain- and extent variance. Urban landscape pattern was spatially dependent. In other words, different landscape metrics showed different responses to scale. The resolution of 40 m was an intrinsic observing scale for urban landscape in Shanghai City since landscape metrics showed random characteristics while the grain was less than 40 m. The extent of 24 km was a symbol scale in a series of extents, which was consistent with the boundary between urban built-up area and suburban area in Shanghai City. As a result, the extent of 12 km away from urban center would be an intrinsic handle scale for urban landscape in Shanghai City. However, due to the complexity of urban structure and asymmetry of urban spatial expansion, the intrinsic handle scale was not regular extent, and the square with size of 24 km was just an approximate intrinsic extent for Shanghai City.

Urban Heat Islands (UHI) and the influence of city parks within the urban environment.

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Garcia, W.; Shandas, V.; Voelkel, J.; Espinoza, D.

2016-12-01

Urban Heat Islands (UHI) and the influence of city parks within the urban environment.As cities grow outward and their populations increase the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomena becomes an ever more important topic to reducing environmental stressors. When UHI combines with human sensitivities such as pre-existing health conditions, and other vulnerabilities, finding an effective way to cool our cities is a matter of life and death. One way to cool an area is to introduce vegetation; which is abundant is in city parks. This study measures the cooling effect and temperature gradient of city parks; characterizing the relationship between the cooling effects within parks and surrounding neighborhoods. Past studies of the UHI are largely based on satellite images and, more recently, car traverses across that describe the ambient temperatures. The present project aims to understand the effects of parks on the UHI by asking two research questions: (1) how do the physical characteristics and designs of city parks impact the variation in ambient temperatures? And (2) what effect does the park have on cooling the surrounding neighborhoods? We address these questions by using a bicycle mounted with a temperature probe, and a series of geospatial analytics. The bicycle collects temperature data every one second, and the traverse intervals are an hour long to prevent normal fluctuations of daily temperature. Preliminary analysis shows that there is a temperature gradient within the parks (Figure 1). Further, the average temperature of the urban park could cool the surrounding area by upwards of 2°C, depending on the physical characteristics of then park and neighborhood. Our results suggest that the role of smaller parks and their design can reduce heat stress particularly among the vulnerable populations. These results can help urban planners make informed decisions when developing future city infrastructure.

Analyzing the Effects of Spatial Interaction among City Clusters on Urban Growth—Case of Wuhan Urban Agglomeration

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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.

Shrinking Cities or Urban Transformation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laursen, Lea Louise Holst

Shrinking Cities or Urban Transformation is a PhD-thesis conducted at the Department of Architecture and Design, Aalborg University in the period 2004-2008. The PhD concerns the spatial changes that emerge in contemporary urbanity. Contemporary urbanity can among others be characterized as both...... growing and declining. On the one hand, a concentration of the urban into a highly urbanized nodal point is happening and on the other a deconcentration of the urban fabric in declining territories is taking place. The starting point for the dissertation is the term shrinking cities, which has been...... investigation of the cases Baltimore and Denmark is conducted. This shall shed light upon whether the theoretical assumptions correspond to what is happening in the real world. The introduction of the term urban transformation is the result of these investigations and a response to shrinking cities. Urban...

Discussion on Sustainable Water Technologies for Peri-Urban Areas of Mexico City: Balancing Urbanization and Environmental Conservation

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Laura Essl

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Often centralized water supply, sanitation and solid waste services struggle to keep up with the rapid expansion of urban areas. The peri-urban areas are at the forefront of this expansion and it is here where decentralized technologies are increasingly being implemented. The introduction of decentralized technologies allows for the development of new opportunities that enable the recovery and reuse of resources in the form of water, nutrients and energy. This resource-oriented management of water, nutrients and energy requires a sustainable system aimed at low resource use and high recovery and reuse rates. Instead of investigating each sector separately, as has been traditionally done, this article proposes and discusses a concept that seeks to combine the in- and outflows of the different sectors, reusing water and other liberated resources where possible. This paper shows and demonstrates examples of different types of sustainable technologies that can be implemented in the peri-urban areas of Mexico City [rainwater harvesting, EcoSan and biofiltros (small constructed wetlands, and (vermi-composting]. An innovative participatory planning method, combining scenario development with a participatory planning workshop with key stakeholders, was applied and resulted in three concept scenarios. Specific technologies were then selected for each concept scenario that the technical feasibility and applicability was assessed. Following this, the resulting resource flows (nutrients, water and energy were determined and analyzed. The results show that decentralized technologies not only have the potential to deliver adequate water supply, sanitation and solid waste services in peri-urban areas and lessen environmental pollution, but also can recover significant amounts of resources thereby saving costs and providing valuable inputs in, for instance, the agricultural sector. Social acceptance of the technologies and institutional cooperation, however, is

Discussion on Sustainable Water Technologies for Peri-Urban Areas of Mexico City: Balancing Urbanization and Environmental Conservation

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Tiemen A. Nanninga

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Often centralized water supply, sanitation and solid waste services struggle to keep up with the rapid expansion of urban areas. The peri-urban areas are at the forefront of this expansion and it is here where decentralized technologies are increasingly being implemented. The introduction of decentralized technologies allows for the development of new opportunities that enable the recovery and reuse of resources in the form of water, nutrients and energy. This resource-oriented management of water, nutrients and energy requires a sustainable system aimed at low resource use and high recovery and reuse rates. Instead of investigating each sector separately, as has been traditionally done, this article proposes and discusses a concept that seeks to combine the in- and outflows of the different sectors, reusing water and other liberated resources where possible. This paper shows and demonstrates examples of different types of sustainable technologies that can be implemented in the peri-urban areas of Mexico City [rainwater harvesting, EcoSan and biofiltros (small constructed wetlands, and (vermi-composting]. An innovative participatory planning method, combining scenario development with a participatory planning workshop with key stakeholders, was applied and resulted in three concept scenarios. Specific technologies were then selected for each concept scenario that the technical feasibility and applicability was assessed. Following this, the resulting resource flows (nutrients, water and energy were determined and analyzed. The results show that decentralized technologies not only have the potential to deliver adequate water supply, sanitation and solid waste services in peri-urban areas and lessen environmental pollution, but also can recover significant amounts of resources thereby saving costs and providing valuable inputs in, for instance, the agricultural sector. Social acceptance of the technologies and institutional cooperation

Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Urban Sprawl in Chinese Port Cities from 1979 to 2013

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Minmin Li

2016-11-01

Full Text Available China has been through a period of remarkable urban sprawl since the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, with the highest urbanization occurring in the coastal zones. Sustainable urban development requires a better understanding of the spatiotemporal characteristics of urbanization. This study systematically explored urban sprawl in Chinese coastal cities with a visual interpretation method from 1979 to 2013. The results show that urban built-up areas kept increasing at a faster pace during the study period (i.e., increased about 9-fold in 34 years, especially in the first decade of the 21st century. Spatially, urban sprawl intensity generally peaked in the urban fringe. Urban built-up areas expanded mostly at a cost to cultivated land and non-urban built-up land, and became more irregular and less compact through the study period. Land-use policies, economic development levels, port developments and locations are all closely related with urban sprawl in these port cities. The results also suggest that improving the utilization efficiency of urban land and coordinating the development of city and port are necessary and important for sustainable development in coastal cities.

Simulation of Urban Rainfall-Runoff in Piedmont Cities: A Case Study in Jinan City, China

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Chang, X.; Xu, Z.; Zhao, G.; Li, H.

2017-12-01

During the past decades, frequent flooding disasters in urban areas resulted in catastrophic impacts such as human life casualties and property damages especially in piedmont cities due to its specific topography. In this study, a piedmont urban flooding model was developed in the Huangtaiqiao catchment based on SWMM. The sub-catchments in this piedmont area were divided into mountainous area, plain area and main urban area according to the variations of underlying surface topography. The impact of different routing mode and channel roughness on simulation results was quantitatively analyzed under different types of scenarios, and genetic algorithm was used to optimize model parameters. Results show that the simulation is poor (with a mean Nash coefficient of 0.61) when using the traditional routing mode in SWMM model, which usually ignores terrain variance in piedmont area. However, when the difference of routing mode, percent routed and channel roughness are considered, the prediction precision of model were significantly increased (with a mean Nash coefficient of 0.86), indicating that the difference of surface topography significantly affects the simulation results in piedmont cities. The relevant results would provide the scientific basis and technical support for rainfall-runoff simulation, flood control and disaster alleviation in piedmont cities.

The Role of Festivals and Cultural Events in the Strategic Development of Cities. Recommendations for Urban Areas in Romania

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Ruxandra-Irina POPESCU

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Building a good image of a city or state so as to differentiate it and to make it unique in tourists’ minds is a vital condition nowadays, in a world of global competition. This image may be created by taking advantage of local culture and values’ promotion or by organizing festivals and special events. There are various festivals and events held every year somewhere in the world that add image and competitive advantages to host cities. In order to illustrate this idea, the paper presents some less common festivals hosted by different cities that are turning themselves into real “urban agglomerations” during these events. The study analyses the impact of festivals on the strategic development of cities and the importance gained by urban areas after organizing these events. In the final part of the paper there are some recommendations for Romanian cities which might enhance their image and might become more known through the organization of such festivals and cultural events.

Implications of urban structure on carbon consumption in metropolitan areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heinonen, Jukka; Junnila, Seppo

2011-01-01

Urban structure influences directly or indirectly the majority of all green house gas (GHG) emissions in cities. The prevailing belief is that dense metropolitan areas produce less carbon emissions on a per capita basis than less dense surrounding rural areas. Consequently, density targets have a major role in low-carbon urban developments. However, based on the results of this study, the connection seems unclear or even nonexistent when comprehensive evaluation is made. In this letter, we propose a hybrid life cycle assessment (LCA) method for calculating the consumption-based carbon footprints in metropolitan areas, i.e. carbon consumption, with the emphasis on urban structures. The method is input-output-based hybrid LCA, which operates with the existing data from the region. The study is conducted by performing an analysis of the carbon consumption in two metropolitan areas in Finland, including 11 cities. Both areas consist of a dense city core and a less dense surrounding suburban area. The paper will illustrate that the influence of urban density on carbon emissions is insignificant in the selected metropolitan areas. In addition, the utilized consumption-based method links the climate effects of city-level development to the global production of emissions.

Urban Networking vs. Smart City

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Păuna Carmen Beatrice

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Taking into consideration that the development of strong partnerships involving local citizens, civil society, the local economy and the various levels of government is an indispensable element for an Integrated Sustainable Urban Development, our paper is focusing on the role of an appropriate urban networking in the relationship with the objectives of a smart city. In this context, the Romanian good practices - as Oradea city - are worth to mention. In compliance with Europe 2020 Strategy’s objectives there will be discussed the particularities of urban networking in order to strengthen the resilience of cities, and to ensure synergies amongst the investments supported by European Structural and Investment (ESI funds. According to economic literature the urban network is not a funding instrument but a way for cities to share feedback on the use of these new approaches. The estimated results of our research are related to the conclusion that the urban networks act as a forum for capacity building and exchange between the cities pioneering new techniques and developing integrated investments.

Large urban fire environment: trends and model city predictions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larson, D.A.; Small, R.D.

1983-01-01

The urban fire environment that would result from a megaton-yield nuclear weapon burst is considered. The dependence of temperatures and velocities on fire size, burning intensity, turbulence, and radiation is explored, and specific calculations for three model urban areas are presented. In all cases, high velocity fire winds are predicted. The model-city results show the influence of building density and urban sprawl on the fire environment. Additional calculations consider large-area fires with the burning intensity reduced in a blast-damaged urban center

Modeling Urban Collaborative Growth Dynamics Using a Multiscale Simulation Model for the Wuhan Urban Agglomeration Area, China

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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 of Urban Areas and Their Characteristics on Avian Functional Diversity

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Emily Oliveira Hagen

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Urban development is rapidly expanding across the globe and is a major driver of environmental change. Despite considerable improvements in our understanding of how species richness responds to urbanization, there is still insufficient knowledge of how other measures of assemblage composition and structure respond to urban development. Functional diversity metrics provide a useful approach for quantifying ecological function. We compare avian functional diversity in 25 urban areas, located across the globe, with paired non-urban assemblages using a database of 27 functional traits that capture variation in resource use (amount and type of resources and how they are acquired across the 529 species occurring across these assemblages. Using three standard functional diversity metrics (FD, MNTD, and convex hull we quantify observed functional diversity and, using standardized effect sizes, how this diverges from that expected under random community assembly null models. We use regression trees to investigate whether human population density, amount of vegetation and city size (spatial extent of urban land, bio-region and use of semi-natural or agricultural assemblages as a baseline modulate the effect of urbanization on functional diversity. Our analyses suggest that observed functional diversity of urban avian assemblages is not consistently different from that of non-urban assemblages. After accounting for species richness avian functional diversity is higher in cities than areas of semi-natural habitat. This creates a paradox as species responses to urban development are determined by their ecological traits, which should generate assemblages clustered within a narrow range of trait space. Greater habitat diversity within cities compared to semi-natural areas dominated by a single habitat may enhance functional diversity in cities and explain this paradox. Regression trees further suggest that smaller urban areas, lower human population densities

City and Urbanity in the Social Discourse

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Dymnicka, Małgorzata; Badach, Joanna

2017-10-01

The aim of our article is an attempt to present the concept of urbanity that has been shaped throughout centuries along with the development of European civilisation and now entered a new phase of social production of space based on cultural dimensions. The future of the majority of World’s population is connected currently with the urban life with the assumption that qualitative characteristics of life in the 21st century define the quality of civilisation itself. Contrary to many scientists’ predictions of the decline of the city and urbanity, new reviving urban projects, social local activities and everyday urbanism appear which are connected with redefinition of the city as a community. The rebirth of cities, currently referred to as “urban renaissance”, “urban resurgence” or “urban revival”, can be also defined in terms of new urbanity regarded as an insightful and creative attitude towards the city and its culture. The elementary order of things was determined in the last decades not by the space but by the time and its acceleration and simultaneously the role of architecture alters. The course of thinking about the city is changing from a single space-time city towards a personalised city, based on individual identities and corresponding places in the physical and virtual space. That can mean a new role of the city in the creation of urbanity. In the era of advanced communication technologies, a question arises about the ontological status of the city when the emphasis is placed on independence and individuality in interactions between people. Social life becomes detached from traditional spatial patterns and practices. We are interested in the urbanity understood in the wider context of cultural urban studies which are focused on new ways of organising the communication space and social relations. We will refer in this article to the values constitutive for the city and urbanity that guided the idea of the city since the dawn of time as well

Neighborhood poverty, urban residence, race/ethnicity, and asthma: Rethinking the inner-city asthma epidemic.

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Keet, Corinne A; McCormack, Meredith C; Pollack, Craig E; Peng, Roger D; McGowan, Emily; Matsui, Elizabeth C

2015-03-01

Although it is thought that inner-city areas have a high burden of asthma, the prevalence of asthma in inner cities across the United States is not known. We sought to estimate the prevalence of current asthma in US children living in inner-city and non-inner-city areas and to examine whether urban residence, poverty, or race/ethnicity are the main drivers of asthma disparities. The National Health Interview Survey 2009-2011 was linked by census tract to data from the US Census and the National Center for Health Statistics. Multivariate logistic regression models adjusted for sex; age; race/ethnicity; residence in an urban, suburban, medium metro, or small metro/rural area; poverty; and birth outside the United States, with current asthma and asthma morbidity as outcome variables. Inner-city areas were defined as urban areas with 20% or more of households at below the poverty line. We included 23,065 children living in 5,853 census tracts. The prevalence of current asthma was 12.9% in inner-city and 10.6% in non-inner-city areas, but this difference was not significant after adjusting for race/ethnicity, region, age, and sex. In fully adjusted models black race, Puerto Rican ethnicity, and lower household income but not residence in poor or urban areas were independent risk factors for current asthma. Household poverty increased the risk of asthma among non-Hispanics and Puerto Ricans but not among other Hispanics. Associations with asthma morbidity were very similar to those with prevalent asthma. Although the prevalence of asthma is high in some inner-city areas, this is largely explained by demographic factors and not by living in an urban neighborhood. Copyright © 2014 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Integration of data from censuses and remote sensing to measure the socio-economic and environmental evolution in urban areas: case of the city of Sherbrooke (1981-2006)

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Dari, Ouassini

The urban environment is complex, heterogeneous and temporally changeable. Man is the main actor in the transformation of urban areas where he interacts with intensity. Spatial differentiation is a result of human occupation in the urban environment. This occupation may vary according to land use, population density, social and economic characteristics and environment. This leads us to say that the socio-economic and environmental indicators change according to the various locations in the urban area and through time. Our goal is to measure the socio-economic and environmental changes in the urban area of the city of Sherbrooke using remote sensing data synchronized with the censuses and that we will then integrate into the geographic information system (GIS). We have used data from the 1981 and 2006 censuses, 1983 aerial photos, 2007 orthophotos and 1983 MSS and 2006 Ikons satellite images to measure the socio-economic and environmental changes in the city of Sherbrooke. We have used spatial analysis tools to integrate image data with census data. The methods uses such as global indices, principal component analysis combined with the variation between the two dates have yielded interesting results. The first factor in principal component analysis with orthogonal rotation (Varimax) justified a substantial percentage of the variance in global indices. The use of dissemination areas resulted in detailed information on the change in the city. From the perspective of spatial distribution, we noted a major difference between the central areas and the peripheral areas in 1981 and 2006. From the perspective of evolution between 1981 and 2006, we observed that are positive and negative changes at various levels took place. We also observed the evolution of ethnicity in the Sherbrooke city and Lennoxville municipality. The study showed that the French population is prevalent in the old city of Sherbrooke as the English population is prevalent in Lennoxville. The European

Comparative prevalence of otitis media in children living in urban slums, non-slum urban and rural areas of Delhi.

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Chadha, Shelly K; Gulati, Kriti; Garg, Suneela; Agarwal, Arun K

2014-12-01

The study aimed to determine the prevalence and profile of otitis media in different parts of a city, i.e. non-slum urban areas, urban slums and rural areas. A door to door survey was conducted in identified areas of Delhi. A total of 3000 children (0-15 years) were randomly selected and examined for presence of otitis media. These children were equally distributed in the three areas under consideration. Data was analyzed to establish the prevalence of different types of otitis media. Chi-square test was then applied to compare disease prevalence among the three areas. 7.1% of the study population was identified with otitis media, which includes CSOM (4.26%), OME (2.5%) and ASOM (0.4%). In the non-slum urban parts of the city, 4.6% children had otitis media. This was significantly lower compared to 7% children in rural parts of Delhi and 9.9% in urban slums of the city. The prevalence of CSOM was considerably higher in slum areas (7.2%) as compared with rural (3%) and non-slum urban areas (2.6%). Ear infections are significantly more common in urban slums as compared to non-slum city areas and rural parts of Delhi. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Urban Food-Water Nexus: Modeling Water Footprints of Urban Agriculture using CityCrop

Science.gov (United States)

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.

Change in Environmental Benefits of Urban Land Use and Its Drivers in Chinese Cities, 2000-2010.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Xiaoqing; Chang, Kang-Tsung; Yang, Liang; Scheffran, Jürgen

2016-05-26

Driven by rising income and urban population growth, China has experienced rapid urban expansion since the 1980s. Urbanization can have positive effects on the urban environment; however, improvement of urban environment quality, especially its divergence between relatively developed and undeveloped cities in China, is currently a rather rudimentary and subjective issue. This study analyzed urban environmental benefits among China's prefectural cities based on their structure of urban land use in 2000 and 2010. First, we divided 347 prefectural cities into two groups, 81 coastal and capital cities in the relatively developed group (RD) and 266 other prefectural cities in the undeveloped group (RP). Then, we defined three areas of urban environmental benefits, including green infrastructure, industrial upgrade, and environmental management, and developed an assessment index system. Results showed that all prefectural cities saw improvement in urban environmental quality in 2000-2010. Although the RD cities had higher income and more population growth, they had less improvement than the RP cities during the same period. We also found that demographic and urban land agglomeration among RD cities restrained green infrastructure expansion, making green infrastructure unsuitable as a permanent solution to environmental improvement. It is therefore urgent for China to promote balanced improvement among the three areas of urban environmental benefits and between the RD and RP cities through regional differentiation policies.

Urban green infrastructure: The role of urban agriculture in city resilience

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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

Analyzing the causes of urban waterlogging and sponge city technology in China

Science.gov (United States)

Ning, Yun-Fang; Dong, Wen-Yi; Lin, Lu-Sheng; Zhang, Qian

2017-03-01

With the rapid development of social economy in China, increased urban population, and rapid urbanization cause serious problems, for example, a heavy rain in the city inevitably leads to waterlogging, which poses a great threat to the livelihood and property security. Disaster due to urban flood is a key problem that restricts the development of urban ecology in China. The reason is the sharp increase of impermeable surface ratio in urban areas, leading to a decrease in rainfall infiltration and increase in surface runoff. To effectively solve the urban waterlogging, China proposed the construction of sponge city. This paper analyzes and summarizes the reasons for the formation of urban waterlogging, and introduces the concept of the sponge city technology to prevent waterlogging.

The structure and dynamics of cities urban data analysis and theoretical modeling

CERN Document Server

Barthelemy, Marc

2016-01-01

With over half of the world's population now living in urban areas, the ability to model and understand the structure and dynamics of cities is becoming increasingly valuable. Combining new data with tools and concepts from statistical physics and urban economics, this book presents a modern and interdisciplinary perspective on cities and urban systems. Both empirical observations and theoretical approaches are critically reviewed, with particular emphasis placed on derivations of classical models and results, along with analysis of their limits and validity. Key aspects of cities are thoroughly analyzed, including mobility patterns, the impact of multimodality, the coupling between different transportation modes, the evolution of infrastructure networks, spatial and social organisation, and interactions between cities. Drawing upon knowledge and methods from areas of mathematics, physics, economics and geography, the resulting quantitative description of cities will be of interest to all those studying and r...

A Smart Thermo-hygrometric Global Index for the Evaluation of Particularly Critical Urban Areas Quality: the City of Messina Chosen as a Case Study

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Giuseppe Cannistraro

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The development of the city, as it has grown up to the present day, is no longer sustainable. The design of the city turns toward smart urban development which achieves the theoretical ideal of an environmental sustainability deeply linked to the well-being of the inhabitants. In this perspective, the idea of comfort is related to the achievement of thermohygrometric conditions satisfaction (both indoor and outdoor. The present work proposes an innovative tool evaluating the external environment quality applied to a case study: the Messina’s urban center. The well-being has been investigated from the point of view of temperature and relative humidity, taking not into account other aspects characterizing quality of the urban environment such as traffic, degree of urbanization, air pollution, etc.. For this reason the overall hygrothermal index formulation results of particular interest: this one can be also used to make comparable various results obtained at international level. One of the key properties of the global index is the comparability of the results, when applied to different realities. Such an important property can be exploited to compare the climatic characteristics of different cities and for different areas of the same city. In fact, with the help of multiple monitoring stations within the urban area, you would be able to detect the so-called heat islands. In this way it is possible constructing a map of the hygrometric comfort suitable to achieve better urban planning (for example improving thermal comfort through the construction of green areas.

ASSESSING URBAN DROUGHTS IN A SMART CITY FRAMEWORK

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R. Obringer

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This study aims to integrate environmental data for drought monitoring to reduce uncertainty in urban drought characterization as part of the smart city framework. Currently, drought monitoring in urban areas is a challenge. This is due, in part, to a lack of knowledge on the subject of urban droughts and urban drought vulnerability. A critical part to assessing urban drought and implementing the necessary policies is determining drought conditions. Often the timing and severity of the drought can leave cities to enforce water restrictions, so accuracy of this determination has socioeconomic implications. To determine drought conditions, we need to know the water balance over the urban landscape, of which evapotranspiration (ET is a key variable. However, ET data and models have high uncertainty when compared to other hydrological variables (i.e., precipitation. This is largely due to ill-defined empirical models for characterizing the urban surface resistance parameter (rs that is used in ET calculations. We propose a method to estimate rs values using a combination of the Surface Temperature Initiated Closure (STIC method that calculates regional evapotranspiration data and an inverted version of the Penman-Monteith equation. We use this approach across the region surrounding Indianapolis, IN (USA from 2010-2014. We discuss the potential for this method to be integrated in to smart city framework to improve urban drought assessment.

Cities of light two centuries of urban illumination

CERN Document Server

Isenstadt, Sandy; Neumann, Dietrich

2014-01-01

Cities of Light is the first global overview of modern urban illumination, a development that allows human wakefulness to colonize the night, doubling the hours available for purposeful and industrious activities.　 Urban lighting is undergoing a revolution due to recent developments in lighting technology, and increased focus on sustainability and human-scaled environments. Cities of Light is expansive in coverage, spanning two centuries and touching on developments on six continents, without diluting its central focus on architectural and urban lighting.　 Covering history, geography, theory, and speculation in urban lighting, readers will have numerous points of entry into the book, finding it easy to navigate for a quick reference and or a coherent narrative if read straight through. With chapters written by respected scholars and highly-regarded contemporary practitioners, this book will delight students and practitioners of architectural and urban history, area and cultural studies, and lighting desig...

Incorporating insights from Time Series Analysis in groundwater modelling for the urban area of the city of Amsterdam

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Graafstra, P.; Smits, F.J.C.; Janse, T.

2017-01-01

As the public water authority of the city of Amsterdam and surrounding areas, Waternet makes use of both steady-state and transient groundwater models for a variety of purposes involving urban groundwater management. For instance when determining the effect of planned measures on the occurrence of

Urbanization and Land Use Changes in Peri-Urban Area using Spatial Analysis Methods (Case Study: Ciawi Urban Areas, Bogor Regency)

Science.gov (United States)

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.

Bicycle traffic in urban areas

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Anđelković Zorica

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Cycling is a term describing the use of bicycles, but also any mean of transport driven solely by human power. Development of bicycle traffic in urban areas involves construction of cycling infrastructure, adapting streets and other traffic infrastructure to a form suitable for cycling and other means of transport (individual motorized traffic, public transport, walking, ensuring the adequate budget and systematic planning and development of sustainable transport in cities. The paper presents basic settings and conditions as input elements to plan bicycle traffic in urban areas, as well as program- design conditions which lead the activities of planners and designers of urban roads in connection with cyclists.

Monitoring sensible heat flux over urban areas in a high-altitude city using Large Aperture Scintillometer and Eddy Covariance

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Junping; Timmermans, Wim J.; Ma, Yaoming; Su, Bob; Pema, Tsering

2017-04-01

Urbanization leads to modifications of surface energy balance which governs the momentum, heat and mass transfer between urban canopy layer and the atmosphere, thus impacts dynamic processes in the urban ABL and ultimately influence the local, regional and even global climate. It is essential to obtain accurate urban ABL observations to enhance our understanding of land-atmosphere interaction process over the urban area and help to improve the prediction ability of numerical model. However, up to now, there are rarely observations in high latitude cities. In one of the highest cities in the world, Lhasa, Eddy Covariance (EC) measurements have been ongoing since 10 August 2016 and a Large Aperture Scintillometer (LAS) started to work on 12 November 2016, in addition to a UHI network which has been running since 2012. Taking advantage of these observations, this poster will estimate and analyze the surface energy balance in the winter of 2016 in Lhasa, with an emphasis on sensible heat flux. An analytical footprint model and the radiative surface temperature retrieved from Landsat 8 will be employed to compare EC and LAS measurements.

PM levels in urban area of Bejaia

Science.gov (United States)

Benaissa, Fatima; Maesano, Cara Nichole; Alkama, Rezak; Annesi-Maesano, Isabella

2017-04-01

Air pollution is not routinely measured in Bejaia City, Algeria, an urban area of around 200,000 inhabitants. We present first time measurements of particulate matter (PM) mass concentrations for this city (PM10, PM7, PM4, PM2.5 and PM1) over the course of one week, from July 8 to July 14, 2015. This study covered eight urban sampling sites and 169 measurements were obtained to determine mass concentration levels. Air pollution is not routinely measured in Bejaia City, Algeria, an urban area of around 200,000 inhabitants. We present first time measurements of particulate matter (PM) mass concentrations for this city (PM10, PM7, PM4, PM2.5 and PM1) over the course of one week, from July 8 to July 14, 2015. This study covered eight urban sampling sites and 169 measurements were obtained to determine mass concentration levels. The average city-wide PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations measured during this sampling were 87.8 ± 33.9 and 28.7 ± 10.6 µg/m3 respectively. These results show that particulate matter levels are high and exceed Algerian ambient air quality standards (maximum 80 µg/m3, without specifying the particle size). Further, PM10 and PM2.5 averages were well above the prescribed 24-hour average World Health Organization Air Quality Guidelines (WHO AQG) (50 µg/m3 for PM10 and 25 µg/m3 for PM2.5). The PM1, PM2,5, PM4 and PM7 fractions accounted for 15%, 32 %, 56% and 78% respectively of the PM10 measurements. Our analysis reveals that PM concentration variations in the study region were influenced primarily by traffic. In fact, lower PM10 concentrations (21.7 and 33.1 µg/m3) were recorded in residential sites while higher values (53.1, and 45.2 µg/m3) were registered in city centers. Keywords: Particulate matter, Urban area, vehicle fleet, Bejaia.

Improvement of urban water environment of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, by ecotechnology.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Lei

2012-01-01

Kaohsiung City is the second largest city in Taiwan and suffers from serious floods during the wet season, but it also badly needs water during the dry season. As economic development advances and pollutants increase, water pollution and shortage of water resources become issues of concern for local people in Kaohsiung. A project has been proposed by the city government and executed by the authors to establish a system of sustainable water management in urban areas. In this system, the Caogong Canals, irrigation channels which were established 170 years ago during the Ching Dynasty of China and are still used today for irrigation, were renovated to bring stable and clean water to the urban areas. It is planned to pump clean water into the canal from a river near the city. In this project, 12 constructed wetland systems, functioning as wetland parks, stormwater storage tanks or eco-detention ponds, were built in the city, and the Caogong Canals are planned to connect all these urban constructed wetlands in the second stage of the project.

URBAN SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT OF GUWAHATI CITY IN NORTH-EAST INDIA

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Prasanta Kumar Pradhan

2012-12-01

Full Text Available In recent years municipal solid waste (MSW management has been one of the most environmental concerns for all urban areas of India. Most of the urban centers have neither adequate land nor any facility for MSW disposal. In view of scarcity of lands for making landfill sites, solid wastes can be used for energy recovery resulting in volume reduction, thus requires less area for its disposal. Guwahati is one such city of North-East India, having the potential to recover the energy from solid wastes and at the same time the waste management system of the city can be improved. This paper attempts to characterize the urban solid waste of the city as well as its energy potential for various uses. Results showed that the average generation rate of MSW was 0.7 kg/capita/day and the city has the potential to generate the power of 30 MW from the solid waste.

URBAN SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT OF GUWAHATI CITY IN NORTH-EAST INDIA

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P. K. Pradhan

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In recent years municipal solid waste (MSW management has been one of the most environmental concerns for all urban areas of India. Most of the urban centers have neither adequate land nor any facility for MSW disposal. In view of scarcity of lands for making landfill sites, solid wastes can be used for energy recovery resulting in volume reduction, thus requires less area for its disposal. Guwahati is one such city of North-East India, having the potential to recover the energy from solid wastes and at the same time the waste management system of the city can be improved. This paper attempts to characterize the urban solid waste of the city as well as its energy potential for various uses. Results showed that the average generation rate of MSW was 0.7 kg/capita/day and the city has the potential to generate the power of 30 MW from the solid waste.

Simulated Climate Impacts of Mexico City's Historical Urban Expansion

Science.gov (United States)

Benson-Lira, Valeria

Urbanization, a direct consequence of land use and land cover change, is responsible for significant modification of local to regional scale climates. It is projected that the greatest urban growth of this century will occur in urban areas in the developing world. In addition, there is a significant research gap in emerging nations concerning this topic. Thus, this research focuses on the assessment of climate impacts related to urbanization on the largest metropolitan area in Latin America: Mexico City. Numerical simulations using a state-of-the-science regional climate model are utilized to address a trio of scientifically relevant questions with wide global applicability. The importance of an accurate representation of land use and land cover is first demonstrated through comparison of numerical simulations against observations. Second, the simulated effect of anthropogenic heating is quantified. Lastly, numerical simulations are performed using pre-historic scenarios of land use and land cover to examine and quantify the impact of Mexico City's urban expansion and changes in surface water features on its regional climate.

Improving the urban green system and green network through the rehabilitation of railway rust areas

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Hutter Dóra

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The Industrial Revolution had a negative impact on both the city and the environment. By the second half of the 19th century, the urban erosion of industrial cities cried for direct intervention and curing. The methods developed either along an urban or an anti-urban philosophy: they resulted in the new models of green belt systems aimed at solving all the main urban problems with restructuring the urban fabric, controlling the urban spread into the rural landscape, the lack of green areas and open spaces for recreation and social life, and the lack of green spaces for ventilation. Nowadays, the major cities and capitals around the globe are competing for titles such as healthier, more liveable or even greener city. Given the unfortunate attributes of the urban structure in the historical cities, the development of new transportation sites or green areas is an extremely difficult issue. On the other hand, in the big cities, the brownfield sites are considered as reserve areas for sustainable urban development. Reusing the brownfields and rust areas is already a land saving urban development approach and in case of a complex and ecological urban rehabilitation it can underlie the development of an efficient urban green system and green network.

Impact of Urban Growth and Urbanization on the Environmental Degradation of Lakes in Hyderabad City, India

Science.gov (United States)

Nandan, M. J.; Sen, M. K.; Harini, P.; Sekhar, B. M.; Balaji, T.

2013-12-01

Lakes are a vital part of urban ecosystems which perform important ecological and environmental functions to safeguard local climate, groundwater and habitat. The incessant population growth coupled with low urban planning is causing severe damage to urban ecosystems throughout the world. Hyderabad is one of the largest growing metropolitan cities of India covering an area of 65000 ha situated on the banks of Musi River in the northern part of the Deccan Plateau. The city had a population of 1.25 million in 1961 which increased to 6.8 million in 2011 with a metropolitan population of 7.75 million, making it India's fourth most populous city and sixth most populous urban agglomeration. Hyderabad is popularly known as 'City of Lakes' which occupies the top position in India in terms of Urban Lakes. In 20th century, the number of lakes were around 925 which are now reduced to 521 and most of these lakes are facing extinction. The water spread area of these lakes has been considerably reduced due to steady urban growth and the carrying capacity and ecological status of these urban lakes are in real danger. Many of these lakes have shrunk in size while the waters of several lakes got polluted with the discharge of untreated domestic and industrial effluents. Taking into consideration the environmental degradation of urban lakes, an attempt was made to study the current status, loss of water bodies and water spread using remote sensing and GIS techniques. Time-series satellite images of MSS, IRS and RESOURCESAT and Survey of India maps of 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 were used for this study. Analysis of these together with other data sets was accomplished through integrated use of ERDAS Imagine Arc view and ArcGIS software packages. It is estimated that there were 925 lakes in 1982 in erstwhile Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA) area which came down to 521 in 2012. A total number of 404 lakes disappeared during the last 30 years period. Consequently the water spread

Cool City Design: Integrating Real-Time Urban Canyon Assessment into the Design Process for Chinese and Australian Cities

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Marcus White

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Many cities are undergoing rapid urbanisation and intensification with the unintended consequence of creating dense urban fabric with deep ‘urban canyons’. Urban densification can trap longwave radiation impacting on local atmospheric conditions, contributing to the phenomena known as the Urban Heat Island (UHI. As global temperatures are predicted to increase, there is a critical need to better understand urban form and heat retention in cities and integrate analysis tools into the design decision making process to design cooler cities. This paper describes the application and validation of a novel three-dimensional urban canyon modelling approach calculating Sky View Factor (SVF, one important indicator used in the prediction of UHI. Our modified daylighting system based approach within a design modelling environment allows iterative design decision making informed by SVF on an urban design scale. This approach is tested on urban fabric samples from cities in both Australia and China. The new approach extends the applicability in the design process of existing methods by providing ‘real-time’ SVF feedback for complex three-dimensional urban scenarios. The modelling approach enables city designers to mix intuitive compositional design modelling with dynamic canyon feedback. The approach allows a greater understanding of existing and proposed urban forms and identifying potential canyon problem areas, improved decision making and design advocacy, and can potentially have an impact on cities’ temperature.

Change in Environmental Benefits of Urban Land Use and Its Drivers in Chinese Cities, 2000–2010

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Xiaoqing; Chang, Kang-tsung; Yang, Liang; Scheffran, Jürgen

2016-01-01

Driven by rising income and urban population growth, China has experienced rapid urban expansion since the 1980s. Urbanization can have positive effects on the urban environment; however, improvement of urban environment quality, especially its divergence between relatively developed and undeveloped cities in China, is currently a rather rudimentary and subjective issue. This study analyzed urban environmental benefits among China’s prefectural cities based on their structure of urban land use in 2000 and 2010. First, we divided 347 prefectural cities into two groups, 81 coastal and capital cities in the relatively developed group (RD) and 266 other prefectural cities in the undeveloped group (RP). Then, we defined three areas of urban environmental benefits, including green infrastructure, industrial upgrade, and environmental management, and developed an assessment index system. Results showed that all prefectural cities saw improvement in urban environmental quality in 2000–2010. Although the RD cities had higher income and more population growth, they had less improvement than the RP cities during the same period. We also found that demographic and urban land agglomeration among RD cities restrained green infrastructure expansion, making green infrastructure unsuitable as a permanent solution to environmental improvement. It is therefore urgent for China to promote balanced improvement among the three areas of urban environmental benefits and between the RD and RP cities through regional differentiation policies. PMID:27240386

The ethics of smart cities and urban science.

Science.gov (United States)

Kitchin, Rob

2016-12-28

Software-enabled technologies and urban big data have become essential to the functioning of cities. Consequently, urban operational governance and city services are becoming highly responsive to a form of data-driven urbanism that is the key mode of production for smart cities. At the heart of data-driven urbanism is a computational understanding of city systems that reduces urban life to logic and calculative rules and procedures, which is underpinned by an instrumental rationality and realist epistemology. This rationality and epistemology are informed by and sustains urban science and urban informatics, which seek to make cities more knowable and controllable. This paper examines the forms, practices and ethics of smart cities and urban science, paying particular attention to: instrumental rationality and realist epistemology; privacy, datafication, dataveillance and geosurveillance; and data uses, such as social sorting and anticipatory governance. It argues that smart city initiatives and urban science need to be re-cast in three ways: a re-orientation in how cities are conceived; a reconfiguring of the underlying epistemology to openly recognize the contingent and relational nature of urban systems, processes and science; and the adoption of ethical principles designed to realize benefits of smart cities and urban science while reducing pernicious effects.This article is part of the themed issue 'The ethical impact of data science'. © 2016 The Author(s).

Port Cities and Urban Waterfront: Transformations and Opportunities

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Oriana Giovinazzi

2010-04-01

Full Text Available In the wide and complex panorama of urban transformation, waterfront revitalisation is one of the most interesting phenomena of urban renewal of the last decades, bringing ‘cities on water’ around the world to a new leadership. After years of oblivion, the presence of the natural element –water– have shown to be of great appeal as an attractive pole for the quality of every day’s life. In particular, the visual contact with water together with pedestrian paths along the waterfronts and the implementation of waterborne transports, where possible, are giving an added value to these areas, becoming even more interesting in terms of Real Estate. Now spread out and developed at a global dimensions, involving both, big cities but also medium and smallscale cities at all latitudes and in all continents, waterfront regeneration is in many cases the starting point for the regeneration of the city itself and of its relocation in the international context. Under this point of view, marine, port and fluvial cities can be considered laboratories for the process of urban renewal in terms of residential, transports, public spaces and quality of the environment, in view of both, the broad range of cases and the quality of the results. In light of its 20-year long activity in terms of monitoring and studying best practices in the field of waterfront revitalisation, the Centre Cities on Water carried-out an international overview, developing a comparative analysis of the key element for the success of these operation. To this regards, a selection of case-studies has been identified at international level, according to the main ‘ingredients’ for a sustainable cohabitation between ports and cities and for a lasting success in waterfront regeneration processes. Water quality, public and free access and to water, public spaces, gradual and flexible development and shared participation in the entire process as well as a mix of functions and uses and the

Spatial distribution of triatomines (Reduviidae: Triatominae in urban areas of the city of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

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Karine de Souza O. Santana

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Environmental changes have a strong influence on the emergence and/or reemergence of infectious diseases. The city of Salvador, Brazil -currently the focus of a housing boom linked to massive deforestation- is an example in point as the destruction of the remaining areas of the Atlantic Forest around the city has led to an increased risk for Chagas disease. Human domiciles have been invaded by the triatomine vectors of Trypansoma cruzi, the flagellate protozoan causing Chagas disease, a problem of particular concern in urban/suburban areas of the city such as the Patamares sector in the north-east, where numbers of both the vector and human cases of the disease have increased lately. To control and prevent further deterioration of the situation, the control programme for Chagas disease, developed by the Bahia Center for Zoonosis Control, has divided the area into a grid of designated surveillance units (ZIs that are subjected to vector examination. In six out of 98 of these ZIs, 988 triatomes were collected and georeferenced during the 3-year period between 2006 and 2009. The hottest months, that are also generally the driest, showed the highest numbers of triatomines with Triatoma tibiamaculata being the predominant species (98.3% with Panstrongylus geniculatus present only occasionally (0.6%. Fifty-four percent of all triatomines captured were found inside the homes, and 48.6% out of 479 individuals in the affected ZIs selected for analysis tested positive for T. cruzi infection. The study presented here is a pioneering initiative to map the spatial distribution of triatomines based on geographical information systems with the additional aim of contributing to an expanded knowledge-base about T. cruzi and its vectors in urban areas and raise public health awareness of the risks involved.

The City from the Wire the Aerial Cable Transport for the Urban Mobility

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Romano Fistola

2011-08-01

Full Text Available The urban transfer by using ropeways can produce impacts and externalities which, if well-managed, can trigger processes reliever, sustainable development and promoting tourism inside the city. The article starts from the consideration of urban transport by ropeways as a viable, effective alternative to the collective transfer among different areas of the city, particularly in those cities characterized by unique morphological or hydrographic territory which are fit for being overcome by mobility systems at high altitude. These features, in many international urban contexts, also contribute to enhance the amenity and the urban appeal. The paper intends to underline how the ropeways can become an efficient urban transport system between urban sites, often placed at different heights and for which there is a less accessibility by ground, and at the same time, a fascinating way of tourist mobility that allow people to observe the city from above (moving on it, in a sort of dynamic view. This interesting functional convergence has been often highlighted in the studies conducted on this mode of transportation, ,which in the past was considered one  of the real possibilities for urban moving. Many cities are characterized by this type of mobility and within which existing systems of lifts, oblique connections between parts of the city are provided by urbansystems, lifts, cable cars, escalators, moving walkways, etc.. A focus is also provided in relation to the ropeways, currently operating in many cities around the world, highlighting the effectiveness of mobility solutions at high altitude, although not necessarily intended for the slope, taken in metropolitan contexts outside of Europe since the Seventies. Furthermore a specific attention it is payed to the plants currently disused in Turin and in Naples with a special regard to the possible recovery prospects in a new urban mobility system. For the city of Naples it is presented also a new project

Smart City, Metropolitan Areas and Competitiveness: the Case Study of Florence

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Carmela Gargiulo

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In several urban contexts, the definition of a new development process is arising and it is focused on the use and the application of new technologies in different areas of the urban system. Such new development process is aimed at increasing life quality and local communities wellness and at promoting the creation of a more efficient and more sustainable urban system, as well as at making it more competitive. The issue of the reorganization of metropolitan areas is combined with such process, following the recent approval of the Delrio Law that establishes the Metropolitan City in Italy, as government authority of the metropolitan areas. Smart City, Metropolitan Areas and Competitiveness are the three topics of this paper, which aim is the description of the most innovative politics and initiatives adopted in the Metropolitan City of Florence that is proposed as a case study where such topics are combined.

The impact of extensive green roofs on the improvement of thermal performance for urban areas in Mediterranean climate with reference to the city of Jijel in Algeria

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Lehtihet, M. C.; Bouchair, A.

2018-05-01

Buildings with dark surfaces, concrete and pavement, needed for the expansion of cities, absorb huge amounts of heat, increasing the mean radiant temperatures of urban areas and offer significant potential for urban heat island (UHI) effect. The purpose of this work is to investigate the impact of green roofs on the improvement of urban heat performance in Mediterranean climate. A field investigation is carried out using two large-scale modules built in the city of Jijel in the north of Algeria. The first is a bare reinforced concrete slab whereas the second is covered with ivy plants. The experimental site, the air and surface temperature parameters and the various measurement points at the level of the modules are chosen. Measurements are performed using thermo-hygrometer, surface sensors and data acquisition apparatus. The results show that green roofs can be a potential mean of improving the thermal performance of the surrounding microclimate and energy performance of buildings in an urban area. The green roof could be an encouraging strategy against urban heat island effect not only for Mediterranean cities but also for other areas.

Evaluation of Urban Drainage Infrastructure: New York City Case Study

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Hamidi, A.; Grossberg, M.; Khanbilvardi, R.

2017-12-01

Flood response in an urban area is the product of interactions of spatially and temporally varying rainfall and infrastructures. In urban areas, however, the complex sub-surface networks of tunnels, waste and storm water drainage systems are often inaccessible, pose challenges for modeling and prediction of the drainage infrastructure performance. The increased availability of open data in cities is an emerging information asset for a better understanding of the dynamics of urban water drainage infrastructure. This includes crowd sourced data and community reporting. A well-known source of this type of data is the non-emergency hotline "311" which is available in many US cities, and may contain information pertaining to the performance of physical facilities, condition of the environment, or residents' experience, comfort and well-being. In this study, seven years of New York City 311 (NYC311) call during 2010-2016 is employed, as an alternative approach for identifying the areas of the city most prone to sewer back up flooding. These zones are compared with the hydrologic analysis of runoff flooding zones to provide a predictive model for the City. The proposed methodology is an example of urban system phenomenology using crowd sourced, open data. A novel algorithm for calculating the spatial distribution of flooding complaints across NYC's five boroughs is presented in this study. In this approach, the features that represent reporting bias are separated from those that relate to actual infrastructure system performance. The sewer backup results are assessed with the spatial distribution of runoff in NYC during 2010-2016. With advances in radar technologies, a high spatial-temporal resolution data set for precipitation is available for most of the United States that can be implemented in hydrologic analysis of dense urban environments. High resolution gridded Stage IV radar rainfall data along with the high resolution spatially distributed land cover data are

The effect of urban heat island on Izmir's city ecosystem and climate.

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Corumluoglu, Ozsen; Asri, Ibrahim

2015-03-01

Depending on the researches done on urban landscapes, it is found that the heat island intensity caused by the activities in any city has some impact on the ecosystem of the region and on the regional climate. Urban areas located in arid and semiarid lands somehow represent heat increase when it is compared with the heat in the surrounding rural areas. Thus, cities located amid forested and temperate climate regions show moderate temperatures. The impervious surfaces let the rainfall leave the city lands faster than undeveloped areas. This effect reduces water's cooling effects on these lands. More significantly, if trees and other vegetations are rare in any region, it means less evapotranspiration-the process by which trees "exhale" water. Trees also contribute to the cooling of urban lands by their shade. Land cover and land use maps can easily be produced by processing of remote sensing satellites' images, like processing of Landsat's images. As a result of this process, urban regions can be distinguished from vegetation. Analyzed GIS data produced and supported by these images can be utilized to determine the impact of urban land on energy, water, and carbon balances at the Earth's surface. Here in this study, it is found that remote sensing technique with thermal images is a liable technique to asses where urban heat islands and hot spots are located in cities. As an application area, in Izmir, it was found that the whole city was in high level of surface temperature as it was over 28 °C during the summer times. Beside this, the highest temperature values which go up to 47 °C are obtained at industrial regions especially where the iron-steel factories and the related industrial activities are.

Subsurface information for risk-sensitive urban spatial planning in Dhaka Metropolitan City, Bangladesh

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Günther, Andreas; Aziz Patwary, Mohammad Abdul; Bahls, Rebecca; Asaduzzaman, Atm; Ludwig, Rüdiger; Ashraful Kamal, Mohammad; Nahar Faruqa, Nurun; Jabeen, Sarwat

2016-04-01

Dhaka Metropolitan 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- or lower 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 city areas are projected in marshy terrains modified by extensive, largely unengineered landfills. In most areas, these terrains bear unfavorable building ground conditions within 30 meters. 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 Dhaka Metropolitan City area (approx. 1700 km2). Geo-information have not been considered in the present DAP. Within the project, geospatial information in form of a geomorphic map, a digital terrain model and a 3-D subsurface model covering the whole city area have been generated at a scale of 1 : 50000. An extensive engineering geological data base consisting of more than 2200 borehole data with associated Standard Penetration Testing (SPT) and lab data has been compiled. With the field testing (SPT) and engineering geological lab data, the 3-D subsurface model can be parameterized to derive important spatial subsurface information for urban planning like bearing capacity evaluations for different foundation designs or soil liquefaction potential assessments for specific earthquake scenarios. In conjunction with inundation potential evaluations for different flooding scenarios, comprehensive building ground suitability information can be derived to support risk

Urban fringe renewal with urban catalysts elements: connections in an unconnected area

OpenAIRE

Yanru, Yang

2014-01-01

Based on Santa Coloma as a main case,analyzing how can be update there in this crisis situation to do suitable interventions to achieve a great effect. After analyzing the Santa Coloma area,I pay attention to its urban marginality.It has the territorial marginality,the marginality of the relationship with Barcelona,the marginality of the people and life style and so on. Urban fringe is corresponding the city center, the city of mainstream.The socalled "fringe" can be underst...

Centipede assemblages along an urbanization gradient in the city of Heraklion, Crete (Greece

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Gabriella Papastefanou

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Global urbanization is a major force that causes alteration and loss of natural habitats. Urban ecosystems are strongly affected by humans and there is a gradient of decreasing human influence from city centers to natural habitats. To study ecological changes along this continuum, researchers introduced the urban-rural gradient approach. The responses of centipedes to an urbanization gradient (urban-suburban-rural areas were studied using pitfall traps in and near the city of Heraklion, in the island of Crete, Greece, from November 2010 to November 2011. Our results do not support the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, in which suburban areas located in the transitional zone between urban and rural habitats failed to indicate significant increase in terms of species richness and diversity.

DO POST-SOCIALIST URBAN AREAS MAINTAIN THEIR SUSTAINABLE COMPACT FORM? ROMANIAN URBAN AREAS AS CASE STUDY

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Simona Raluca GRĂDINARU

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The compact city is regarded as an important concept in promoting sustainable development, especially within the European Union. The socialist urban planning system maintained a high compactness of the urban areas through almost exclusive predominance of the public sector in housing provision, and ideological nature of the planning strategies. After the 1990’s, the administrative decentralization allowed local authorities to adopt particular urban development strategies. However, development was directly influenced by the importance of the urban administrative centre. The aim of the paper is to determine if post-socialist urban areas maintained their compact urban form or they encountered different evolution trajectories. We determined the type of changes by calculating urban form indicators at two time moments: 1990 and 2006. Furthermore, the two-way repeated-measurement ANOVA was used to identify significant changes, and to assess the effect of the development level of the urban area on the variance of form indicators. The results show that Romanian post-socialist urban areas either shifted from the compact form, "inherited" after the collapse of socialism, to more dispersed patterns, either expanded in a compact manner. Moreover, as development level got higher, urban areas were more likely to be affected by suburbanization and periurbanization. In order to respond to these challenges, new instruments such as setting of metropolitan areas or spatial framework plans could be used. Furthermore, planning should be adapted to local circumstances and to the different development trajectories of big and mid-sized urban areas.

Radionuclides in plants in urban areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Todorovic, D.; Ajtic, J.; Popovic, D.; Nikolic, J.

2009-01-01

The results of a long-term study (from 2002 to 2008) on the concentrations of natural ( 7 Be, 210 Pb, 40 K) and fission ( 137 Cs) radionuclides in leaves of higher plants (linden and chestnut) in an urban area (city of Belgrade) are presented. The activity of the radionuclides was determined on an HPGe detector by standard gamma spectrometry. The study is a part of the ongoing air quality monitoring programme in urban areas in the Republic of Serbia. (author) [sr

Connecting Urbanization to Precipitation: the case of Mexico City

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Georgescu, Matei

2017-04-01

Considerable evidence exists illustrating the influence of urban environments on precipitation. We revisit this theme of significant interest to a broad spectrum of disciplines ranging from urban planning to engineering to urban numerical modeling and climate, by detailing the simulated effect of Mexico City's built environment on regional precipitation. Utilizing the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) system to determine spatiotemporal changes in near-surface air temperature, precipitation, and boundary layer conditions induced by the modern-day urban landscape relative to presettlement conditions, I mechanistically link the built environment-induced increase in air temperature to simulated increases in rainfall during the evening hours. This simulated increase in precipitation is in agreement with historical observations documenting observed rainfall increase. These results have important implications for understanding the meteorological conditions leading to the widespread and recurrent urban flooding that continues to plague the Mexico City Metropolitan Area.

Analysis of Urban Forest Needs as Anthropogenic (CO2) Gas Absorbent in Semarang City

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Febriani, Anisa Putri; Retnaningsih Soeprobowati, Tri; Maryono

2018-02-01

Green open space in cities in significant needs to maintenance environment quality. On of the critical function is to absorb increasing number of gas CO2. Therefore, developing urban forest in cities is very importance. The objective of the study is to determine the area of urban forest as CO2 gas anthropogenic absorb which is formed from fuel, diesel fuel, liquid petroleum gas. The study consists of (1) Analyzing the number of CO2 gas emission by calculating the needs of petroleum and gas based on the number of population, (2) Analyzing the power of gas absorption, (3) Measuring the air concentration of CO2 gas ambient based on daily traffic activities. This study shown that from year 2013 to year 2017, the increasing of urban forest is not so significant. For year 2013 the green open space in Semarang City are 373.67 hectares (7.5 percent from Semarang City area), consists of 239 parks, 11 public cemeteries, production forests, community forests, and urban forests, however the area of urban forest is not increase. The study assess that Antidesmabunius is one of the green species which high absorb capacity planted for Semarang. This trees produce 31,31 ton annually. This study proposed to fostering Antidesmabunius as one principle threes in Semarang urban forest.

Distribution of dermatophytes from soils of urban and rural areas of cities of Paraiba State, Brazil.

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Pontes, Zélia Braz Vieira da Silva; Oliveira, Aurylene Carlos de; Guerra, Felipe Queiroga Sarmento; Pontes, Luiz Renato de Araújo; Santos, Jozemar Pereira dos

2013-01-01

The dermatophytes, keratinophilic fungi, represent important microorganisms of the soil microbiota, where there are cosmopolitan species and others with restricted geographic distribution. The aim of this study was to broaden the knowledge about the presence of dermatophytes in soils of urban (empty lots, schools, slums, squares, beaches and homes) and rural areas and about the evolution of their prevalence in soils of varying pH in cities of the four mesoregions of Paraiba State, Brazil. Soil samples were collected from 31 cities of Paraiba State. Of 212 samples, 62% showed fungal growth, particularly those from the Mata Paraibana mesoregion (43.5%), which has a tropical climate, hot and humid. Soil pH varied from 4.65 to 9.06, with 71% of the growth of dermatophytes occurring at alkaline pH (7.02 - 9.06) (ρ = 0.000). Of 131 strains isolated, 57.3% were geophilic species, particularly Trichophyton terrestre (31.3%) and Mycrosporum gypseum (21.4%). M. nanum and T. ajelloi were isolated for the first time in Paraiba State. The zoophilic species identified were T. mentagrophytes var. mentagrophytes (31.3 %) and T. verrucosum (7.6 %), and T. tonsurans was isolated as an anthropophilic species. The soils of urban areas including empty lots, schools, slums and squares of cities in the mesoregions of Paraiba State were found to be the most suitable reservoirs for almost all dermatophytes; their growth may have been influenced by environmental factors, soils with residues of human and/or animal keratin and alkaline pH.

Land use/cover change detection and urban sprawl analysis in Bandar Abbas city, Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Dadras, Mohsen; Shafri, Helmi Zulhaidi Mohd; Ahmad, Noordin; Pradhan, Biswajeet; Safarpour, Sahabeh

2014-01-01

The process of land use change and urban sprawl has been considered as a prominent characteristic of urban development. This study aims to investigate urban growth process in Bandar Abbas city, Iran, focusing on urban sprawl and land use change during 1956-2012. To calculate urban sprawl and land use changes, aerial photos and satellite images are utilized in different time spans. The results demonstrate that urban region area has changed from 403.77 to 4959.59 hectares between 1956 and 2012. Moreover, the population has increased more than 30 times in last six decades. The major part of population growth is related to migration from other parts the country to Bandar Abbas city. Considering the speed of urban sprawl growth rate, the scale and the role of the city have changed from medium and regional to large scale and transregional. Due to natural and structural limitations, more than 80% of barren lands, stone cliffs, beach zone, and agricultural lands are occupied by built-up areas. Our results revealed that the irregular expansion of Bandar Abbas city must be controlled so that sustainable development could be achieved.

Air quality and urban form in U.S. urban areas: evidence from regulatory monitors.

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Clark, Lara P; Millet, Dylan B; Marshall, Julian D

2011-08-15

The layout of an urban area can impact air pollution via changes in emissions and their spatial distribution. Here, we explore relationships between air quality and urban form based on cross-sectional observations for 111 U.S. urban areas. We employ stepwise linear regression to quantify how long-term population-weighted outdoor concentrations of ozone, fine particulate matter (PM(2.5)), and other criteria pollutants measured by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency depend on urban form, climate, transportation, city size, income, and region. Aspects of urban form evaluated here include city shape, road density, jobs-housing imbalance, population density, and population centrality. We find that population density is associated with higher population-weighted PM(2.5) concentrations (p urban form variables are associated with 4%-12% changes in population-weighted concentrations-amounts comparable, for example, to changes in climatic factors. Our empirical findings are consistent with prior modeling research and suggest that urban form could potentially play a modest but important role in achieving (or not achieving) long-term air quality goals.

Trees and the City: Diversity and Composition along a Neotropical Gradient of Urbanization

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Rubén Ortega-Álvarez

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In this study we assessed tree species richness, density, and composition patterns along a gradient of urbanization of a megacity. Our results show that total, native, and exotic tree densities were highest in green areas where larger spaces are considered for greening purposes. Conversely, total, native, and exotic tree species richness were highest in land uses with intermediate levels of urban development (residential, residential-commercial areas. Not finding highest tree species richness in less developed urban areas suggests that cultural factors may shape the array of species that are planted within cities. Supporting this, tree composition analyses showed that green areas are comprised of different tree species when compared to the rest of the studied urban land uses. Thus, our results suggest that, to increase the ecological quality of cities, residents and managers should be encouraged to select a greater variety of trees to promote heterogeneous green areas.

iSPUW: integrated sensing and prediction of urban water for sustainable cities

Science.gov (United States)

Noh, S. J.; Nazari, B.; Habibi, H.; Norouzi, A.; Nabatian, M.; Seo, D. J.; Bartos, M. D.; Kerkez, B.; Lakshman, L.; Zink, M.; Lee, J.

2016-12-01

Many cities face tremendous water-related challenges in this Century of the City. Urban areas are particularly susceptible not only to excesses and shortages of water but also to impaired water quality. To addresses these challenges, we synergistically integrate advances in computing and cyber-infrastructure, environmental modeling, geoscience, and information science to develop integrative solutions for urban water challenges. In this presentation, we describe the various efforts that are currently ongoing in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex (DFW) area for iSPUW: real-time high-resolution flash flood forecasting, inundation mapping for large urban areas, crowdsourcing of water observations in urban areas, real-time assimilation of crowdsourced observations for street and river flooding, integrated control of lawn irrigation and rainwater harvesting for water conservation and stormwater management, feature mining with causal discovery for flood prediction, and development of the Arlington Urban Hydroinformatics Testbed. Analyzed is the initial data of sensor network for water level and lawn monitoring, and cellphone applications for crowdsourcing flood reports. New data assimilation approaches to deal with categorical and continuous observations are also evaluated via synthetic experiments.

Toward a Smart Sustainable Development of Port Cities/Areas: The Role of the “Historic Urban Landscape” Approach

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Luigi Fusco Girard

2013-10-01

Full Text Available After the 2008 crisis, smart sustainable development of port areas/cities should be developed on the basis of specific principles: the synergy principle (between different actors/systems, in particular the socio-cultural and economic system, the creativity principle and the circularization principle. The Historic Urban landscape (HUL approach becomes the guarantee that the transition toward the smart city development model is based on specific local cultural resources, and not only on technological innovations. In other words, the eco-town/eco-city strategy becomes culture-led. It stimulates places as spatial “loci” for implementing synergies and circularization processes. Without new evaluation tools and a widespread “evaluation culture” the risks in implementing HUL are very high.

A study on the relationship between carbon budget and ecosystem service in urban areas according to urbanization

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Lee, S. J.; Lee, W. K.

2017-12-01

The study on the analysis of carbon storage capacity of urban green spaces with increasing urban forest. Modern cities have experienced rapid economic development since Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. The rapid economic growth caused an exponential concentration of population to the cities and decrease of green spaces due to the conversion of forest and agricultural lands to build-up areas with rapid urbanization. As green areas including forests, grasslands, and wetlands provide diverse economic, environmental, and cultural benefits, the decrease of green areas might be a huge loss. Also, the process of urbanization caused pressure on the urban environment more than its natural capacity, which accelerates global climate change. This study tries to see the relations between carbon budget and ecosystem services according to the urbanization. For calculating carbon dynamics, this study used VISIT(Vegetation Integrated Simulator for trace gases) model. And the value that ecosystem provides is explained with the concept of ecosystem service and calculated by InVEST model. Study sites are urban and peri-urban areas in Northeast Asia. From the result of the study, the effect of the urbanization can be understood in regard to carbon storage and ecosystem services.

A global synthesis of plant extinction rates in urban areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Hahs, Amy K; McDonnell, Mark J; McCarthy, Michael A; Vesk, Peter A; Corlett, Richard T; Norton, Briony A; Clemants, Steven E; Duncan, Richard P; Thompson, Ken; Schwartz, Mark W; Williams, Nicholas S G

2009-11-01

Plant extinctions from urban areas are a growing threat to biodiversity worldwide. To minimize this threat, it is critical to understand what factors are influencing plant extinction rates. We compiled plant extinction rate data for 22 cities around the world. Two-thirds of the variation in plant extinction rates was explained by a combination of the city's historical development and the current proportion of native vegetation, with the former explaining the greatest variability. As a single variable, the amount of native vegetation remaining also influenced extinction rates, particularly in cities > 200 years old. Our study demonstrates that the legacies of landscape transformations by agrarian and urban development last for hundreds of years, and modern cities potentially carry a large extinction debt. This finding highlights the importance of preserving native vegetation in urban areas and the need for mitigation to minimize potential plant extinctions in the future.

Spatial Variation and Distribution of Urban Energy Consumptions from Cities in China

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Yanpeng Cai

2010-12-01

Full Text Available With support of GIS tools and Theil index, the spatial variance of urban energy consumption in China was discussed in this paper through the parallel comparison and quantitative analysis of the 30 provincial capital cities of mainland China in 2005, in terms of scale, efficiency and structure. The indicators associated with urban energy consumption show large spatial variance across regions, possibly due to diversities of geographic features, economic development levels and local energy source availability in China. In absolute terms, cities with the highest total energy consumption are mostly distributed in economic-developed regions as Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan Area, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta of China, however, the per capita urban energy use is significantly higher in the Mid-and-Western regions. With regard to the energy mix, coal still plays the dominant role and cities in Mid-and-Western regions rely more on coal. In contrast, high quality energy carrier as electricity and oils are more used in southeast coastal zone and northern developed areas. The energy intensive cities are mainly located in the northwest, while the cities with higher efficiency are in southeast areas. The large spatial variance of urban energy consumption was also verified by the Theil indices. Considering the Chinese economy-zones of East, Middle and West, the within-group inequalities are the main factor contributing to overall difference, e.g., the Theil index for per capita energy consumption of within-group is 0.18, much higher than that of between group (0.07, and the same applies to other indicators. In light of the spatial variance of urban energy consumptions in China, therefore, regionalized and type-based management of urban energy systems is badly needed to effectively address the ongoing energy strategies and targets.

Impacts of Urbanization in the Coastal Tropical City of San Juan, Puerto Rico

Science.gov (United States)

Comarazamy, Daniel E.; Gonzalez, Jorge E.; Luvall, Jeffrey C.; Rickman, Douglass

2007-01-01

Urban sprawl in tropical locations is rapidly accelerating and it is more evident in islands where a large percentage of the population resides along the coasts. This paper focuses on the analysis of the impacts of land use and land cover for urbanization in the tropical coastal city of San Juan, in the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. A mesoscale numerical model, the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS), is used to study the impacts of land use for urbanization in the environment including specific characteristics of the urban heat island in the San Juan Metropolitan Area (SJMA), one of the most noticeable urban cores of the Caribbean. The research also makes use of the observations obtained during the airborne San Juan Atlas Mission. Surface and raw insonde data from the mission are used to validate the atmospheric model yielding satisfactory results. Airborne high resolution remote sensing data are used to update the model's surface characteristics in order to obtain a more accurate and detailed configuration of the SJMA and perform a climate impact analysis based on land cover/land use (LCLU) changes. The impact analysis showed that the presence of the urban landscape of San Juan has an impact reflected in higher air temperatures over the area occupied by the city, with positive values of up to 2.5 degrees C, for the simulations that have specified urban LCLU indexes in the model's bottom boundary. One interesting result of the impact analysis was the finding of a precipitation disturbance shown as a difference in total accumulated rainfall between the present urban landscape and with a potential natural vegetation, apparently induced by the presence of the urban area. Results indicate that the urban-enhanced cloud formation and precipitation development occur mainly downwind of the city, including the accumulated precipitation. This spatial pattern can be explained by the presence of a larger urbanized area in the southwest sector of the city, and of

Geo-hydrological hazard and urban development in the Mediterranean area: an example from Genoa City (Italy)

Science.gov (United States)

Faccini, F.; Luino, F.; Sacchini, A.; Turconi, L.; De Graff, J. V.

2015-04-01

The Ligurian area has always suffered from significant geo-hydrological events causing casualties and serious damage. The atmospheric circulation in autumn and winter coupled with landform peculiarities are the main causes this hazard becoming a risk to human life, structures, and infrastructures. Genoa city and the surrounding metropolitan area are commonly subject to heavy rainfall that induces violent flash floods and many shallow landslides. The most recent rainfall events occurred on 9-10 October and 15 November 2014, again causing loss of human lives and widespread damage. A troubling trend since the beginning of the new century, is the recurrence of such events with greater frequency than in the past. The city of Genoa serves as a very interesting case-study for geo-hydrological risks. Cloudbursts of few hours seem to have a rainfall intensity basically greater than in the past; that causes increase of hydrometric levels of the watercourses that quickly reach alarming values close to the overflowing. This meteorological factor, added to growing urbanization of the valley floors and slopes located north of Genoa, has inevitably produced a general trend of increasing risk for the city. Urbanization is particularly notable for the narrowing process in all cross-sections of Genoa's watercourses, both in the main ones and in the secondary streams that flow directly into the Gulf of Genoa. The narrowing of the sections resulted from the increasing demand for new spaces owing to both industrial development (which started initially at the coastal areas of Genoa), and the growth of the Genoa population. The number of inhabitants grew from fewer than 200 000 at the beginning of the 19th century tool a peak of over 800 000 in the 1970s modifying the water balance of the basins and increasing the geo-hydrological risk in an unacceptable way. Among the important topics analyzed in this paper are: (i) the meteorological characteristics of these events, (ii) the changes in

The Poor Rural Areas That Must Support The City of the Future

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Ron Wimberley

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Cities have exported poverty to rural areas, yet we forget that cities do not exist in nature. Sociologists and others often seem to forget that. Cities are a product of social behavior. Neither do cities exist in self-sustained vacuums unto themselves. Cities are dependent and interdependent with rural areas and through forms of social interaction that link people living in urban and rural areas. While cities are a product of social behavior, they are dependent upon natural resources. It is from rural areas that the natural resources which sustain cities are produced and extracted.

The ecological impact of city lighting scenarios: exploring gap crossing thresholds for urban bats.

Science.gov (United States)

Hale, James D; Fairbrass, Alison J; Matthews, Thomas J; Davies, Gemma; Sadler, Jon P

2015-02-02

As the global population urbanizes, dramatic changes are expected in city lighting and the urban form, which may threaten the functioning of urban ecosystems and the services they deliver. However, little is known about the ecological impact of lighting in different urban contexts. Movement is an important ecological process that can be disrupted by artificial lighting. We explored the impact of lighting on gap crossing for Pipistrellus pipistrellus, a species of bat (Chiroptera) common within UK cities. We aimed to determine whether the probability of crossing gaps in tree cover varied with crossing distance and lighting level, through stratified field surveys. We then used the resulting data on barrier thresholds to model the landscape resistance due to lighting across an entire city and explored the potential impact of scenarios for future changes to street lighting. The level of illumination required to create a barrier effect reduced as crossing distance increased. For those gaps where crossing was recorded, bats selected the darker parts of gaps. Heavily built parts of the case study city were associated with large and brightly lit gaps, and spatial models indicate movement would be highly restricted in these areas. Under a scenario for brighter street lighting, the area of accessible land cover was further reduced in heavily built parts of the city. We believe that this is the first study to demonstrate how lighting may create resistance to species movement throughout an entire city. That connectivity in urban areas is being disrupted for a relatively common species raises questions about the impacts on less tolerant groups and the resilience of bat communities in urban centres. However, this mechanistic approach raises the possibility that some ecological function could be restored in these areas through the strategic dimming of lighting and narrowing of gaps. © 2015 The Authors. Global Change Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Rainfall Modification by Urban Areas: New Perspectives from TRMM

Science.gov (United States)

Shepherd, J. Marshall; Pierce, Harold F.; Negri, Andrew

2002-01-01

Data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission's (TRMM) Precipitation Radar (PR) were employed to identify warm season rainfall (1998-2000) patterns around Atlanta, Montgomery, Nashville, San Antonio, Waco, and Dallas. Results reveal an average increase of -28% in monthly rainfall rates within 30-60 kilometers downwind of the metropolis with a modest increase of 5.6% over the metropolis. Portions of the downwind area exhibit increases as high as 51%. The percentage changes are relative to an upwind control area. It was also found that maximum rainfall rates in the downwind impact area exceeded the mean value in the upwind control area by 48% - 116%. The maximum value was generally found at an average distance of 39 km from the edge of the urban center or 64 km from the center of the city. Results are consistent with METROMEX studies of St. Louis almost two decades ago and with more recent studies near Atlanta. Future work is extending the investigation to Phoenix, Arizona, an arid U.S. city, and several international cities like Mexico City, Johannesburg, and Brasilia. The study establishes the possibility of utilizing satellite-based rainfall estimates for examining rainfall modification by urban areas on global scales and over longer time periods. Such research has implications for weather forecasting, urban planning, water resource management, and understanding human impact on the environment and climate.

Urban greenspace for resilient city in the future: Case study of Yogyakarta City

Science.gov (United States)

Ni'mah, N. M.; Lenonb, S.

2017-06-01

The capacity of adaptation is essential elements towards urban resilience. One adaptation that can be done is to consider the provision of open space and public space in the city. Yogyakarta City development which focused on the built area and negates the open space has blurred the characteristics of the city. Efforts in increasing the availability of public space is one of the seven priorities of the programs included in the environmental and the utilization of space in Yogyakarta City. An understanding of the provision of public green open spaces in Yogyakarta is important because the products and processes that take place in a development will determine the successful implementation of the development plan. The objectives of this study are as follows: (1) to identify the provision green space in Yogyakarta City from the aspects of product and procedure; and (2) to identify the role of green space to build resilient city. This study is used descriptive qualitative approach with in-depth interview, literature review, and triangulation as the method for data collection. Yogyakarta has had instruments for public green open spaces provision called Masterplan Ruang Terbuka Hijau (RTH) Up-Scaling Yogyakarta 2013-2032 which govern the typologies and criteria for green open space development in the city.Public green open spaces development mechanism can be grouped into the planning phase, the utilization phase, and the control phase of each consisting of legal and regulatory aspects, institutional aspects, financial aspects, and technical aspects. The mechanism of green open space provision should regard the need of advocacy for “urban green commons” (UGCs) development as a systematic approach of collective-participatory for urban land management.

Urban ergonomics: an ongoing study of city signs and maps.

Science.gov (United States)

Alves, Patricia; Arezes, Pedro

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study is to assess whether the existing signals in three European cities were developed according usability principles and ergonomic aspects for the citizen. City maps and signals will be tested using efficiency, effectiveness and user's satisfaction criteria. Among the urban areas are the center of Paris-FR, assumed to be well signalized, the historical center of Guimarães-PT and Chorweiler, Cologne-DE, a residential neighborhood of modern urbanism characterized by the extensive use of vegetation, the landscape homogeneity, and, consequently, by the difficult navigation.

Urban Landscapes and Sustainable Cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erik Andersson

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Ecological research targeting sustainable urban landscapes needs to include findings and methods from many lines of ecological research, such as the link between biodiversity and ecosystem function, the role of humans in ecosystems, landscape connectivity, and resilience. This paper reviews and highlights the importance of these issues for sustainable use of ecosystem services, which is argued to be one aspect of sustainable cities. The paper stresses the need to include social and economic factors when analyzing urban landscapes. Spatially explicit data can be used to assess the roles different green areas have in providing people with ecosystem services, and whether people actually have access to the services. Such data can also be used to assess connectivity and heterogeneity, both argued to be central for continuous, long-term provision of these services, and to determine the role urban form has for sustainability.

Risk to a Changing Climate in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area

Science.gov (United States)

Vargas, N. D.

2016-12-01

The issue of climate change has dominated the atmospheric sciences agenda in recent decades. The concern about an increase in climate related disasters, mainly in large population centers, has led to ask whether they are mainly due to changes in climate or in vulnerability.The Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) is an example of megalopolis under high climate risk, where floods, landslides, health problems, high air pollution events, socioeconomic droughts are becoming important environmental and social problems. As urbanization spreads and population increases exposure to natural hazards increases, and so the magnitude of risk to a changing climate and the negative impacts. Since the late nineteenth century, in the MCMA an average maximum temperature could be around 22°C, whereas today it is about 24.5ºC. That is, the increase in the average temperature in Mexico City is around 3°C in a hundred years. But there are areas where an increase in the average temperature is similar in only thirty years. The heating rate of the city can vary depending on the change in land use. Areas that conserve forested regions in the process of urbanization tend to warm less than areas where the transformation into concrete and cement is almost complete. Thus, the climate of the MCMA shows important changes mainly in relation to land use changes. Global warming and natural climate variability were also analyzed as possible forcing factors of the observed warming by comparing low frequency variations in local temperature and indices for natural forcing. The hydrological cycle of the MCMA has also changed with urbanization. The "bubble of hot air" over the urban area has more capacity to hold moisture now than before the UHI. However, the increased risk to floods, heat or drought appears to be related not only to more frequent intense climatic hazards induced by the urbanization effect. This process also induces increased vulnerability to a changing climate. The establishment of

City Size, Density and Sectoral Structure: Exploring Urban Sustainability in the Regions.

Science.gov (United States)

Svirejeva-Hopkins, Anastasia

2010-05-01

For the first time in history, the Global population is more urban than rural and the trend is obvious at various scales. Cities do not serve just as dynamic centres of activities, jobs and consumption markets, social interactions and cultural expressions, but also carry the weight of the main environmental problems of current times and the near future. Global Warming, air and water pollution, population growth and recourse constraints, i.e. reduction of carrying capacity of the environment are among the well known ones. The overall aim of this research is to develop mitigation (at various scales) and adaptation systems, tailored to urban settlements. They should be effective at the very local as well as regional levels, assess and introduce innovative urban technologies and policies, reduce ecological footprint of cities and increase recycling efficiency. We propose the empirical method of urban sustainability assessment, that supports our hypothesis that city functioning, the changes in its population and area growth depends on the size, average and internal densities and the geographical form. The existing cities of three regions are examined: Western and Eastern Europe (incl. Russia), Latin America and China. There are fundamental urban developmental differences and also within the first region, namely between EU countries and the Eastern part of European geographical region. The cities are considered not only as some agglomerates of areas with dense population but from the ecological point of view, namely examining inflow of food and energy and outflow of waste products across the boundaries. There are major differences between the patterns of urbanisation in the studied regions, urban systems functioning and resilience. Continuous investigation of these differenced helps building regional scenarios of cities development, population allocation and pollution management for the 21st century.

Urban Form and City Life

OpenAIRE

Luque-Valdivia, J. (José)

2011-01-01

The compact city is often presented as an answer to sustainable urban development, the paper tries to stress the influence of urban form of the compact city itself in the kind of civic life La ciudad compacta se presenta con frecuencia como una respuesta al desarrollo urbano sostenible; el paper trata de identificar la influencia la forma urbana propia de la ciudad compacta en el tipo de vida ciudadana

Analysis of the division of the urban-rural ecotone in the city of Zhuhai

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Nan; Zhou, Sulong; Guo, Luo

2018-02-01

In this study, a high-resolution remote sensing image of downtown Zhuhai (2010) was used to analyze the division of the urban-rural ecotone. Based on the information entropy theory, the study analyzed the characteristics of the ecotone’s land use and entropy value distribution, the break entropy values of the inner and outer boundary, as determined by mutation detection, were 0.51 and 0.46, respectively, providing a range for the rough classification of the rural-urban ecotone. The results showed that the boundaries of the ecotone were dynamic and the landscape turbulence of the urban fringe in the section between rural and urban areas was greater than that of the core area and imagery area of Zhuhai city. We concluded that this study provided technical support for urban planning and administration in the city of Zhuhai.

Final Opportunity to Rehabilitate an Urban River as a Water Source for Mexico City

Science.gov (United States)

Mazari-Hiriart, Marisa; Pérez-Ortiz, Gustavo; Orta-Ledesma, María Teresa; Armas-Vargas, Felipe; Tapia, Marco A.; Solano-Ortiz, Rosa; Silva, Miguel A.; Yañez-Noguez, Isaura; López-Vidal, Yolanda; Díaz-Ávalos, Carlos

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the amount and quality of water in the Magdalena-Eslava river system and to propose alternatives for sustainable water use. The system is the last urban river in the vicinity of Mexico City that supplies surface water to the urban area. Historical flow data were analyzed (1973–2010), along with the physicochemical and bacteriological attributes, documenting the evolution of these variables over the course of five years (2008–2012) in both dry and rainy seasons. The analyses show that the flow regime has been significantly altered. The physicochemical variables show significant differences between the natural area, where the river originates, and the urban area, where the river receives untreated wastewater. Nutrient and conductivity concentrations in the river were equivalent to domestic wastewater. Fecal pollution indicators and various pathogens were present in elevated densities, demonstrating a threat to the population living near the river. Estimates of the value of the water lost as a result of mixing clean and contaminated water are presented. This urban river should be rehabilitated as a sustainability practice, and if possible, these efforts should be replicated in other areas. Because of the public health issues and in view of the population exposure where the river flows through the city, the river should be improved aesthetically and should be treated to allow its ecosystem services to recover. This river represents an iconic case for Mexico City because it connects the natural and urban areas in a socio-ecological system that can potentially provide clean water for human consumption. Contaminated water could be treated and reused for irrigation in one of the green areas of the city. Wastewater treatment plants and the operation of the existing purification plants are urgent priorities that could lead to better, more sustainable water use practices in Mexico City. PMID:25054805

Final opportunity to rehabilitate an urban river as a water source for Mexico City.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marisa Mazari-Hiriart

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to evaluate the amount and quality of water in the Magdalena-Eslava river system and to propose alternatives for sustainable water use. The system is the last urban river in the vicinity of Mexico City that supplies surface water to the urban area. Historical flow data were analyzed (1973-2010, along with the physicochemical and bacteriological attributes, documenting the evolution of these variables over the course of five years (2008-2012 in both dry and rainy seasons. The analyses show that the flow regime has been significantly altered. The physicochemical variables show significant differences between the natural area, where the river originates, and the urban area, where the river receives untreated wastewater. Nutrient and conductivity concentrations in the river were equivalent to domestic wastewater. Fecal pollution indicators and various pathogens were present in elevated densities, demonstrating a threat to the population living near the river. Estimates of the value of the water lost as a result of mixing clean and contaminated water are presented. This urban river should be rehabilitated as a sustainability practice, and if possible, these efforts should be replicated in other areas. Because of the public health issues and in view of the population exposure where the river flows through the city, the river should be improved aesthetically and should be treated to allow its ecosystem services to recover. This river represents an iconic case for Mexico City because it connects the natural and urban areas in a socio-ecological system that can potentially provide clean water for human consumption. Contaminated water could be treated and reused for irrigation in one of the green areas of the city. Wastewater treatment plants and the operation of the existing purification plants are urgent priorities that could lead to better, more sustainable water use practices in Mexico City.

Final opportunity to rehabilitate an urban river as a water source for Mexico City.

Science.gov (United States)

Mazari-Hiriart, Marisa; Pérez-Ortiz, Gustavo; Orta-Ledesma, María Teresa; Armas-Vargas, Felipe; Tapia, Marco A; Solano-Ortiz, Rosa; Silva, Miguel A; Yañez-Noguez, Isaura; López-Vidal, Yolanda; Díaz-Ávalos, Carlos

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the amount and quality of water in the Magdalena-Eslava river system and to propose alternatives for sustainable water use. The system is the last urban river in the vicinity of Mexico City that supplies surface water to the urban area. Historical flow data were analyzed (1973-2010), along with the physicochemical and bacteriological attributes, documenting the evolution of these variables over the course of five years (2008-2012) in both dry and rainy seasons. The analyses show that the flow regime has been significantly altered. The physicochemical variables show significant differences between the natural area, where the river originates, and the urban area, where the river receives untreated wastewater. Nutrient and conductivity concentrations in the river were equivalent to domestic wastewater. Fecal pollution indicators and various pathogens were present in elevated densities, demonstrating a threat to the population living near the river. Estimates of the value of the water lost as a result of mixing clean and contaminated water are presented. This urban river should be rehabilitated as a sustainability practice, and if possible, these efforts should be replicated in other areas. Because of the public health issues and in view of the population exposure where the river flows through the city, the river should be improved aesthetically and should be treated to allow its ecosystem services to recover. This river represents an iconic case for Mexico City because it connects the natural and urban areas in a socio-ecological system that can potentially provide clean water for human consumption. Contaminated water could be treated and reused for irrigation in one of the green areas of the city. Wastewater treatment plants and the operation of the existing purification plants are urgent priorities that could lead to better, more sustainable water use practices in Mexico City.

Improving pedestrian facilities in congested urban areas: a case study of Chennai city

Science.gov (United States)

Subramanyam, B.; Prasanna Kumar, R.

2017-07-01

Traffic congestion and lack of public pedestrian space are some problems faced by most urban metropolises. Conventionally walking has been a mode of transportation in Indian cities. The percentage of pedestrians may vary from 16 to 57 depending upon the city. Encounters between vehicular traffic and pedestrian traffic are at its rise currently. Rapid industrialization and urbanization in India has resulted in neglecting of pedestrian facilities. Consequently pedestrian are at greater risk for their safety more especially in the commercial zones of large cities. A change in perspective spotlight will create a sense of awareness that the pedestrian traffic is also vital as the vehicular traffic. Soothing the traffic would moderately cut the driving expediency but the pedestrians will get a much safer and peaceful route to their terminuses. Safety and comfort are the two pans of a balance while considering the pedestrian traffic. Considering these aspects, this study deals a study in improving pedestrian facilities by analysing the existing skeleton of the selected locations. The adequacy of facility is checked based on IRC latest guidelines and counteractive measures are postulated.

Urban NH3 levels and sources in six major Spanish cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Reche, Cristina; Viana, Mar; Karanasiou, Angeliki; Cusack, Michael; Alastuey, Andrés; Artiñano, Begoña; Revuelta, M Aranzazu; López-Mahía, Purificación; Blanco-Heras, Gustavo; Rodríguez, Sergio; Sánchez de la Campa, Ana M; Fernández-Camacho, Rocío; González-Castanedo, Yolanda; Mantilla, Enrique; Tang, Y Sim; Querol, Xavier

2015-01-01

A detailed spatial and temporal assessment of urban NH3 levels and potential emission sources was made with passive samplers in six major Spanish cities (Barcelona, Madrid, A Coruña, Huelva, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Valencia). Measurements were conducted during two different periods (winter-autumn and spring-summer) in each city. Barcelona showed the clearest spatial pattern, with the highest concentrations in the old city centre, an area characterised by a high population density and a dense urban architecture. The variability in NH3 concentrations did not follow a common seasonal pattern across the different cities. The relationship of urban NH3 with SO2 and NOX allowed concluding on the causes responsible for the variations in NH3 levels between measurement periods observed in Barcelona, Huelva and Madrid. However, the factors governing the variations in A Coruña, Valencia and Santa Cruz de Tenerife are still not fully understood. This study identified a broad variability in NH3 concentrations at the city-scale, and it confirms that NH3 sources in Spanish urban environments are vehicular traffic, biological sources (e.g. garbage containers), wastewater treatment plants, solid waste treatment plants and industry. The importance of NH3 monitoring in urban environments relies on its role as a precursor of secondary inorganic species and therefore PMX. Further research should be addressed in order to establish criteria to develop and implement mitigation strategies for cities, and to include urban NH3 sources in the emission inventories. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fragile Cities: a Critical Perspective on the Repertoire for New Urban Humanitarian Interventions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manoela Miklos

Full Text Available Abstract At the end of the 1990s, researchers involved in the debate on the new wars introduced discussion about the urban dimension of contemporary conflicts into the International Relations discipline. The innovative debate about urban fragility is one of the many lines of inquiry that emerge within the framework of the relationship between cities and contemporary conflicts. This paper seeks to demonstrate that the concept of ‘fragile city’ offers a new and relevant analytical framework for understanding contemporary urban violence and inequality. Moreover, this same concept could also be instrumental in making fragile cities the new locus of international humanitarianism. The notion of fragile city emerges to describe new emergency situations more closely linked to urban contexts than to national dynamics, as previously described in the literature on fragile states. The concept of fragile city is a groundbreaking tool for understanding the human consequences of inequality in urban settings, but might also be used as a rhetorical vehicle for the reproduction of old dynamics and the inauguration of new intervention practices in urban areas that were previously inaccessible to humanitarian action, especially cities in Latin America.

Expert System Development for Urban Fire Hazard Assessment. Study Case: Kendari City, Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Taridala, S.; Yudono, A.; Ramli, M. I.; Akil, A.

2017-08-01

Kendari City is a coastal urban region with the smallest area as well as the largest population in Southeast Sulawesi. Fires in Kendari City had rather frequently occurred and caused numerous material losses. This study aims to develop a model of urban fire risk and fire station site assessment. The model is developed using Expert Systems with the Geographic Information System (GIS). The high risk of fire area is the area which of high building density with combustible material, not crossed by arterial nor collector road. The fire station site should be appropriately close by high risk of fire area, located on arterial road and near with potential water resource.

Dynamic analysis and ecological evaluation of urban heat islands in Raipur city, India

Science.gov (United States)

Guha, Subhanil; Govil, Himanshu; Mukherjee, Sandip

2017-07-01

Spatial-temporal distribution of the urban heat islands (UHI) and their changes over Raipur city have been analyzed using multitemporal Landsat satellite data from 1995 to 2016. Land surface temperature (LST) was retrieved through a mono-window algorithm. Some selected land use/land cover (LU-LC) indices were analyzed with LST using linear regression. The urban thermal field variance index (UTFVI) was applied to measure the thermal comfort level of the city. Results show that during the observed period, the study area experienced a gradual increasing rate in mean LST (>1% per annum). The UHI developed especially along the north-western industrial area and south-eastern bare land of the city. A difference in mean LST between UHI and non-UHI for different time periods (2.6°C in 1995, 2.85°C in 2006, 3.42°C in 2009, and 3.63°C in 2016) reflects the continuous warming status of the city. The LST map also shows the existence of a few urban hot spots near the industrial areas, metal roofs, and high density transport parking lots, which are more abundant in the north-western part of the city. The UTFVI map associated with UHI indicates that the inner parts of the city are ecologically more comfortable than the outer peripheries.

Does Urban Form Affect Urban NO2? Satellite-Based Evidence for More than 1200 Cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Bechle, Matthew J; Millet, Dylan B; Marshall, Julian D

2017-11-07

Modifying urban form may be a strategy to mitigate urban air pollution. For example, evidence suggests that urban form can affect motor vehicle usage, a major contributor to urban air pollution. We use satellite-based measurements of urban form and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) to explore relationships between urban form and air pollution for a global data  set of 1274 cities. Three of the urban form metrics studied (contiguity, circularity, and vegetation) have a statistically significant relationship with urban NO 2 ; their combined effect could be substantial. As illustration, if findings presented here are causal, that would suggest that if Christchurch, New Zealand (a city at the 75th percentile for all three urban-form metrics, and with a network of buses, trams, and bicycle facilities) was transformed to match the urban form of Indio - Cathedral City, California, United States (a city at the 25th percentile for those same metrics, and exhibiting sprawl-like suburban development), our models suggest that Christchurch's NO 2 concentrations would be ∼60% higher than its current level. We also find that the combined effect of urban form on NO 2 is larger for small cities (β × IQR = -0.46 for cities urban population and are where much of the future urban growth is expected to occur. This work highlights the need for future study of how changes in urban form and related land use and transportation policies impact urban air pollution, especially for small cities.

Improving urban ecosystems resilience at a city level

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, António J. D.; Ferrreira, Carla S. S.; Malta, Miguel; Soares, Daniel D. J.; Pardal, João; Vilhena, José

2013-04-01

The sustainability of urban communities is at risk in a global change context, where environmental problems and the constraints posed by a limited access to key raw materials, energy and sanitation will cause profound changes on the way we interact with the natural environment. Major changes are expected on processes magnitude and connectivity at various scales, with profound impacts on the environmental and well-being problems posed by the packing of high density of people in restricted areas, that have to be dealt with. The conventional approach is to find technological solutions that are often expensive and inefficient, especially in what concerns the use of energy and raw materials, limiting long term sustainability and urban ecosystems' resilience, and consequent impacts on the quality of life and health of urban populations. To improve city resilience in face of global change threats (climatic change, growing world population, land use change, lower energy availability, reduced mobility as a result of fossil fuels stringency and costs), we need to develop a nested approach binding together various greening actions and management of green infrastructures at various scales (i.e. household, neighbourhood, city and urban/wildland interface). This paper presents the conceptual strategy being developed at the Coimbra City (Centre of Portugal) to increase the resilience of urban ecosystems, using them to reduce natural risk occurrence (such as flash floods), the promotion of human health and increasing city resilience towards an improve food self sufficiency. We present a discussion and evaluation of the different solutions designed and implemented to improve the overall urban sustainability at different scales of intervention, from the household solutions to more structural solutions such as the recover of riparian forests or the preservation and improvement of green corridors. Of paramount importance to improve urban ecosystem resilience is the development of new

MANAGING PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN PERI-URBAN AREAS OF KUMASI, GHANA: A CASE OF ABUAKWA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Amoateng

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A remarkable trait of the 21 st century has been the high rate of urbanization which has characterized the growth and development of cities especially in developing countries. This situation has fuelled rapid physical development and expansion of peri-urban areas as urban dwellers relocate to cities’ peripheries. Focusing on Abuakwa a peri-urban area in Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana, this paper assesses the nature and extent of physical development in peri-urban areas, and identifies the factors contributing to the rapid development of peri-urban areas. The paper further examines the effects of the increasing physical growth on the development of peri-urban Abuakwa. Using a case study approach, both primary and secondary sources of data were collected from decentralized government institutions of Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA and Atwima Nwabiagya District Assembly (ANDA, as well as indigenes and relocated urban dwellers in Abuakwa. The paper reveals that the outward drift has manifested itself in an increased scramble for land for residential and commercial purposes in the peri-urban area. The resultant effect has been the fast and spontaneous physical development in the urban periphery which has significantly altered the peri-urban morphology. The paper recommends the establishment of Customary Land Secretariat (CLS to co-ordinate allocation of land, and the application of settlement growth management approaches to ensure the creation of a functional city and liveable peri-urban areas.

Parasitic helminth load in urban waste-water of Kenitra City, Morocco

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Waste-waters of Kenitra City are rejected without any preliminary treatment in the receiving medium (Sebou River, Fouarat Lake). A small fraction is used to irrigate crops in the peri-urban area of Kenitra City. The parasitological characterization revealed an average parasitic helminth egg concentration of 25.07 per liter ...

Integrating Infrastructure and Institutions for Water Security in Large Urban Areas

Science.gov (United States)

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.

Urban Big Data and the Development of City Intelligence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunhe Pan

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This study provides a definition for urban big data while exploring its features and applications of China's city intelligence. The differences between city intelligence in China and the “smart city” concept in other countries are compared to highlight and contrast the unique definition and model for China's city intelligence in this paper. Furthermore, this paper examines the role of urban big data in city intelligence by showing that it not only serves as the cornerstone of this trend as it also plays a core role in the diffusion of city intelligence technology and serves as an inexhaustible resource for the sustained development of city intelligence. This study also points out the challenges of shaping and developing of China's urban big data. Considering the supporting and core role that urban big data plays in city intelligence, the study then expounds on the key points of urban big data, including infrastructure support, urban governance, public services, and economic and industrial development. Finally, this study points out that the utility of city intelligence as an ideal policy tool for advancing the goals of China's urban development. In conclusion, it is imperative that China make full use of its unique advantages—including using the nation's current state of development and resources, geographical advantages, and good human relations—in subjective and objective conditions to promote the development of city intelligence through the proper application of urban big data.

Impacts of urban development and climate change in exposing cities to pluvial flooding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaspersen, Per Skougaard

Urban areas are characterized by very high concentrations of people and economic activities and are thus particularly vulnerable to flooding dur ing extreme precipitation. Urban development and climate change are among the key drivers of changes in the exposure of cities to the occurrence...... and impacts of pluvial flooding. Cities are often dominated by large areas of impervious surfaces, that is, man-made sealed surfaces which water cannot penetrate, and increases in these – for example, as a consequence of urban development – can cause elevated run-off volumes and flood levels during...... precipitation. Climate change is expected to affect the intensity and frequency of extreme precipitation, with increases projected for many regions, including most parts of Europe....

Polycentric Development for Sustainable Cities: An Evaluation for the Ankara Metropolitan Area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N Aydan Sat

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Urban population growth and the accompanying urban growth and expansion are seen as the main problems of metropolitan cities; this keeps the issues of how to consider the social, economic, spatial and environmental dimensions of cities within the framework of a concept of sustainability, and how to shape cities within this context, on the agenda. In today’s world, cities are accepted as the main hubs of energy consumption and environmental pollution, as centers of capital, culture and innovation, and as the places of residence of millions of people. Expanding and sprawling urban forms are seen as unsustainable in terms of land use, energy and the consumption of environmental resources. Thus, the question ‘How should the urban development model be applied to create sustainable cities?’ is on the agenda of theorists, politicians and practitioners alike. Taking these discussions into consideration, this study searches for an answer to the question of whether the polycentric urban development model can be used as a tool for sustainable cities by taking into account the current literature and practices, and evaluating the case of the Ankara metropolitan area.

Benefits of restoring ecosystem services in urban areas

Science.gov (United States)

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...

CItyMaker. Designing Grammars for Urban Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Beirão

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Due to its complexity, the evolution of cities is something that is difficult to predict and planning new developments for cities is therefore a difficult task. This complexity can be identified on two levels: on a micro level, it emerges from the multiple relations between the many components and actors in cities, whereas on a macro level it stems from the geographical, social and economic relations between cities. However, many of these relations can be measured. The design of plans for cities can only be improved if designers are able to address measurements of some of the relationships between the components of cities during the design process. These measurements are called urban indicators. By calculating such measurements, designers can grasp the meaning of the changes being proposed, not just as simple alternative layouts, but also in terms of the changes in indicators adding a qualitative perception.This thesis presents a method and a set of tools to generate alternative solutions for an urban context. The method proposes the use of a combined set of design patterns encoding typical design moves used by urban designers. The combination of patterns generates different layouts which can be adjusted by manipulating several parameters in relation to updated urban indicators. The patterns were developed from observation of typical urban design procedures, first encoded as discursive grammars and later translated into parametric design patterns. The CItyMaker method and tools allows the designer to compose a design solution from a set of programmatic premises and fine-tune it by pulling parameters whilst checking the changes in urban indicators. These tools improve the designer’s awareness of the consequences of their design moves.

CItyMaker. Designing Grammars for Urban Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Beirão

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Due to its complexity, the evolution of cities is something that is difficult to predict and planning new developments for cities is therefore a difficult task. This complexity can be identified on two levels: on a micro level, it emerges from the multiple relations between the many components and actors in cities, whereas on a macro level it stems from the geographical, social and economic relations between cities. However, many of these relations can be measured. The design of plans for cities can only be improved if designers are able to address measurements of some of the relationships between the components of cities during the design process. These measurements are called urban indicators. By calculating such measurements, designers can grasp the meaning of the changes being proposed, not just as simple alternative layouts, but also in terms of the changes in indicators adding a qualitative perception. This thesis presents a method and a set of tools to generate alternative solutions for an urban context. The method proposes the use of a combined set of design patterns encoding typical design moves used by urban designers. The combination of patterns generates different layouts which can be adjusted by manipulating several parameters in relation to updated urban indicators. The patterns were developed from observation of typical urban design procedures, first encoded as discursive grammars and later translated into parametric design patterns. The CItyMaker method and tools allows the designer to compose a design solution from a set of programmatic premises and fine-tune it by pulling parameters whilst checking the changes in urban indicators. These tools improve the designer’s awareness of the consequences of their design moves.

The utilization characteristics of social facilities in the border area of Semarang city

Science.gov (United States)

Setioko, Bambang; Olivia, Deasy; Pandelaki, Edward E.; Murtini, Titien Woro

2017-06-01

The rapid growth of settlement in border areas is often considered as a problem of big cities in Indonesia, where people from rural areas prefer to move out and settle in the border areas of big cities due to the provision of better social facilities. Border areas generally do not receive adequate attention and are often overlooked by the local government. It is a common phenomenon in Indonesian cities, including in Semarang City. Increased number of settlements in the border areas in Semarang City is in linear with spontaneous urbanization processes which indicate the heterogeneity emerging of settlement areas. In the early stages of Semarang City spatial planning, the need for social facilities in border areas is included based on the regular standard which is commonly applied to the urban core. In a very short period, the numbers and types of existing social facilities are insufficient to fulfill the needs of the community. Nowadays, in the context of rapid urbanization, the growth of social facilities in border areas is very high. The intense growth of settlements in border areas is very high due to the low price of land in Demak Regency in compared to those of other areas in Semarang City. However, only a few developers involved social facilities as a part of housing estate construction. Consequently, most of the occupants utilize a limited number of social facilities provided by the municipal government, which are actually intended to serve the citizens of Semarang City. This research was conducted at Sendang Mulyo Village which is located in the border of Semarang municipal administrative area and included in Demak Regency. This paper discusses the utilization characteristics of social facilities in the border area of Semarang City, with the aim to get the trigger factors. The method analysis consisted of a statistical test and descriptive analysis. The utilization characteristics were formulated based on the relationship between neighborhood and human

Integrated urban flood risk assessment – adapting a multicriteria approach to a city

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C. Kubal

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Flood risk assessment is an essential part of flood risk management. As part of the new EU flood directive it is becoming increasingly more popular in European flood policy. Particularly cities with a high concentration of people and goods are vulnerable to floods. This paper introduces the adaptation of a novel method of multicriteria flood risk assessment, that was recently developed for the more rural Mulde river basin, to a city. The study site is Leipzig, Germany. The "urban" approach includes a specific urban-type set of economic, social and ecological flood risk criteria, which focus on urban issues: population and vulnerable groups, differentiated residential land use classes, areas with social and health care but also ecological indicators such as recreational urban green spaces. These criteria are integrated using a "multicriteria decision rule" based on an additive weighting procedure which is implemented into the software tool FloodCalc urban. Based on different weighting sets we provide evidence of where the most flood-prone areas are located in a city. Furthermore, we can show that with an increasing inundation extent it is both the social and the economic risks that strongly increase.

Invisible cities? Urban issues in Oceania

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Dorothée Dussy

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Why have cities stayed for so long an invisible object for the anthropology of Oceania? What is it to be an urban Pacific islander? What are the fields of interest of the anthropologists working in urban Oceania? Drawing on a review of urban research lead during the last decades in the Pacific archipelagos, this article aims at unfolding these different questions. We will evoke how anthropologists’ attraction for the authentic, the rural world and small indigenous communities have for long prevented any close look at the contemporary urban world. Urban cities are recent and have been created by colonisation; they are made of various populations of migrants whose trajectories have been molded by colonisation and globalization. The study of these recent cities associate various issues such as creolization, informal economy, periurbanisation, circular migration, relations between expatriates and indigenous people, and contemporary uses of tradition or “custom”. Eventually, the paper concludes with the will to claim the right for the anthropology of urban Oceania to find its place among the discipline, among the vast collection of studies evoking the rural and so-called traditional worlds of the region.

Consideration of Environmental Factors in Planning and Development of Urban Areas

Science.gov (United States)

Kustysheva, I.

2017-11-01

Environmental factors, in varying degrees, always have a direct influence on the urban environment formation and the provision of favorable and safe conditions for the life of the population. Their role in the planning and development of urban areas remains an integral part of the management of such areas. Management should be aimed at improving the efficiency of use of the territories and ecological environment improvement. Planning must be done with the consideration of identified ecological processes in cities on the basis of the information about their occurrence in the past and present. Currently, cities face a multitude of problems that require urgent and immediate solutions. One of the most important issues is the poor state of the urban environment, so the environmental factors remain one of the most critical problems that should be considered by the authorities while implementing the urban areas’ development plans. The article discusses the role of environmental factors in the management and planning of urban territories by the example of the city of Tobolsk.

Focus Cities : Urban Waste Management in the City of Cochabamba ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Focus Cities : Urban Waste Management in the City of Cochabamba (Bolivia). The city of ... Project status. Closed ... Studies. Inclusión social y económica de los recicladores en la gestión integrada de los residuos sólidos urbanos. 49088.

Urban air pollution, study of Mexico City

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bauer, M [PUE-UNAM (Mexico); Guzman, F [Inst. Mexicano del Petroleo (Mexico); Navarro, B [Univ. Autonoma Metropolitana (Mexico)

1996-12-01

The Metropolitan Area of Mexico City (MAMC) is an outstanding case of a fast urban development with lagging, and thus insufficient, massive transportation facilities. This has given rise to a distorted transportation system that accounts for most of the air pollution problem of the city and constitutes a drag on economic development. In this paper, we first describe the MAMC geographical conditions, its growth in physical and economic terms, its transportation system, the ensuring air pollution problems together with some of the mitigation actions undertaken. Afterwards the results of a survey of the displacements of individuals within the city and the time spent on these are presented, to then draw some considerations on the negative economic impact it represents. (EG)

The relationship between urban form and air pollution depends on seasonality and city size.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yupeng; Wu, Jianguo; Yu, Deyong; Ma, Qun

2018-06-01

Understanding how urban form is related to air pollution is important to urban planning and sustainability, but the urban form-air pollution relationship is currently muddled by inconsistent findings. In this study, we investigated how the compositional and configurational attributes of urban form were related to different air pollution measures (PM 2.5 , API, and exceedance) in 83 Chinese cities, with explicit consideration of city size and seasonality. Ten landscape metrics were selected to quantify urban form attributes, and Spearman's correlation was used to quantify the urban form-air pollution relationship. Our results show that the urban form and air pollution relationship was dominated by city size and moderated by seasonality. Specifically, urban air pollution levels increased consistently and substantially from small to medium, large, and megacities. The urban form-air pollution relationship depended greatly on seasonality and monsoons. That is, the relationship was more pronounced in spring and summer than fall and winter, as well as in cities affected by monsoons. Urban air pollution was correlated more strongly with landscape composition metrics than landscape configuration metrics which seemed to affect only PM 2.5 concentrations. Our study suggests that, to understand how air pollution levels are related to urban form, city size and seasonality must be explicitly considered (or controlled). Also, in order to mitigate urban air pollution problems, regional urban planning is needed to curb the spatial extent of built-up areas, reduce the degree of urban fragmentation, and increase urban compactness and contiguity, especially for large and megacities.

Small cities in generalized urbanization and global crisis

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Horacio Capel

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Today, referring to the small city means talking about a space that can be connected in every way to the rest of the World, and yet features a particular social and morphologic environment, which is different to that of large cities, and that may therefore be rather attractive. In the current situation of Generalized Urbanization, the meaning of middle and small cities is changing, with respect to what happened in the past. While it could long be asserted that urban growth was a very positive fact (the larger, the better, since the decade of the sixties, when the controversy about growth limits was raised, this perspective began to change. Nowadays it is certainly true that, in some cases, the lesser that growth is, the better, and in every situation, the most balanced it is, the better. Today, small cities may have significant advantages over large ones: they can be innovative, hold education centers, enjoy access to knowledge and culture, and be well communicated with areas of dynamic economic development. And besides all of this, they can be very agreeable places to live in.

Geodiversity assessment in urban areas

Science.gov (United States)

Ilic, Marina; Stojković, Sanja; Rundić, Ljupko; Ćalić, Jelena; Sandić, Dejan

2017-04-01

Conflict over natural resources figured prominently in the urban areas. On the one hand there is a constant need for space for the construction of new buildings for housing, agriculture and industrial production, and on the other hand the resources need protection because of the threat of degradation or even complete destruction. Considering the fact that urbanization is one of the most serious threats to geodiversity, it is important that this issue is taken into account in spatial development plans and georesource management strategies in urban areas. The geodiversity, as well as natural resource, must be managed in a sustainable manner in which it is very important its protection. The mapping of specific categories of geodiversity (geological, geomorphological, hydrological and soil) on the basis of quantitative assessment with the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can allow spatial planners and managers to take further steps that would reduce threats and protect the natural values. This work presents the application of geodiversity evaluation method by using the geodiversity index (Gd), based on the quantity of abiotic elements and relief roughness within a spatial unit in the case of the City of Belgrade, Serbia. The acquired results are analyzed in the context of sustainable use of georesources and the threats to which geodiversity is exposed due to the development of the city.

Urban heat islands in the subsurface of German cities

Science.gov (United States)

Menberg, K.; Blum, P.; Zhu, K.; Bayer, P.

2012-04-01

In the subsurface of many cities there are widespread and persistent thermal anomalies (subsurface urban heat islands) that result in a warming of urban aquifers. The reasons for this heating are manifold. Possible heat sources are basements of buildings, leakage of sewage systems, buried district heating networks, re-injection of cooling water and solar irradiation on paved surfaces. In the current study, the reported groundwater temperatures in several German cities, such as Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Karlsruhe, are compared. Available data sets are supplemented by temperature measurements and depth profiles in observation wells. Trend analyses are conducted with time series of groundwater temperatures, and three-dimensional groundwater temperature maps are provided. In all investigated cities, pronounced positive temperature anomalies are present. The distribution of groundwater temperatures appears to be spatially and temporally highly variable. Apparently, the increased heat input into the urban subsurface is controlled by very local and site-specific parameters. In the long-run, the superposition of various heat sources results in an extensive temperature increase. In many cases, the maximum temperature elevation is found close to the city centre. Regional groundwater temperature differences between the city centre and the rural background are up to 5 °C, with local hot spots of even more pronounced anomalies. Particular heat sources, like cooling water injections or case-specific underground constructions, can cause local temperatures > 20°C in the subsurface. Examination of the long-term variations in isotherm maps shows that temperatures have increased by about 1°C in the city, as well as in the rural background areas over the last decades. This increase could be reproduced with trend analysis of temperature data gathered from several groundwater wells. Comparison between groundwater and air temperatures in Karlsruhe, for example, also indicates a

Monitoring Urban Land Cover/land Use Change in Algiers City Using Landsat Images (1987-2016)

Science.gov (United States)

Bouchachi, B.; Zhong, Y.

2017-09-01

Monitoring the Urban Land Cover/Land Use change detection is important as one of the main driving forces of environmental change because Urbanization is the biggest changes in form of Land, resulting in a decrease in cultivated areas. Using remote sensing ability to solve land resources problems. The purpose of this research is to map the urban areas at different times to monitor and predict possible urban changes, were studied the annual growth urban land during the last 29 years in Algiers City. Improving the productiveness of long-term training in land mapping, were have developed an approach by the following steps: 1) pre-processing for improvement of image characteristics; 2) extract training sample candidates based on the developed methods; and 3) Derive maps and analyzed of Algiers City on an annual basis from 1987 to 2016 using a Supervised Classifier Support Vector Machine (SVMs). Our result shows that the strategy of urban land followed in the region of Algiers City, developed areas mostly were extended to East, West, and South of Central Regions. The urban growth rate is linked with National Office of Statistics data. Future studies are required to understand the impact of urban rapid lands on social, economy and environmental sustainability, it will also close the gap in data of urbanism available, especially on the lack of reliable data, environmental and urban planning for each municipality in Algiers, develop experimental models to predict future land changes with statistically significant confidence.

Agromere: Integrating urban agriculture in the development of the city of Almere

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jansma, J.E.; Visser, A.

2011-01-01

The objective of Agromere, a planning concept for an area situated in the rapidly growing Dutch city of Almere (185,000 inhabitants), was to explore opportunities to re-integrate agriculture into modern Dutch city life, while at the same time inspiring stakeholders to incorporate urban agriculture

Changes in urban-related precipitation in the summer over three city clusters in China

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Deming; Wu, Jian

2017-09-01

The impacts of urban surface expansion on the summer precipitations over three city clusters [Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), and the Pearl River Delta (PRD)] in eastern China under different monsoonal circulation backgrounds were explored using the nested fifth-generation Penn State/NCAR Mesoscale Model version 3.7 (MM5 V3.7), including the urban-related thermal and dynamical parameters. Ten-year integrations were performed using satellite image data from 2000 and 2010 to represent the urban surface distributions and expansions in China. Changes in the precipitation revealed obvious subregional characteristics, which could be explained by the influences of the vertical wind velocity and moisture flux. With urban-related warming, vertical wind motion generally intensified over urban surface-expanded areas. Meanwhile, the increase in impervious surface areas induced rapid rainwater runoff into drains, and the Bowen ratio increased over urban areas, which further contributed to changes in the local moisture fluxes in these regions. The intensities of the changes in precipitation were inconsistent over the three city clusters, although the changes in vertical motion and local evaporation were similar, which indicates that the changes in precipitation cannot be solely explained by the changes in the local evaporation-related moisture flux. The changes in precipitation were also influenced by the changes in the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) circulation and the corresponding moisture flux, which are expressed in marked subregional characteristics. Therefore, the influence of urban-related precipitation over the three city clusters in China, for which changes in moisture flux from both the impacted local evaporation and EASM circulation should be considered, varied based on the precipitation changes of only a single city.

The role of city size and urban form in the surface urban heat island.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Bin; Rybski, Diego; Kropp, Jürgen P

2017-07-06

Urban climate is determined by a variety of factors, whose knowledge can help to attenuate heat stress in the context of ongoing urbanization and climate change. We study the influence of city size and urban form on the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon in Europe and find a complex interplay between UHI intensity and city size, fractality, and anisometry. Due to correlations among these urban factors, interactions in the multi-linear regression need to be taken into account. We find that among the largest 5,000 cities, the UHI intensity increases with the logarithm of the city size and with the fractal dimension, but decreases with the logarithm of the anisometry. Typically, the size has the strongest influence, followed by the compactness, and the smallest is the influence of the degree to which the cities stretch. Accordingly, from the point of view of UHI alleviation, small, disperse, and stretched cities are preferable. However, such recommendations need to be balanced against e.g. positive agglomeration effects of large cities. Therefore, trade-offs must be made regarding local and global aims.

Heat stress in urban areas. Indoor and outdoor temperatures in different urban structure types and subjectively reported well-being during a heat wave in the city of Leipzig

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Franck, Ulrich; Roeder, Stefan; Schlink, Uwe [Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig (Germany). Core Facility Studies; Krueger, Michael [Leipzig Univ. (Germany). Inst. of Geography; Schwarz, Nina [Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig (Germany). Dept. of Computational Landscape Ecology; Grossmann, Katrin [Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig (Germany). Dept. of Urban and Environmental Sociology

2013-04-15

Climate projections for Leipzig suggest elevated minimum and maximum temperatures as well as more frequent days with high temperatures. Hence, climate change is threatening human well-being and health. People spend the majority of their time indoors. Therefore, indoor temperatures (especially during the night) are of special importance with respect to well-being and health. Indoor air temperature depends on outdoor air temperatures, but is for example modified by type of urban structure, housing area, and may be also influenced by differences in the behavior of the inhabitants. Especially in cities, outdoor air temperatures depend on urban structure e.g. housing density, building arrangement, unpaved areas, types of urban structures, urban green, and other factors. Hence, the questions arise how types of urban structures are related to inner-urban temperature differences and how outdoor air temperatures influence indoor temperatures in dependence on urban housing conditions. This work is a part of a pilot study conducted during the summer 2010 which gathered data from remote sensing, mobile measurements, stationary measurements of air temperatures and relative humidity in areas with different housing structures, and of indoor as well as outdoor temperatures in occupied apartments. Household-survey data reported the subjective perception of heat stress. The study resulted in rather complex relationships between type of housing areas, indoor and outdoor temperatures, morning and evening temperatures, indoor and outdoor temperatures as well as subjective heat perception. Green spaces and types of residential areas are related to air temperatures. More green resulted in lower temperatures. Temperatures have a tendency to increase with increasing story number and are significantly higher in the top floor. An indoor heat island effect corresponding to the outdoor effect could be shown for the homes: Distance to city center is a predicting variable for both outdoor and

Heat stress in urban areas: Indoor and outdoor temperatures in different urban structure types and subjectively reported well-being during a heat wave in the city of Leipzig

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ulrich Franck

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Climate projections for Leipzig suggest elevated minimum and maximum temperatures as well as more frequent days with high temperatures. Hence, climate change is threatening human well-being and health. People spend the majority of their time indoors. Therefore, indoor temperatures (especially during the night are of special importance with respect to well-being and health. Indoor air temperature depends on outdoor air temperatures, but is for example modified by type of urban structure, housing area, and may be also influenced by differences in the behavior of the inhabitants. Especially in cities, outdoor air temperatures depend on urban structure e.g. housing density, building arrangement, unpaved areas, types of urban structures, urban green, and other factors. Hence, the questions arise how types of urban structures are related to inner-urban temperature differences and how outdoor air temperatures influence indoor temperatures in dependence on urban housing conditions. This work is a part of a pilot study conducted during the summer 2010 which gathered data from remote sensing, mobile measurements, stationary measurements of air temperatures and relative humidity in areas with different housing structures, and of indoor as well as outdoor temperatures in occupied apartments. Household-survey data reported the subjective perception of heat stress. The study resulted in rather complex relationships between type of housing areas, indoor and outdoor temperatures, morning and evening temperatures, indoor and outdoor temperatures as well as subjective heat perception. Green spaces and types of residential areas are related to air temperatures. More green resulted in lower temperatures. Temperatures have a tendency to increase with increasing story number and are significantly higher in the top floor. An indoor heat island effect corresponding to the outdoor effect could be shown for the homes: Distance to city center is a predicting variable for

Expansion of urban area and wastewater irrigated rice area in Hyderabad, India

Science.gov (United States)

Gumma, K.M.; van, Rooijen D.; Nelson, A.; Thenkabail, P.S.; Aakuraju, Radha V.; Amerasinghe, P.

2011-01-01

The goal of this study was to investigate land use changes in urban and peri-urban Hyderabad and their influence on wastewater irrigated rice using Landsat ETM + data and spectral matching techniques. The main source of irrigation water is the Musi River, which collects a large volume of wastewater and stormwater while running through the city. From 1989 to 2002, the wastewater irrigated area along the Musi River increased from 5,213 to 8,939 ha with concurrent expansion of the city boundaries from 22,690 to 42,813 ha and also decreased barren lands and range lands from 86,899 to 66,616 ha. Opportunistic shifts in land use, especially related to wastewater irrigated agriculture, were seen as a response to the demand for fresh vegetables and easy access to markets, exploited mainly by migrant populations. While wastewater irrigated agriculture contributes to income security of marginal groups, it also supplements the food basket of many city dwellers. Landsat ETM + data and advanced methods such as spectral matching techniques are ideal for quantifying urban expansion and associated land use changes, and are useful for urban planners and decision makers alike. ?? 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Modeling urban growth in Kigali city Rwanda

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nduwayezu, G.; Sliuzas, R.V.; Kuffer, M.

2017-01-01

The uncontrolled urban growth is the key characteristics in most cities in less developed countries. However, having a good understanding of the key drivers of the city's growth dynamism has proven to be a key instrument to manage urban growth. This paper investigates the main determinants of Kigali

Compact Cities Are Complex, Intense and Diverse but: Can We Design Such Emergent Urban Properties?

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Hye Kyung Lim

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Compact cities are promoted by global and local policies in response to environmental, economic and social challenges. It is argued that increased density and diversity of urban functions and demographics are expected to deliver positive outcomes. ‘Emerged’ urban area which have developed incrementally seem to exhibit such dense and diverse characteristics, acquired through adaptation by multiple actors over time and space. Today, ‘design-based’ planning approaches aim to create the same characteristics here and now. An example of such is the City of Gothenburg, Sweden, which strives to involve multiple actors to ‘design’ urban density and mixed use, but with unsatisfactory outcomes. There is reason to investigate in what way current planning approaches need modification to better translate policy goals into reality. This paper studied which type of planning approach appears to best deliver the desired urban characteristics. Two cities are studied, Gothenburg and Tokyo. Today, these cities operate under different main planning paradigms. Tokyo applies a rule-based approach and Gothenburg a design-based approach. Five urban areas were studied in each city, representing outcomes of three strategic planning approaches that have been applied historically in both cities: 1 emergent compact urban form; 2 designed dispersed urban form; and 3 designed compact urban form. Planning outcomes in the form of density, building scales and diversity were analysed to understand if such properties of density and diversity are best achieved by a specific planning approach. The results show that different planning approaches deliver very different outcomes when it comes to these qualities. To better support ambitions for compact cities in Gothenburg, the prevailing mix of ‘planning by design’ and ‘planning by developmental control’ needs to be complemented by a third planning strategy of ‘planning by coding’ or ‘rule-based planning�

Urban environments of the entrepreneurial city : from Aker Brygge to Tjuvholmen

OpenAIRE

Ellefsen, Halvor Weider

2017-01-01

The focus of this thesis is the regeneration of industrial harbor and brownfield areas to properties primed for urban development along the urban waterfront of Oslo, Norway. The project revolves around an empirical study of Tjuvholmen, a privately operated waterfront development scheme, centrally located in the city. The point of departure for the thesis is to explore how Tjuvholmen was conceptualized as urban environment, within a particular model of political-economic cond...

[Selection of distance thresholds of urban forest landscape connectivity in Shenyang City].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chang-fu; Zhou, Bin; He, Xing-yuan; Chen, Wei

2010-10-01

By using the QuickBird remote sensing image interpretation data of urban forests in Shenyang City in 2006, and with the help of geographical information system, this paper analyzed the landscape patches of the urban forests in the area inside the third ring-road of Shenyang. Based on the habitat availability and the dispersal potential of animal and plant species, 8 distance thresholds (50, 100, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, and 1200 m) were selected to compute the integral index of connectivity, probability of connectivity, and important value of the landscape patches, and the computed values were used for analyzing and screening the distance thresholds of urban forest landscape connectivity in the City. The results showed that the appropriate distance thresholds of the urban forest landscape connectivity in Shenyang City in 2006 ranged from 100 to 400 m, with 200 m being most appropriate. It was suggested that the distance thresholds should be increased or decreased according to the performability of urban forest landscape connectivity and the different demands for landscape levels.

Bird Richness and Abundance in Response to Urban Form in a Latin American City: Valdivia, Chile as a Case Study

OpenAIRE

Silva, Carmen Paz; García, Cristóbal E.; Estay, Sergio A.; Barbosa, Olga

2015-01-01

There is mounting evidence that urban areas influence biodiversity. Generalizations however require that multiple urban areas on multiple continents be examined. Here we evaluated the role of urban areas on avian diversity for a South American city, allowing us to examine the effects of urban features common worldwide, using the city of Valdivia, Chile as case study. We assessed the number of birds and their relative abundance in 152 grid cells of equal size (250 m2) distributed across the ci...

Development of urban water consumption models for the City of Los Angeles

Science.gov (United States)

Mini, C.; Hogue, T. S.; Pincetl, S.

2011-12-01

water use patterns across the City. The performance of the linear regression model is being tested and compared with other algorithm-based simulations for improved modeling of urban water consumption in the region. Ultimately, projects results will contribute to the implementation of sustainable strategies targeted to specific urban areas for a growing population under uncertain climate variability.

Inclusive city: Vallcarca – Space extension idea for social and urban housing

Science.gov (United States)

Maharani, A.; Gaxioala, A.

2018-03-01

The neighborhood of Vallcarca, Barcelona - Spain, is located near the valley formed by the three hills called El Putxet, Creueta del Coll and Muntanya Pelada adjacent to the back area of Park Guell. Vallcarca first urbanized at the XIX century as a place to spend summer for the nearby inhabitants of the city of Barcelona. Since the end of XX century, the area has been under the pressure of different urban plannings and economic speculations that have just erase a big portion of its original physiognomy, without being able to organize a new area of town. The empty land that located at the former center and across Vallcarca becoming part of research to produce an outcome for compatible housing within the area. The data gives a focus on the social and urban rehabilitation of the neighborhood that introducing a program of social housing with communal facilities using an approach of connection and topography that existed on the site as a catalyst to change this fragmented part of the city into inclusive neighborhood.

The Role of Urban Financial Centers within the Economy of Global Cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oana Mionel

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, there is no doubt that state economy refers to city economy. In other words, the most part of a state‘s GDP is given by the urban environment, especially by capitals, which are often the economic engine of this environment. There are also cities having great economic importance abroad, beyond the state and even continental borders. These are the so-called global cities where the financial activities play an important role. There are a few cities (New York, London, Hong Kong etc. centering financial activities which are influential for large geographic areas. This research highlights the importance of the financial sector within urban economy and, subsequently, how it consolidates the status of global city. These cities are the engine of the international financial system as they host the headquarters of the most important and famous international stock exchange markets, financial supervision institutions, law firms and consulting companies.

“Shared Growth” Urban Renewal Initiatives in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines

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Michael V. Tomeldan

Full Text Available ABSTRACT: Urban renewal is a strategy for revitalizing underutilized and degraded sections of an inner city in the hopes of reducing crime, enhancing the environment, preventing further depreciation of land values, and stimulating economic activity. Many urban renewal projects in the past, however, have been associated with substantial demolition of properties, the displacement of residents, expensive infrastructure, and the gentrification of the urban renewal site.In this study, urban renewal schemes in Makati City, Philippines, are explored to determine the appropriate developments for identified urban renewal sites that are situated on the fringes of its affluent sections. The urban renewal proposals seek to involve the participation of the residents of the blighted areas so that they themselves can benefit from the revitalization initiatives. The conceptualized “shared growth” urban renewal initiatives will attempt to minimize dislocation, encourage investment, improve the urban environment, create a more vibrant neighborhood, and spread the economic benefits of the initiatives to the original residents of the redevelopment sites. KEYWORDS: Urban renewal, shared growth, sustainable urbanism

Investigation of Quality and Reclamation of Urban Storm Runoff in City of Shiraz

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Mohammad Parvinnia

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Urban storm runoff is considered as a potentially reclaimable and valuable resource in many arid and semiarid areas, in Iran. Urban storm runoff in Shiraz is collected mainly by Khoshk River and transported to the Maharloo Lake without any treatment or reclamation. In this study, storm runoff quality and the possibility for its reclamation from different parts of the city in certain canals and pipes are investigated. The quality of the first flush in three relatively large and small suburban areas with different land uses is studied. For the purposes of this study, three stations were considered: one near the downstream end of the city on Khoshk River with a relatively large watershed, one in the middle of the city where street runoff is the main constituent of the flush, and a third one near the western outskirts of the city with relatively small mainly residential watershed.

A study of the Oklahoma City urban heat island using ground measurements and remote sensing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, M. J. (Michael J.); Ivey, A. (Austin); McPherson, T. N. (Timothy N.); Boswell, D. (David); Pardyjak, E. R. (Eric R.)

2004-01-01

Measurements of temperature and position were collected during the night from an instrumented van on routes through Oklahoma City and the rural outskirts. The measurements were taken as part of the Joint URBAN 2003 Tracer Field Experiment conducted in Oklahoma City from June 29, 2003 to July 30, 2003 (Allwine et al., 2004). The instrumented van was driven over four primary routes that included legs from the downtown core to four different 'rural' areas. Each route went through residential areas and most often went by a line of permanently fixed temperature probes (Allwine et al., 2004) for cross-checking purposes. Each route took from 20 to 40 minutes to complete. Based on seven nights of data, initial analyses indicate that there was a temperature difference of 0.5-6.5 C between the urban core and nearby 'rural' areas. Analyses also suggest that there were significant fine scale temperature differences over distances of tens of meters within the city and in the nearby rural areas. The temperature measurements that were collected are intended to supplement the meteorological measurements taken during the Joint URBAN 2003 Field Experiment, to assess the importance of the urban heat island phenomenon in Oklahoma City, and to test new urban canopy parameterizations that have been developed for regional scale meteorological codes (e.g., Chin et al., 2000; Holt and Shi, 2004). In addition to the ground measurements, skin temperature measurements were also analyzed from remotely sensed images taken from the Earth Observing System's Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER). A surface kinetic temperature thermal infrared image captured by the ASTER of the Oklahoma City area on July 21, 2001 was analyzed within ESRI's ArcGIS 8.3 to correlate variations in temperature with land use type. Analysis of this imagery suggests distinct variations in temperature across different land use categories. Through the use of

Assessment of Urban Structure for The Holy City of Al-Najaf in light of Sustainability

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Hamid Athab Al-Jameel

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The sustainability represents a measure of the efficiency for the urban structure. Al-Najaf city is one of the most important cities in Iraq in terms of religious and historical issues. This study tries to assess AL- Najaf Urban structure – as a sample of Iraqi cities- in the light of sustainable to investigate the extent of the application of urban sustainability principles such as how the density of the population distributed across different quarters, the land use and the hierarchy of the roads in the city. GIS program has been adopted to represent the city and the length of roads. The results of this study indicate that the AL- Najaf urban spatial structure is inefficient, It contains a lot of faults, the city lacks in the hierarchy of roads and land use, which spread across a large area, the population density distribution is irregular, most densities are farther away from the city center, which leads to long trips and random and irregular in it.

Urban-Rural Humidity Contrasts in Mexico City

Science.gov (United States)

Jáuregui, E.; Tejeda, A.

1997-02-01

Data from one pair of urban-suburban (Tacubaya and Airport) andone pair of urban-rural (School of Mines and Plan Texcoco) temperature and humidity measuring stations were used to illustrate specific humidity(q) contrasts in Mexico City. Results show a marked seasonal variation of q from around 7.9 g kg-1 during the dry months to 10 g kg-1 in the wet season (May-October) on both urban and suburban sites. The mean monthly contrasts for this pair of stations, albeit small, show that the city air is somewhat drier during the first half of the year. Comparison of urban and rural q on an hourly basis shows that although urban air is more humid at night the reverse is true during the afternoon. Areal distribution of q shows two centres of maximum humidity over the city at night and a corresponding minimum during the afternoon. On average the urban-rural contrasts in q were found to be somewhat smaller than the estimated uncertainty. The above results are in agreement with mid-latitude experience.

Cool city mornings by urban heat

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Theeuwes, Natalie E.; Steeneveld, Gert-Jan; Ronda, Reinder J.; Rotach, Mathias W.; Holtslag, Albert A. M.

2015-11-01

The urban heat island effect is a phenomenon observed worldwide, i.e. evening and nocturnal temperatures in cities are usually several degrees higher than in the surrounding countryside. In contrast, cities are sometimes found to be cooler than their rural surroundings in the morning and early afternoon. Here, a general physical explanation for this so-called daytime urban cool island (UCI) effect is presented and validated for the cloud-free days in the BUBBLE campaign in Basel, Switzerland. Simulations with a widely evaluated conceptual atmospheric boundary-layer model coupled to a land-surface model, reveal that the UCI can form due to differences between the early morning mixed-layer depth over the city (deeper) and over the countryside (shallower). The magnitude of the UCI is estimated for various types of urban morphology, categorized by their respective local climate zones.

Integrated city as a model for a new wave urban tourism

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Ariani, V.

2018-03-01

Cities are a major player for an urban tourism destination. Massive tourism movement for urban tourism gains competitiveness to the city with similar characteristic. The new framework model for new wave urban tourism is crucial to give more experience to the tourist and valuing for the city itself. The integrated city is the answer for creating a new model for an urban tourism destination. The purpose of this preliminary research is to define integrated city framework for urban tourism development. It provides a rationale for tourism planner pursuing an innovative approach, competitive advantages, and general urban tourism destination model. The methodology applies to this research includes desk survey, literature review and focus group discussion. A conceptual framework is proposed, discussed and exemplified. The framework model adopts a place-based approach to tourism destination and suggests an integrated city model for urban tourism development. This model is a tool for strategy making in re-invention integrated city as an urban tourism destination.

Urban forests for sustainable urban development

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Sundara, Denny M.; Hartono, Djoko M.; Suganda, Emirhadi; Haeruman, S. Herman J.

2017-11-01

This paper explores the development of the urban forest in East Jakarta. By 2030 Jakarta area has a target of 30% green area covering 19,845 hectares, including urban forest covering an area of 4,631 hectares. In 2015, the city forest is only 646 hectares, while the city requires 3,985 hectares of new land Urban forest growth from year to year showed a marked decrease with increasing land area awoke to commercial functions, environmental conditions encourage the development of the city to become unsustainable. This research aims to support sustainable urban development and ecological balance through the revitalization of green areas and urban development. Analytical methods for urban forest area is calculated based on the amount of CO2 that comes from people, vehicles, and industrial. Urban spatial analysis based on satellite image data, using a GIS program is an analysis tool to determine the distribution and growth patterns of green areas. This paper uses a dynamic system model to simulate the conditions of the region against intervention to be performed on potential areas for development of urban forests. The result is a model urban forest area is integrated with a social and economic function to encourage the development of sustainable cities.

Climate services for an urban area (Baia Mare City, Romania) with a focus on climate extremes

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Sima, Mihaela; Micu, Dana; Dragota, Carmen-Sofia; Mihalache, Sorin

2013-04-01

The Baia Mare Urban System is located in the north-western part of Romania, with around 200,000 inhabitants and represents one of the most important former mining areas in the country, whose socioeconomic profile and environmental conditions have greatly changed over the last 20 years during the transition and post-transition period. Currently the mining is closed in the area, but the historical legacy of this activity has implications in terms of economic growth, social and cultural developments and environmental quality. Baia Mare city lies in an extended depression, particularly sheltered by the mountain and hilly regions located in the north and respectively, in the south-south-eastern part of it, which explains the high frequency of calm conditions and low airstream channeling occurrences. This urban system has a typically moderate temperate-continental climate, subject to frequent westerly airflows (moist), which moderate the thermal regime (without depicting severe extremes, both positive and negative) and enhance the precipitation one (entailing a greater frequency of wet extremes). During the reference period (1971-2000), the climate change signal in the area is rather weak and not statistically significant. However, since the mid 1980s, the warming signal became more evident from the observational data (Baia Mare station), showing a higher frequency of dry spells and positive extremes. The modelling experiments covering the 2021-2050 time horizon using regional (RM5.1/HadRM3Q0/RCA3) and global (ARPEGE/HadCM3Q0/BCM/ECHAM5) circulation models carried out within the ECLISE FP7 project suggest an ongoing temperature rise, associated to an intensification of temperature and precipitation extremes. In this context, the aim of this study was to evaluate how the local authorities consider and include climate change in their activity, as well as in the development plans (e.g. territorial, economic and social development plans). Individual interviews have been

L’Aquila Smart Clean Air City: The Italian Pilot Project for Healthy Urban Air

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Alessandro Avveduto

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Exposure to atmospheric pollution is a major concern for urban populations. Currently, no effective strategy has been adopted to tackle the problem. The paper presents the Smart Clean Air City project, a pilot experiment concerning the improvement in urban air quality. Small wet scrubber systems will be operating in a network configuration in suitable urban areas of L’Aquila city (Italy. The purpose of this work is to describe the project and show the preliminary results obtained in the characterization of two urban sites before the remediation test; the main operating principles of the wet scrubber system will be discussed, as well as the design of the mobile treatment plant for the processing of wastewater resulting from scrubber operation. Measurements of particle size distributions in the range of 0.30–25 µm took place in the two sites of interest, an urban background and a traffic area in the city of L’Aquila. The mean number concentration detected was 2.4 × 107 and 4.5 × 107 particles/m3, respectively. Finally, theoretical assessments, performed by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD codes, will show the effects of the wet scrubber operation on air pollutants under different environmental conditions and in several urban usage patterns.

Impact of urbanization level on urban air quality: a case of fine particles (PM(2.5)) in Chinese cities.

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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.

Urban vegetation and thermal patterns following city growth in different socio-economic contexts

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Dronova, I.; Clinton, N.; Yang, J.; Radke, J.; Marx, S. S.; Gong, P.

2015-12-01

Urban expansion accompanied by losses of vegetated spaces and their ecological services raises significant concerns about the future of humans in metropolitan "habitats". Despite recent growth of urban studies globally, it is still not well understood how environmental effects of urbanization vary with the rate and socioeconomic context of development. Our study hypothesized that with urban development, spatial patterns of surface thermal properties and green plant cover would shift towards higher occurrence of relatively warmer and less vegetated spaces such as built-up areas, followed by losses of greener and cooler areas such as urban forests, and that these shifts would be more pronounced with higher rate of economic and/or population growth. To test these ideas, we compared 1992-2011 changes in remotely sensed patterns of green vegetation and surface temperature in three example cities that experienced peripheral growth under contrasting socio-economic context - Dallas, TX, USA, Beijing, China and Kyiv, Ukraine. To assess their transformation, we proposed a metric of thermal-vegetation angle (TVA) estimated from per-pixel proxies of vegetation greenness and surface temperature from Landsat satellite data and examined changes in TVA distributions within each city's core and two decadal zones of peripheral sprawl delineated from nighttime satellite data. We found that higher economic and population growth were coupled with more pronounced changes in TVA distributions, and more urbanized zones often exhibited higher frequencies of warmer, less green than average TVA values with novel patterns such as "cooler" clusters of building shadows. Although greener and cooler spaces generally diminished with development, they remained relatively prevalent in low-density residential areas of Dallas and peripheral zones of Kyiv with exurban subsistence farming. Overall, results indicate that the effects of modified green space and thermal patterns within growing cities

The urban heat island dynamics during heat waves: a study of cities in the United States

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Hu, Leiqiu

2016-04-01

The urban heat island (UHI) is a common phenomenon describing that metropolitan areas are usually warmer than their rural surroundings. This effect is compounded by extreme heat events, which are a leading cause of weather-related human mortality in many countries worldwide. However, the spatial and diurnal variability of temperature and humidity in urban and adjacent rural areas during extreme heat events is not well measured and therefore not well understood. The recently developed dataset of near-surface air and dew temperature from MODIS atmospheric profiles and the new method for the UHI quantification--urban heat island curve are used to quantify the urban climatic changes during heat waves in cities of the United States. The enhanced and weakened UHIs are observed in various cities. The causes of UHI changes during heat waves are discussed, including climate region, vegetation type and amount, city geolocation, etc.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF DESPAIR: URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE THROUGH INCOMEBASED RESIDENTIAL ZONATION, GABORONE CITY, BOTSWANA

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Nnyaladzi Batisani

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Urban inter-race environmental injustice is a well-researched field particularly in the northern hemisphere. However, few studies have addressed intra-race urban environmental injustice especially within a developing country setting. An appreciation of the type and extent of this injustice is needed to help policymakers and city planners curb and mitigate its negative effects at this infancy stage before getting worse with economic development. The goal of this paper is to determine the presence and extent of environmental injustice in Gaborone city. To reach this goal, the paper inventories hazardous facilities and also determines the spatial variability of exposure to hazardous facilities with socioeconomic status across the city. The paper finds no relationship between income-based residential area zoning and location of hazardous facilities in the city although these facilities tend to be closer to residential areas in low income municipalities. The paper discusses policies that city planners could adopt to prevent and also minimize the effects of this exposure.

Monitoring the Change in Urban Vegetation in 13 Chilean Cities Located in a Rainfall Gradient. What is the Contribution of the Widespread Creation of New Urban Parks?

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de la Barrera, Francisco; Henríquez, Cristian

2017-10-01

compensated by initiatives and regulations that seek to increase urban vegetation. Today, planning and management of urban vegetation is a challenge for urban sustainability and must be addressed systematically, integrally and implemented via urban regulations. It is imperative to focus on cities in extenso, taking into consideration residential areas, private spaces, peri-urban areas, etc. Likewise, climate in each city, inter-annual variability and future changes must also be considered when designing green areas to make them resilient, prevent increases in maintenance costs and provide benefits for the inhabitants in perpetuity.

a Temporal and Spatial Analysis of Urban Heat Island in Basin City Utilizing Remote Sensing Techniques

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Chang, Hsiao-Tung

2016-06-01

Urban Heat Island (UHI) has been becoming a key factor in deteriorating the urban ecological environment. Spatial-temporal analysis on its prototype of basin city's UHI and quantitatively evaluating effect from rapid urbanization will provide theoretical foundation for relieving UHI effect. Based on Landsat 8, ETM+ and TM images of Taipei basin areas from 1900 to 2015, this article has retrieved the land surface temperature (LST) at summer solstice of each year, and then analysed spatial-temporal pattern and evolution characters of UHI in Taipei basin in this decade. The results showed that the expansion built district, UHI area constantly expanded from centre city to the suburb areas. The prototype of UHI in Taipei basin that showed in addition to higher temperatures in the centre city also were relatively high temperatures gathered boundaries surrounded by foot of mountains side. It calls "sinking heat island". From 1900 to 2000, the higher UHI areas were different land use type change had obvious difference by public infrastructure works. And then, in next 15 years till 2015, building density of urban area has been increasing gradually. It has the trend that UHI flooding raises follow urban land use density. Hot spot of UHI in Taipei basin also has the same characteristics. The results suggest that anthropogenic heat release probably plays a significant role in the UHI effect, and must be considered in urban planning adaptation strategies.

Composition and structure of the flora in intra-urban railway areas

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Małgorzta Wrzesień

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Railway areas are considered as large greenspaces and are recognized important in improving the biodiversity and dynamic of urban flora. In this study, we examined the flora composition and diversity along intra-city railway lines in Lublin, SE Poland and Lviv, W Ukraine. The flora has been analyzed in terms of species composition (multivariate ordination techniques, life span, life form, type of pollination mode, seed dispersal, life strategy sensu Grime, hemerophoby, urbanity degree, and in terms of habitat preferences using ecological indicator values. The multivariate analysis (CCA clearly revealed that abiotic factors (topographical, weather elements (annual precipitation and air temperature, and soil attributes (moisture, trophy, pH, salinity differed between two cities and impacted on the differences in railway flora composition. Plants growing on the intra-urban railway areas are mainly hemicryptophytes/perennials, C, CR, CRS-strategists, insect-, self-, or wind-pollinated, reproducing by seeds and mainly dispersed by wind. Intra-urban railway areas are predominated by native species, however the participation of invasive alien species is higher than their proportion in domestic floras. The share of invasive species is greater in railway areas of Lviv, ca. 12% (45 species compared to 8% in Lublin (36 species. Spontaneous flora in intra-urban railway areas represent distinct adaptations to unique urban-industrial ecosystems with different degree of anthropogenic disturbance.

Integration or Disintegration of the Ecological and Urban Functions of the River in the City? A Polish Perspective

OpenAIRE

Katarzyna KUBIAK-WÓJCICKA; Justyna CHODKOWSKA-MISZCZUK; Krzysztof ROGATKA

2018-01-01

This article aims to find whether the urbanized area experiences integration or disintegration of the ecological and urban functions of the river. The river has always played an important role in urban areas, although over the centuries, it has come through radical changes. At first, it decided on the location of the city, served as a defense and means of transport, and during the period of industrialization it became the technical base for the city. Currently, the river has again come to be ...

CA-Markov Analysis of Constrained Coastal Urban Growth Modeling: Hua Hin Seaside City, Thailand

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Rajendra Shrestha

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Thailand, a developing country in Southeast Asia, is experiencing rapid development, particularly urban growth as a response to the expansion of the tourism industry. Hua Hin city provides an excellent example of an area where urbanization has flourished due to tourism. This study focuses on how the dynamic urban horizontal expansion of the seaside city of Hua Hin is constrained by the coast, thus making sustainability for this popular tourist destination—managing and planning for its local inhabitants, its visitors, and its sites—an issue. The study examines the association of land use type and land use change by integrating Geo-Information technology, a statistic model, and CA-Markov analysis for sustainable land use planning. The study identifies that the land use types and land use changes from the year 1999 to 2008 have changed as a result of increased mobility; this trend, in turn, has everything to do with urban horizontal expansion. The changing sequences of land use type have developed from forest area to agriculture, from agriculture to grassland, then to bare land and built-up areas. Coastal urban growth has, for a decade, been expanding horizontally from a downtown center along the beach to the western area around the golf course, the southern area along the beach, the southwest grassland area, and then the northern area near the airport.

Study on the Characteristics and Impacts of the Spatial-temporal Urban Sprawl in Chinese Coastal Cities using Ocelet

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Li, M.; Lo Seen, D.; Zhang, Z.

2015-12-01

The urban population is expected to rise 67% in developing countries and 86% in developed regions by 2050. As the most populous country in the world, China has been experiencing a remarkable urbanization process since the initialization of the reform and opening-up policies in the late 1970s. During the past several decades, the coastal zone undergone the highest urbanization and motst rapid economic development in China. Accurately understanding the characteristics of the spatial-temporal urban sprawl is helpful for urban planning on optimal land use in the future. Ocelet is an interactive visual interpretation and dynamic coding method that has been designed for studying issues related to space, time and multiple scales that are raised when dynamic landscapes are modelled. Using Ocelet, we aim to study the characteristics of the spatial-temporal urban sprawl in thirteen major Chinese coastal cities and how urban sprawl affects the surrounding land changes. Landsat MSS/TM/ETM/OLI, the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS) and Chinese HJ-1A data are adopted to acquire urban built-up areas and their dynamic changes from 1979 to 2013. The results show that the urban built-up area increased gradually from 1979 to 2002 (~105 km²/yr), then accelerated about four times from 2002 to 2010 (~396 km²/yr) in thirteen major Chinese coastal cities. Although the expansion slowed down since 2010, the urban built-up area still increased at a fairly high rate (~210 km²/yr) from 2010 to 2013. The urban sprawl speed and pattern in each coastal city has also been analyzed, and has been grouped in three costal zones geographically. As a result of urban sprawl, large areas of arable land, rural settlements and forests were lost in these coastal cities. The lost non-urban land types and areas are different in the three costal zones and quantified respectively.

Dutch City Network feeds the Innovation of Urban Agriculture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jansma, J.E.; Veen, E.J.; Kop, van de P.J.; Eijk, van O.N.M.

2015-01-01

Since 2010, the Dutch City Network on Urban Agriculture (Stedennetwerk in Dutch), has linked up civil servants of fourteen cities in order to see opportunities, share knowledge and solve issues on urban agriculture in their cities. Though it started as an internally focused network for civil

Sub-kilometer Numerical Weather Prediction in complex urban areas

Science.gov (United States)

Leroyer, S.; Bélair, S.; Husain, S.; Vionnet, V.

2013-12-01

A Sub-kilometer atmospheric modeling system with grid-spacings of 2.5 km, 1 km and 250 m and including urban processes is currently being developed at the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) in order to provide more accurate weather forecasts at the city scale. Atmospheric lateral boundary conditions are provided with the 15-km Canadian Regional Deterministic Prediction System (RDPS). Surface physical processes are represented with the Town Energy Balance (TEB) model for the built-up covers and with the Interactions between the Surface, Biosphere, and Atmosphere (ISBA) land surface model for the natural covers. In this study, several research experiments over large metropolitan areas and using observational networks at the urban scale are presented, with a special emphasis on the representation of local atmospheric circulations and their impact on extreme weather forecasting. First, numerical simulations are performed over the Vancouver metropolitan area during a summertime Intense Observing Period (IOP of 14-15 August 2008) of the Environmental Prediction in Canadian Cities (EPiCC) observational network. The influence of the horizontal resolution on the fine-scale representation of the sea-breeze development over the city is highlighted (Leroyer et al., 2013). Then severe storms cases occurring in summertime within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) are simulated. In view of supporting the 2015 PanAmerican and Para-Pan games to be hold in GTA, a dense observational network has been recently deployed over this region to support model evaluations at the urban and meso scales. In particular, simulations are conducted for the case of 8 July 2013 when exceptional rainfalls were recorded. Leroyer, S., S. Bélair, J. Mailhot, S.Z. Husain, 2013: Sub-kilometer Numerical Weather Prediction in an Urban Coastal Area: A case study over the Vancouver Metropolitan Area, submitted to Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology.

Urban sustainable energy development: A case study of the city of Philadelphia

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Argyriou, Iraklis

This study explores the role of cities in sustainable energy development through a governance-informed analysis. Despite the leading position of municipalities in energy sustainability, cities have been mostly conceptualized as sites where energy development is shaped by external policy scales, i.e. the national level. A growing body of research, however, critiques this analytical perspective, and seeks to better understand the type of factors and dynamics that influence energy sustainability within a multi-level policy context for urban energy. Given that particular circumstances are applicable across cities, a context-specific analysis can provide insight regarding how sustainable energy development takes place in urban areas. In applying such an analytical perspective on urban energy sustainability, this study undertakes a qualitative case study analysis for the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by looking at four key local policy initiatives relevant to building energy efficiency and solar electricity development at the municipal government and city-wide level. The evaluation of the initiatives suggests that renewable electricity use has increased substantially in the city over the last years but the installed capacity of local renewable electricity systems, including solar photovoltaics, is low. On the other hand, although the city has made little progress in meeting its building energy efficiency targets, more comprehensive action is taken in this area. The study finds that the above outcomes have been shaped mainly by four factors. The first is the city government's incremental policy approach aiming to develop a facilitative context for local action. The second is the role that a diverse set of stakeholders have in local sustainable energy development. The third is the constraints that systemic policy barriers create for solar power development. The fourth is the ways through which the relevant multi-level policy environment structures the city

Spatial Analysis of High-Resolution Radar Rainfall and Citizen-Reported Flash Flood Data in Ultra-Urban New York City

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Brianne Smith

2017-09-01

Full Text Available New York City (NYC is an ultra-urban region, with over 50% impervious cover and buried stream channels. Traditional flood studies rely on the presence of stream gages to detect flood stage and discharge, but these methods cannot be used in ultra-urban areas. Here we create a high-resolution radar rainfall dataset for NYC and utilize citizen and expert reports of flooding throughout the city to study flash flooding in NYC. Results indicate that interactions between the urban area and land–sea boundary have an important impact on the spatial variability of both heavy rainfall and flooding, sometimes in contrast to results obtained for other cities. Top days of daily and hourly rainfall exhibit a rainfall maximum over the city center and an extended region of higher rainfall downwind of the city. The mechanism for flooding appears to vary across the city, with high groundwater tables influencing more coastal areas and high rain rates or large rain volumes influencing more inland areas. There is also a strong relationship between sewer type and flood frequency, with fewer floods observed in combined sewer areas. Flooding is driven by maximum one-hour to one-day rainfall, which is often substantially less rain than observed for the city-wide daily maximum.

Monitoring surface urban heat island formation in a tropical mountain city using Landsat data (1987-2015)

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Estoque, Ronald C.; Murayama, Yuji

2017-11-01

Since it was first described about two centuries ago and due to its adverse impacts on urban ecological environment and the overall livability of cities, the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon has been, and still is, an important research topic across various fields of study. However, UHI studies on cities in mountain regions are still lacking. This study aims to contribute to this endeavor by monitoring and examining the formation of surface UHI (SUHI) in a tropical mountain city of Southeast Asia -Baguio City, the summer capital of the Philippines- using Landsat data (1987-2015). Based on mean surface temperature difference between impervious surface (IS) and green space (GS1), SUHI intensity (SUHII) in the study area increased from 2.7 °C in 1987 to 3.4 °C in 2015. Between an urban zone (>86% impervious) and a rural zone (<10% impervious) along the urban-rural gradient, it increased from 4.0 °C in 1987 to 8.2 °C in 2015. These results are consistent with the rapid urbanization of the area over the same period, which resulted in a rapid expansion of impervious surfaces and substantial loss of green spaces. Together with landscape composition variables (e.g. fraction of IS), topographic variables (e.g. hillshade) can help explain a significant amount of spatial variations in surface temperature in the area (R2 = 0.56-0.85) (p < 0.001). The relative importance of the 'fraction of IS' variable also increased, indicating that its unique explanatory and predictive power concerning the spatial variations of surface temperature increases as the city size becomes bigger and SUHI gets more intense. Overall, these results indicate that the cool temperature of the study area being situated in a mountain region did not hinder the formation of SUHI. Thus, the formation and effects of UHIs, including possible mitigation and adaptation measures, should be considered in landscape planning for the sustainable urban development of the area.

Evaluating Urban Quality: Indicators and Assessment Tools for Smart Sustainable Cities

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Chiara Garau

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The analysis of urban sustainability is key to urban planning, and its usefulness extends to smart cities. Analyses of urban quality typically focus on applying methodologies that evaluate quality objectives at environmental, urban, and building levels. Research has shown that a system of indicators can be useful for developing qualitative and quantitative descriptors of urban environments. The first step in this study was to formulate a methodology to measure the quality of urban life based on investigative checklists and objective and subjective indicators, aggregated to develop an index to evaluate a city’s level of smart urban quality. The second step was to apply this methodology to evaluate the city of Cagliari (Italy at the neighbourhood scale, which is considered by literature the most suitable as a self-sufficient spatial unit for showing redevelopment results. In addition to sharing its research findings, this study aims to verify whether the methodology can be applied to similar urban contexts. The main outcomes of this research pertain to opportunities to numerically measure both objective and subjective aspects that affect urban quality. In this way, the most critical areas to be requalified have been highlighted in order to prepare policies congruent with the local context.

Potential effects of urbanization on urban thermal comfort, a case study of Nairobi city, Kenya: A review

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Ongoma Victor

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This study reviews the effect of urbanization on human thermal comfort over Nairobi city in Kenya. Urbanization alters urban center's land use and land cover, modifying the climate of the urban setting. The modification in climate affects human comfort and the environment at large. This study focuses on the recent studies conducted in Nairobi city and many other cities globally to examine modification of wind, temperature and humidity over Nairobi. There was observed reduction in wind speed and relative humidity over the city, posing threat to human and animal comfort and the environment at large. The city of Nairobi, just like other cities globally is observed to experience urban heat island (UHI. The observed increase in minimum temperature as compared to maximum temperature signifies overall warming. A combination of all these changes reduces human comfort. Borrowing lessons from developed cities, increasing the urban forest cover is thus suggested as one of the practical and effective measures that can help prevent further modification of weather and urban climates. The study recommends further research involving multi-sectoral urban stake holders, on forcing driving urban thermal comfort. In the short term, design and construction of appropriate structures can help minimize energy consumption and emissions, thus enhancing comfort.

Role of City Texture in Urban Heat Islands at Nighttime

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Sobstyl, J. M.; Emig, T.; Qomi, M. J. Abdolhosseini; Ulm, F.-J.; Pellenq, R. J.-M.

2018-03-01

An urban heat island (UHI) is a climate phenomenon that results in an increased air temperature in cities when compared to their rural surroundings. In this Letter, the dependence of an UHI on urban geometry is studied. Multiyear urban-rural temperature differences and building footprints data combined with a heat radiation scaling model are used to demonstrate for more than 50 cities worldwide that city texture—measured by a building distribution function and the sky view factor—explains city-to-city variations in nocturnal UHIs. Our results show a strong correlation between nocturnal UHIs and the city texture.

[Research on stormwater runoff quality of mountain city by source area monitoring].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Li-Qing; Shan, Bao-Qing; Zhao, Jian-Wei; Guo, Shu-Gang; Gao, Yong

2012-10-01

Stormwater runoff samples were collected from 10 source areas in Mountain City, Chongqing, during five rain events in an attempt to investigate the characteristics of runoff quality and influencing factors. The outcomes are expected to offer practical guidance of sources control of urban runoff pollution. The results indicated that the stormwater runoff of Mountain City presented a strong first flush for almost all events and constituents. The runoff quality indices were also influenced by the rainfall intensity. The concentration of TSS, COD, TN and TP decreased as the rainfall intensity increased. The concentrations of COD and TP in stormwater runoff were highly correlated with TSS concentrations. Suspended solid matter were not only the main pollutant of stormwater runoff but also served as the vehicle for transport of organic matter and phosphorus. Organic matter and phosphorus in stormwatrer runoff were mainly bound to particles, whereas nitrogen was predominantly dissolved, with ammonia and nitrate. A significant difference of stormwater runoff quality was observed among the ten monitored source areas. The highest magnitude of urban stormwater runoff pollution was expected in the commercial area and the first trunk road, followed by the minor road, residential area, parking lot and roof. Urban surface function, traffic volume, population density, and street sweeping practice are the main factors determining spatial differentiation of urban surface runoff quality. Commercial area, the first trunk road and residential area with high population density are the critical sources areas of urban stormwater runoff pollution.

Urban Regeneration, City Image of Tehran and Alienation

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Somayeh Shalchi

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In city planning, a fundamental point is to evaluate the city image. The concept of city image is multidimensional. This study evaluate the city image of Tehran and its consequences. Tehran regenerates for many years. This modernization process creates new city image, urban identity and new relationship between residents. This study has qualitative approach. Interview and thematic analysis used for collective and analyses data from 20 citizens. This sample selected equally from north and south of Tehran as developed and undeveloped urban region. Conceptual framework consist Blasé outlook of Simmel, meaning of memory and city of Benjamin and concepts of alienation and spaces of representation in Lefebvre theory. Findings reveal that process of regeneration destroys memories of citizens. They can’t relate with new urban spaces. Regeneration makes separation image from north and south of Tehran. Residents of south  feel sense of deprivation, exclusion and inequality. Interviewees miss their human relationship like neighbors, so they feel loneliness. Totally, elements of city image of residents show alienated sense of place in Tehran.

Automatic Extraction of Urban Built-Up Area Based on Object-Oriented Method and Remote Sensing Data

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Li, L.; Zhou, H.; Wen, Q.; Chen, T.; Guan, F.; Ren, B.; Yu, H.; Wang, Z.

2018-04-01

Built-up area marks the use of city construction land in the different periods of the development, the accurate extraction is the key to the studies of the changes of urban expansion. This paper studies the technology of automatic extraction of urban built-up area based on object-oriented method and remote sensing data, and realizes the automatic extraction of the main built-up area of the city, which saves the manpower cost greatly. First, the extraction of construction land based on object-oriented method, the main technical steps include: (1) Multi-resolution segmentation; (2) Feature Construction and Selection; (3) Information Extraction of Construction Land Based on Rule Set, The characteristic parameters used in the rule set mainly include the mean of the red band (Mean R), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Ratio of residential index (RRI), Blue band mean (Mean B), Through the combination of the above characteristic parameters, the construction site information can be extracted. Based on the degree of adaptability, distance and area of the object domain, the urban built-up area can be quickly and accurately defined from the construction land information without depending on other data and expert knowledge to achieve the automatic extraction of the urban built-up area. In this paper, Beijing city as an experimental area for the technical methods of the experiment, the results show that: the city built-up area to achieve automatic extraction, boundary accuracy of 2359.65 m to meet the requirements. The automatic extraction of urban built-up area has strong practicality and can be applied to the monitoring of the change of the main built-up area of city.

Public Parks and Wellbeing in Urban Areas of the United States.

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Lincoln R Larson

Full Text Available Sustainable development efforts in urban areas often focus on understanding and managing factors that influence all aspects of health and wellbeing. Research has shown that public parks and green space provide a variety of physical, psychological, and social benefits to urban residents, but few studies have examined the influence of parks on comprehensive measures of subjective wellbeing at the city level. Using 2014 data from 44 U.S. cities, we evaluated the relationship between urban park quantity, quality, and accessibility and aggregate self-reported scores on the Gallup-Healthways Wellbeing Index (WBI, which considers five different domains of wellbeing (e.g., physical, community, social, financial, and purpose. In addition to park-related variables, our best-fitting OLS regression models selected using an information theory approach controlled for a variety of other typical geographic and socio-demographic correlates of wellbeing. Park quantity (measured as the percentage of city area covered by public parks was among the strongest predictors of overall wellbeing, and the strength of this relationship appeared to be driven by parks' contributions to physical and community wellbeing. Park quality (measured as per capita spending on parks and accessibility (measured as the overall percentage of a city's population within ½ mile of parks were also positively associated with wellbeing, though these relationships were not significant. Results suggest that expansive park networks are linked to multiple aspects of health and wellbeing in cities and positively impact urban quality of life.

[Assessment on the short-term impact regarding the community-based interventions to improve physical activities in three urban areas of Hangzhou city].

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Gao, Fang; Liu, Qing-min; Ren, Yan-jun; He, Ping-ping; LV, Jun; Li, Li-ming

2013-06-01

To evaluate the short-term impact of comprehensive community based intervention on physical activity (PA) of adults living in the three urban communities of Hangzhou city. Within the framework of Community Interventions for Health (CIH) Program, a community trial was conducted in two urban areas (Xiacheng district and Gongshu district)and an urban area(Xihu district)as control, by a parallel comparison and random grouping based quasi-experimental design. Two independent questionnaire-based surveys of cross-sectional samples in the intervention and comparison areas were used to assess the short-term impact of the intervention program. A total of 2016 adults at baseline and 2016 adults at follow-up stages, completed the survey, including 1016 adults from the intervention areas and 1000 from the comparison area. Over the two-year intervention period, the cognitive level on benefits of physical activity in the intervention areas were trending downward. The changes observed in the comparison area did not show statistical significance. Intervention areas showed a statistically significant increase (1204 vs. 1386, P = 0.023) in the level of physical activity(metabolic equivalent, MET-minutes/week)compared with the comparison area(918 vs. 924, P = 0.201). And results remained the same after eliminating the possible effects of age factor. After a two-year intervention, beneficial changes were noted in the intervention areas with respect to the level of physical activity. A community-based intervention program on physical activity seemed feasible and effective in the urban areas of Hangzhou.

Assessment of Urban Infrastructure Impact on New York City Neighborhoods Thermal Variations

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Nazari, R.; Ghandehari, M.; Karimi, M.; Vant-hull, B.; Khanbilvardi, R.

2013-12-01

New York City (NYC) is a highly urbanized city with most of the population living in tall buildings. Despite technological improvements and stricter regulations, cities still show increasing signs of environmental stress such as traffic congestion, noise and air quality degradation. Rethinking the current models of city planning could enable to limit these detrimental effects of urbanization. In addition, the built environment creates a new climatic regime which needs a better understanding. Building density, height and emission has a major impact on local temperature and other air quality indicators. Studies have shown that during extreme weather conditions and heat waves the mortality rate in urban areas increases. Cities are comprised of a wide variety of urban settings and various neighborhoods have different physical responses to meteorological events, so it is expected that the temperature and heat stress across a given city to fluctuate sharply. Therefore, this research has focused on neighborhood-scale field campaigns to downscale temperature and air quality predictions from city to neighborhood scale in NYC. In order to assess the temperature variability within the city at street level, during the hottest part of the day, this project used eight mobile units bearing temperature and relative humidity sensors, as well as ten weather stations mounted on light poles in various NYC neighborhoods. This study also looks at fine scale structures in the urban heat island of Manhattan at street level through an infrared camera with the spectral range of 7.5-13 μm in order to relate heat and emissions from building surfaces to land surface characteristics such as building density, vegetation coverage, proximity to water, and albedo. LandSat TM5 images were used (with 30 m resolution) for land surface classification. During the summer and early fall of 2011, 2012 and 2013 extensive field campaigns were performed, the results of which show some persistent patterns

Defining urban and rural areas: a new approach

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Arellano, Blanca; Roca, Josep

2017-10-01

The separation between the countryside and the city, from rural and urban areas, has been one of the central themes of the literature on urban and territorial studies. The seminal work of Kingsley Davis [10] in the 1950s introduced a wide and fruitful debate which, however, has not yet concluded in a rigorous definition that allows for comparative studies at the national and subnational levels of a scientific nature. In particular, the United Nations (UN) definition of urban and rural population is overly linked to political and administrative factors that make it difficult to use data adequately to understand the human settlement structure of different countries. The present paper seeks to define a more rigorous methodology for the identification of rural and urban areas. For this purpose it uses the night lights supplied by the SNPP satellite, and more specifically by the VIIRS sensor for the determination of the urbanization gradient, and by means of the same construct a more realistic indicator than the statistics provided by the UN. The arrival of electrification to nearly every corner of the planet is certainly the first and most meaningful indicator of artificialization of land. In this sense, this paper proposes a new methodology designed to identify highly impacted (urbanized) landscapes worldwide based on the analysis of satellite imagery of night-time lights. The application of this methodology on a global scale identifies the land highly impacted by light, the urbanization process, and allows an index to be drawn up of Land Impacted by Light per capita (LILpc) as an indicator of the level of urbanization. The methodology used in this paper can be summarized in the following steps: a) a logistic regression between US Urban Areas (UA), as a dependent variable, and night-time light intensity, as an explanatory variable, allows us to establish a nightlight intensity level for the determination of Areas Highly Impacted by Light (AHIL); b) the delimitation of

Heat-stress increase under climate change twice as large in cities as in rural areas

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Wouters, Hendrik; De Ridder, Koen; Poelmans, Lien; Willems, Patrick; Brouwers, Johan; Hosseinzadehtalaei, Parisa; Tabari, Hossein; Vanden Broucke, Sam; van Lipzig, Nicole P. M.; Demuzere, Matthias

2017-04-01

Urban areas, being warmer than their surroundings, are particularly vulnerable to global warming and associated increases in extreme temperatures. Yet ensemble climate-model projections are generally performed on a scale that is too coarse to represent the evolution of temperatures in cities. Here, for the first time, we combine a 35-year convection-permitting climate model integrations with information from an ensemble of general circulation models to assess heat stress in a typical densely populated mid-latitude maritime region. We show that the heat-stress increase for the mid-21st century is twice as large in cities compared to their surrounding rural areas. The exacerbation is driven by the urban heat island itself, its concurrence with heatwaves, and urban expansion. Cities experience a heat-stress multiplication by a factor 1.4 and 15 depending on the scenario. Remarkably, the future heat-stress surpasses everywhere the urban hot spots of today. Our novel insights exemplify the need to combine information from climate models, acting on different scales, for climate-change risk assessment in heterogeneous regions. Moreover, these results highlight the necessity for adaptation to increasing heat stress, especially in urban areas.

Remaking Nigeria’s Urbanism: Assessing and Redressing the Dearth of Open Spaces in Benin City

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Ndubisi Onwuanyi

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Unplanned land use in most Nigerian cities has meant that all urban land needs are not adequately provided for within their landscapes. Open spaces are either conspicuously missing or inadequate. There is a tendency for existing open spaces to be lost to urban development pressure and a disregard for zoning. This paper identifies available and accessible open spaces in Benin City and assesses their adequacy using as a guide standards established in two selected international jurisdictions, discusses the potential benefits of open space to the city on the one hand and its residents on the other given the incipient impacts of global warming and climate change, and the prospects of mitigation by greening the city even in its already built-up state. Data is sourced from journals, reports, archival records and inspections of the urban environment. The findings confirm a great dearth of open spaces as well as deteriorating urban environmental conditions which have implications for health, well-being and urban sustainability. The recommendations are that future expansions of the city space incorporate adequate provisions for open spaces, whilst within the existing built-up city, solutions be sought in the creation of greenways, green paths, private green spaces, promoting street trees and the conversion of brownfield sites to green areas.

Retrofitting the Low Impact Development Practices into Developed Urban areas Including Barriers and Potential Solution

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Shafique, Muhammad; Kim, Reeho

2017-06-01

Low impact development (LID)/green infrastructure (GI) practices have been identified as the sustainable practices of managing the stormwater in urban areas. Due to the increasing population, most of the cities are more developing which results in the change of natural area into impervious areas (roads, buildings etc.). Moreover, urbanization and climate change are causing many water-related problems and making over cities unsafe and insecure. Under these circumstances, there is a need to introduce new stormwater management practices into developed cities to reduce the adverse impacts of urbanization. For this purpose, retrofitting low impact development practices demands more attention to reduce these water-related problems and trying to make our cities sustainable. In developed areas, there is a little space is available for the retrofitting of LID practices for the stormwater management. Therefore, the selection of an appropriate place to retrofitting LID practices needs more concern. This paper describes the successfully applied retrofitting LID practices around the globe. It also includes the process of applying retrofitting LID practices at the suitable place with the suitable combination. Optimal places for the retrofitting of different LID practices are also mentioned. This paper also highlights the barriers and potential solutions of retrofitting LID practices in urban areas.

Retrofitting the Low Impact Development Practices into Developed Urban areas Including Barriers and Potential Solution

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Shafique Muhammad

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Low impact development (LID/green infrastructure (GI practices have been identified as the sustainable practices of managing the stormwater in urban areas. Due to the increasing population, most of the cities are more developing which results in the change of natural area into impervious areas (roads, buildings etc.. Moreover, urbanization and climate change are causing many water-related problems and making over cities unsafe and insecure. Under these circumstances, there is a need to introduce new stormwater management practices into developed cities to reduce the adverse impacts of urbanization. For this purpose, retrofitting low impact development practices demands more attention to reduce these water-related problems and trying to make our cities sustainable. In developed areas, there is a little space is available for the retrofitting of LID practices for the stormwater management. Therefore, the selection of an appropriate place to retrofitting LID practices needs more concern. This paper describes the successfully applied retrofitting LID practices around the globe. It also includes the process of applying retrofitting LID practices at the suitable place with the suitable combination. Optimal places for the retrofitting of different LID practices are also mentioned. This paper also highlights the barriers and potential solutions of retrofitting LID practices in urban areas.

Urban policies for downtown São Paulo: renewal or rehabilitation? An assessment of São Paulo city's proposals from 1970 to 2004

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Eduardo Alberto Cusce Nobre

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The debate over urban interventions in central areas is probably one of the most controversial subjects between architects and city planners. Since the cities are built on social grounds, depending on the roles that government and the market play in the production of space, some urban areas" develop" while other" degrade." In response to a" degradation" process, governments around the world have developed urban policies for intervention in central areas of cities. These interventions have changed over time, alternating mainly between two types: eradication and rehabilitation. The current paper analyzes the interventions proposed by the city of São Paulo for its downtown area over the past thirty years, taking into consideration these types of intervention. The article starts out by discussing the evolution of urban policies for central areas in the international arena and then analyzes the process of São Paulo downtown decay and the response of local government, with an emphasis on recent initiatives and their outcomes.

[The control of urban growth in Mexico City. Suppositions regarding poor planning].

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Aguilar, A G; Olvera, G

1991-01-01

It is argued that mechanisms for planning land use and controlling urban expansion in Mexico City have failed to achieve their aims. Although in theory Mexico's urban planning process has recently attempted to go beyond purely physical aspects to include socioeconomic dimensions, it has in fact been inflexible and oriented to exclusively to technical and administrative aspects, to the detriment of social distribution goals. Planning instruments have not included important aspects such as specific mechanisms for altering employment structures or income levels or mechanisms for providing access to land or housing to the most disadvantaged groups. The urban planning process in Mexico City, instead of assuming a socially compensatory role in favor of disadvantaged groups, has maintained the status quo or discriminated in favor of the already advantaged. The spatial and technical orientation or urban planning in Mexico City does not leave room for a well-defined social policy. The population of the Mexico City metropolitan Zone increased from 3 million in 1950 to 18 million in 1985, while its total area increased from 11,750 hectares in 1940 to 125,000 in 1985. Transfer of population from the Federal District to the conurban municipios of the state of Mexico has been very significant since the 1970s. Around 20% of the total area of metropolitan Mexico City has been settled through illegal means, with communal and ejido lands accounting for a large share. Settlements on some 60% of lands in metroplitan Mexico City were illegal or irregular at some time. Low income housing is the cheapest form for the government because the frequently illegal status of settlers prevents them from making any demands for services or equipment for the 1st several years. Construction is undertaken and financed almost entirely by the settlers themselves, freeing the government of responsibility in regard to the constitutionally mandated right of all Mexicans to housing. The Urban Development

Cities Farming for the Future : Urban Agriculture for Green and ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Cities Farming for the Future : Urban Agriculture for Green and Productive Cities. Couverture du livre Cities Farming for the Future : Urban Agriculture for Green and Productive Cities. Directeur(s):. René van Veenhuizen. Maison(s) d'édition: IIRR, RUAF, CRDI. 1 janvier 2006. ISBN : 1930261144. 474 pages. e-ISBN :.

City-ecological perspectives of the development of high urbanized multifunctional centers of the largest Russian cities

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Kolesnikov Sergey Anatol’evich

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This article presents some results of the author’s dissertation research dedicated to formation of an architectural typology of high urbanized multifunctional units of urban structure of the largest cities (further HUMUUS as centers of social activity, which include buildings, constructions, transportation equipment and open spaces, where human flows transpose, start and end with the purpose of bringing into this space a concentrated maximum of goods, services and information with minimum time expenditures. This article draws attention to the development analysis of the structure-forming functions of HUMUUS and their town planning and environmental impact on the surrounding area. The study of planning structures of the largest Russian cities (Samara, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod made it possible to identify a number of main objects, in which structure-forming functions of HUMUUS are materialized: railroad complex (historically formed, developed, dominated, system-wide road junction, transport interchange hub (providing intraurban messages, public office and business centers, leisure and entertainment centers, shopping centers. Basing on researches of Russian and foreign experience, it is possible to predict with full confidence the following trends and streams of environmental and urban development of HUMUUS in the near-term perspective: Strengthening of the environmental and urban frame by network evolution of HUMUUS; Inclusion of green areas of HUMUUS in the system of citywide green areas; Increment of the interest of the investors to the public road junction for the purpose of reorganization of them to full HUMUUS with all characteristics of high-urbanized and environmental and urban reorganization (separation of traffic and pedestrian flows, maximum capacity, multiple-level system, multifunctional, increase in landscaped green space, reconstruction of engineering systems and communications, the use of modern ecological building designs and

Urban floods: a case study in the Savigliano area (North-Western Italy

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C. Audisio

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Flood processes and effects are examined, concerning two rivers in an urbanized area in North-Western Italy (Piedmont – Cuneo Plain. In May 2008, some areas in Northern Italy were struck by intense and persistent rainfall. In the Cuneo province (Southern Piedmont, floodplain with some urban areas was inundated over ca. ten square kilometres, and the city of Savigliano (about 21 000 inhabitants was particularly hit by flood. A purposely-made historical research has evidenced approximately fifty flood events as having occurred since 1350 in the Savigliano area. Based upon historical data, both documents and maps, GIS (Geographical Information System technique and field surveys were used to quantitatively assess the growing urbanization of the city and to describe flood processes and effects over years. This work aims to describe the dynamic behaviour of the 2008 flood, also comparing it to past events, in particular those that occurred in 1896. It is emphasized how the knowledge of past events can be helpful in reducing urban flooding.

Enhancement of urban heat load through social inequalities on an example of a fictional city King's Landing

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Žuvela-Aloise, M.

2017-03-01

The numerical model MUKLIMO_3 is used to simulate the urban climate of an imaginary city as an illustrative example to demonstrate that the residential areas with deprived socio-economic conditions can exhibit an enhanced heat load at night, and thus more disadvantageous environmental conditions, compared with the areas of higher socio-economic status. The urban climate modelling simulations differentiate between orographic, natural landscape, building and social effects, where social differences are introduced by selection of location, building type and amount of vegetation. The model results show that the increase of heat load can be found in the areas inhabited by the poor population as a combined effect of natural and anthropogenic factors. The unfavourable location in the city and the building type, consisting of high density, low housing with high fraction of pavement and small amount of vegetation contribute to the formation of excessive heat load. This abstract example shows that the enhancement of urban heat load can be linked to the concept of a socially stratified city and is independent of the historical development of any specific city.

City Level of Income and Urbanization and Availability of Food Stores and Food Service Places in China.

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Liao, Chunxiao; Tan, Yayun; Wu, Chaoqun; Wang, Shengfeng; Yu, Canqing; Cao, Weihua; Gao, Wenjing; Lv, Jun; Li, Liming

2016-01-01

The contribution of unhealthy dietary patterns to the epidemic of obesity has been well recognized. Differences in availability of foods may have an important influence on individual eating behaviors and health disparities. This study examined the availability of food stores and food service places by city characteristics on city level of income and urbanization. The cross-sectional survey was comprised of two parts: (1) an on-site observation to measure availability of food stores and food service places in 12 cities of China; (2) an in-store survey to determine the presence of fresh/frozen vegetables or fruits in all food stores. Trained investigators walked all the streets/roads within study tracts to identify all the food outlets. An observational survey questionnaire was used in all food stores to determine the presence of fresh/frozen vegetables or fruits. Urbanization index was determined for each city using a principal components factor analysis. City level of income and urbanization and numbers of each type of food stores and food service places were examined using negative binomial regression models. Large-sized supermarkets and specialty retailers had higher number of fresh/frozen vegetables or fruits sold compared to small/medium-sized markets. High-income versus low-income, high urbanized versus low urbanized areas had significantly more large-sized supermarkets and fewer small/medium-sized markets. In terms of restaurants, high urbanized cities had more western fast food restaurants and no statistically significant difference in the relative availability of any type of restaurants was found between high- and low-income areas. The findings suggested food environment disparities did exist in different cities of China.

City Level of Income and Urbanization and Availability of Food Stores and Food Service Places in China.

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Chunxiao Liao

Full Text Available The contribution of unhealthy dietary patterns to the epidemic of obesity has been well recognized. Differences in availability of foods may have an important influence on individual eating behaviors and health disparities. This study examined the availability of food stores and food service places by city characteristics on city level of income and urbanization.The cross-sectional survey was comprised of two parts: (1 an on-site observation to measure availability of food stores and food service places in 12 cities of China; (2 an in-store survey to determine the presence of fresh/frozen vegetables or fruits in all food stores. Trained investigators walked all the streets/roads within study tracts to identify all the food outlets. An observational survey questionnaire was used in all food stores to determine the presence of fresh/frozen vegetables or fruits. Urbanization index was determined for each city using a principal components factor analysis. City level of income and urbanization and numbers of each type of food stores and food service places were examined using negative binomial regression models.Large-sized supermarkets and specialty retailers had higher number of fresh/frozen vegetables or fruits sold compared to small/medium-sized markets. High-income versus low-income, high urbanized versus low urbanized areas had significantly more large-sized supermarkets and fewer small/medium-sized markets. In terms of restaurants, high urbanized cities had more western fast food restaurants and no statistically significant difference in the relative availability of any type of restaurants was found between high- and low-income areas.The findings suggested food environment disparities did exist in different cities of China.

City Level of Income and Urbanization and Availability of Food Stores and Food Service Places in China

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Chunxiao; Tan, Yayun; Wu, Chaoqun; Wang, Shengfeng; Yu, Canqing; Cao, Weihua; Gao, Wenjing; Lv, Jun; Li, Liming

2016-01-01

Objective The contribution of unhealthy dietary patterns to the epidemic of obesity has been well recognized. Differences in availability of foods may have an important influence on individual eating behaviors and health disparities. This study examined the availability of food stores and food service places by city characteristics on city level of income and urbanization. Methods The cross-sectional survey was comprised of two parts: (1) an on-site observation to measure availability of food stores and food service places in 12 cities of China; (2) an in-store survey to determine the presence of fresh/frozen vegetables or fruits in all food stores. Trained investigators walked all the streets/roads within study tracts to identify all the food outlets. An observational survey questionnaire was used in all food stores to determine the presence of fresh/frozen vegetables or fruits. Urbanization index was determined for each city using a principal components factor analysis. City level of income and urbanization and numbers of each type of food stores and food service places were examined using negative binomial regression models. Results Large-sized supermarkets and specialty retailers had higher number of fresh/frozen vegetables or fruits sold compared to small/medium-sized markets. High-income versus low-income, high urbanized versus low urbanized areas had significantly more large-sized supermarkets and fewer small/medium-sized markets. In terms of restaurants, high urbanized cities had more western fast food restaurants and no statistically significant difference in the relative availability of any type of restaurants was found between high- and low-income areas. Conclusions The findings suggested food environment disparities did exist in different cities of China. PMID:26938866

Influence of solid waste and topography on urban floods: The case of Mexico City.

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Zambrano, Luis; Pacheco-Muñoz, Rodrigo; Fernández, Tania

2018-02-24

Floods in cities are increasingly common as a consequence of multifactor watershed dynamics, including geomorphology, land-use changes and land subsidence. However, urban managers have focused on infrastructure to address floods by reducing blocked sewage infrastructure, without significant success. Using Mexico City as a case study, we generated a spatial flood risk model with geomorphology and anthropogenic variables. The results helped contrast the implications of different public policies in land use and waste disposal, and correlating them with flood hazards. Waste disposal was only related to small floods. 58% of the city has a high risk of experiencing small floods, and 24% of the city has a risk for large floods. Half of the population with the lowest income is located in the high-risk areas for large floods. These models are easy to build, generate fast results and are able to help to flood policies, by understanding flood interactions in urban areas within the watershed.

The Urban Transition Performance of Resource-Based Cities in Northeast China

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Juntao Tan

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Resource-based cities face unique challenges when undergoing urban transitions because their non-renewable resources will eventually be exhausted. In this article, we introduce a new method of evaluating the urban transition performance of resource-based cities from economic, social and eco-environmental perspectives. A total of 19 resource-based cities in Northeast China are studied from 2003 to 2012. The results show that resource-based cities in Jilin and Liaoning provinces performed better than those in Heilongjiang province. Liaoyuan, Songyuan and Baishan were ranked as the top three resource-based cities; and Jixi, Yichun and Heihe were ranked last. Multi-resource and petroleum resource-based cities performed better than coal and forestry resource-based cities. We also analyzed the factors influencing urban transition performance using the method of the geographic detector. We found that capital input, road density and location advantage had the greatest effects on urban transition performance, followed by urban scale, remaining resources and the level of sustainable development; supporting policies and labor input had the smallest effects. Based on these insights, we have formulated several recommendations to facilitate urban transitions in China’s resource-based cities.

Successful, safe and sustainable cities: towards a New Urban Agenda

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David Satterthwaite

2017-04-01

Full Text Available There is a growing interest among national governments and international agencies in the contribution of urban centres to sustainable development. The paper outlines the new global agendas to guide this: the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement and the New Urban Agenda. It then sets out the key challenges and opportunities facing urban governments across the Commonwealth in implementing these agendas and achieving inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities. This is hampered by significant infrastructure deficits (especially in provision for water and sanitation and a lack of funding. After outlining the commitments agreed by national governments in these global agendas, the paper discusses the vital role in meeting these of city leadership, financing and investment, urban planning and local economic development. Whilst it is good to see recognition of the importance of cities to national economies, economic success in any city does not automatically contribute to a healthier city, a more inclusive city or a sustainable city. This needs capable and accountable urban governments working closely with local civil society, and the redirection of public funds and development assistance to support them.

Urbanization and risks: case of Bejaia city in Algeria

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Walid Hamma

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Urbanization is a worldwide process, occurring rapidly with adverse consequences on the environment and people. More exactly, urbanization aggravates natural risks and creates additional artificial risks; this is a key issue for urban planning, which can reduce the exposure and negative outcomes if its provisions are properly enforced. This article is based on observations from Bejaia, Algeria. Each year, the city suffers from disasters including floods, forest fires and landslides. This situation has led to the question whether urban planning observes the regulations from other domains. In order to answer it, different risks threatening the city were modeled and mapped. The results consist of computing the number of buildings situated within non-aedificandi zones by the type of risk. The results show that 15,832 buildings violate the law. Moreover, natural hazards (78.31% are a more important threat than the artificial ones (21.69%. The most important natural risks are due to forest fires (44.82%, and the explosion of the industrial zones (15.24% is the dominant artificial risk. The findings show that planning can help reducing the risk exposure within the urban areas, if the planning provisions are properly enforced. Moreover, the article makes a significant contribution to demonstrating the possible consequences of sacrificing long-term safety for short-term political interests.

Limitations of urban development in land of social origin: the case of the metropolitan area of the city of Toluca (ZMCT

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Jiménez-Sánchez Pedro Leobardo

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The paper analyses the occupation process of agricultural land with social origin and urban uses in the metropolitan area of the city of Toluca (ZMCT, and the barriers that the population and authorities have to face in order to regularize the settlements. A mixed research method was applied, which included the use of quantitative and qualitative methods, on the basis of a theoretical analysis, to build a methodological research model, which was applied to an empirical case in municipal and metropolitan areas. The analysis of the 14 municipalities that constitute ZMCT shows that the barriers for regularizing settlements in land of social origin are the result of legal/administrative inefficiencies due to the incapability of local city halls to address the collective needs of society.

Towards an urban planners’ perspective on Smart City

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Rocco Papa

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The concept of “Smart City”, providing a solution for making cities more efficient and sustainable, has been quite popular in recent years, encouraging reflections, ideas, researches and projects for a “smart” urban development. A smart city is generally meant as a city capable of joining “competitiveness” and “sustainability”, by integrating different dimensions of development and addressing infrastructural investments able to support economic growth as well as the quality of life of communities, a more careful management of natural resources, a greater transparency and participation to decision-making processes. Based on those assumptions, this contribution tackle the controversial subject of Smart City, starting from the review of the scientific Italian and international literature that, from the Eighties to the Nineties, has been largely focused on ICTs and their impacts on urban development. Then, the focus shifts on the large debate on smart cities that has been developing from the beginning of 2000s and on the numerous institutional initiatives up to now implemented by the European Union for building up the Smart City. Finally, the article highlights how, despite these efforts, a shared definition of the term is still missing and current approaches to the issue are still very heterogeneous; it emphasizes, on the opposite, the key-role that urban planning, grounding on a holistic approach to cities’ development, should play in coordinating and integrating urban policies addressed to building up a Smart City.

Determinants of Household Food Security in Urban Areas

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Sarah Ayu Mutiah

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Food security at household level is a very important precondition to foster the national and regional food security. Many people migrate to urban areas in the hope of improving their welfare. Generally people think that in the city there are more opportunities, but the opposite is true. The problem is more complex in the city especially for people who do not have adequate skills and education. This study aims to address whether  age of household head, household size, education level of household head, income, and distribution of subsidized rice policy affect the food security of urban poor households in Purbalingga district. A hundred respondents were selected from four top villages in urban areas of Purbalingga with the highest level of poverty. Using binary logistic regression, this study finds significant positive effect of education of household head and household income and significant negative effect of household size and raskin on household food security, while age of household head has no significant effect on household food security. The results imply the need for increased awareness of family planning, education, improved skills, and increased control of the implementation of subsidized rice for the poor.

Summer in the City - Assessing and Communicating the Richmond, VA Urban Heat Island to the Public and Policymakers

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffman, J. S.; Maurakis, E. G.; Shandas, V.

2017-12-01

The local impacts of global climate change are generally underestimated or misunderstood by the public and policymakers as far-off, future problems. However, differential and regional surface warming trends are exacerbated in urban areas due to the radiative properties of impervious surfaces like buildings and roads relative to natural landscapes. Decades of research illustrate that this unnatural radiative imbalance in the built environment gives rise to the well-studied urban heat island effect, whereby air temperatures in urban areas are several degrees warmer than in surrounding non-urbanized areas. In this way, the urban heat island effect presents a unique opportunity to highlight the human influence on Earth systems and at the same time mobilize local community-scale action to mitigate and become resilient to climate change impacts on tangible, experiential time scales. However, public stakeholders, city planners, and policymakers may view the urban heat island effect and its mitigation strategies through varying degrees of climatological, public health, and urban development knowledge and interest. This variation in stakeholder engagement highlights the need for individualized science communication strategies for each audience in order to maximize understanding of the scientific outcomes and tactics for mitigating the urban heat island effect. The City of Richmond, Virginia is currently developing a climate action plan as part of their greenhouse gas emission reduction initiative, RVAgreen 2050, and its recently announced "Richmond 300," a 20-year city development master plan. These initiatives provide the policy backdrop for a public and stakeholder education campaign centered on communicating urban heat island effects and resilience strategies. As such, the Science Museum of Virginia led the city's first urban heat island assessment using citizen science and leveraging a network of local university, non-profit, and city government stakeholders. Here, we

3D Urban Virtual Models generation methodology for smart cities

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M. Álvarez

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Currently the use of Urban 3D Models goes beyond the mere support of three-dimensional image for the visualization of our urban surroundings. The three-dimensional Urban Models are in themselves fundamental tools to manage the different phenomena that occur in smart cities. It is therefore necessary to generate realistic models, in which BIM building design information can be integrated with GIS and other space technologies. The generation of 3D Urban Models benefit from the amount of data from sensors with the latest technologies such as airborne sensors and of the existence of international standards such as CityGML. This paper presents a methodology for the development of a three - dimensional Urban Model, based on LiDAR data and the CityGML standard, applied to the city of Lorca.

Planning the Green Walkable City: Conceptualizing Values and Conflicts for Urban Green Space Strategies in Stockholm

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Hélène Littke

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Urban green spaces are essential elements of cities, contributing to the quality of life in numerous ways. However, densification strategies create a complex relationship between urban development and the quality, as well as the quantity, of urban green space. This paper examines the Green Walkable City Programme in Stockholm, a document developed to supplement the comprehensive plan as a strategic backbone for green urban planning. Based on interviews and content analysis, this paper identifies and discusses concerns raised in the development of the planning programme, and addresses the importance of urban green space for citizens’ well-being. The new comprehensive plan has introduced a shift in the attitude towards the urban green space in Stockholm. The need for urban growth is used to justify development of green fields, and a focus on the quality, rather than the quantity, of urban green space is promoted. Despite this progress, the public requests definitions for this quality approach and fears that nature within the city will be “parkified”. Therefore, this paper offers a critical reflection on the role of the Green Walkable City Programme, its situation within the context of Swedish green urban planning, and various areas of concern that have been highlighted.

Accelerated Urban Expansion in Lhasa City and the Implications for Sustainable Development in a Plateau City

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Wei Tang

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Urbanization challenges regional sustainable development, but a slight expansion mechanism was revealed in a plateau city. We have integrated the urban expansion process and analyzed its determinants in Lhasa (Tibet, and we provide insightful suggestions for urban management and planning for Lhasa. The full continuum of the urban expansion process has been captured using time-series of high-resolution remote sensing data (1990–2015. Four categories of potential determinants involved in economic, demographic, social, and government policy factors were selected, and redundancy analysis was employed to define the contribution rates of these determinants. The results illustrate that considerable urban expansion occurred from 1990 to 2015 in Lhasa, with the area of construction land and transportation land increasing at rates of 117.2% and 564.7%, respectively. The urban expansion in the center of Lhasa can be characterized as temperate sprawl from 1990 through 2008, primarily explained by governmental policies and investment, economic development, tourist growth, and increased governmental investment resulting in faster urban expansion from 2008 to 2015, mainly occurring in the east, south, and west of Lhasa. In contrast with other cities of China, central government investment and “pairing-up support” projects have played an important role in infrastructure construction in Lhasa. The miraculous development of the tourism industry had prominent effects on this economic development and urbanization after 2006, due to the running of the Tibetan Railway. An integrative and proactive policy framework, the “Lhasa development model”, having important theoretical, methodological, and management implications for urban planning and development, has been proposed.

Urban ecologies of the contemporary city

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Read, S.A.; Sezer, C.

2005-01-01

The models we use for understanding the city have changed since the early 20th century when the social-spatial researchers of the Chicago School elaborated their idea of ‘urban ecologies’. Technological, social and urban changes mean we can no longer understand processes of economy, community,

Human and remote sensing data to investigate the frontiers of urbanization in the south of Mexico City

OpenAIRE

Rodriguez Lopez, Juan Miguel; Heider, Katharina; Scheffran, J?rgen

2016-01-01

The data presented here were originally collected for the article “Frontiers of Urbanization: Identifying and Explaining Urbanization Hot Spots in the South of Mexico City Using Human and Remote Sensing” (Rodriguez et al. 2017) [4]. They were divided into three databases (remote sensing, human sensing, and census information), using a multi-method approach with the goal of analyzing the impact of urbanization on protected areas in southern Mexico City. The remote sensing database was prepared...

Cities as Novel Biomes;Recognizing Urban Ecosystem Services as Anthropogenic

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Stephanie ePincetl

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Urban Ecosystem Science is now an established science, arising along side the historic shift of humans to becoming in majority urban dwellers. In this Perspective I suggest there is a need to develop a new framework for UES as embedded in distinct urban biomes that can be classified by city-type and typologized. UES are largely the artifact of human decision making from what to plant where, to determining the urban infrastructure type in which UES will be placed. Developing urban typologies by climate zone, level of development, size and history will better enable the understanding of UES. I attempt to show the rise of the importance of nature, and of urban nature following the development of industrial city, and the importance of human intent in creating these urban ecosystems over time. If humans choose to manage cities through increasing UES, this will require coupled shifts, the shift in rules and regulations, goals and processes and shifts in urban form, infrastructure and function – socio-technical-ecological changes – driven by human decision-making. Such efforts will vary widely by city -- by urban biome.

Urban agriculture in the transition to low carbon cities through urban greening

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Mary Thornbush

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Urban agriculture presents an opportunity to extend food production to cities. This could enhance food security, particularly in developing countries, and allow for adaptation to growing urbanization. This review paper examines current trends in urban agriculture from a global perspective as a mitigation-adaptation approach to climate change adaptation in the midst of a growing world population. Employing vegetation as a carbon capture and storage system encapsulates a soft-engineering strategy that can be easily deployed by planners and environmental managers. In this review, urban agriculture is presented as a land-use solution to counteract the effects of urbanization, and as a means to establish a continuum between cities and the countryside. It espouses the usefulness of urban agriculture to enhance food security while sequestering carbon. As part of urban greening (including newer approaches, such as green roofs and gardens as well as more established forms of greening, such as forests and parks, urban agriculture offers traditionally rural services in cities, thereby contributing to food resources as well as working to alleviate pressing social issues like poverty. It also provides a way to reduce stress on farmland, and creates opportunities for employment and community-building. As part of greening, urban agriculture provides a buffer for pollution and improves environmental (and well as human health and well-being. This review begins by addressing the physical factors of adopting urban agriculture, such as climate change and development, land use and degradation, technology and management, and experimental findings as well as human factors investigated in the published literature. As such, it presents an integrated approach to urban agriculture that is part of a social-ecological perspective.

Unified Data Model of Urban Air Pollution Dispersion and 3D Spatial City Models: Groundwork Assessment towards Sustainable Urban Development for Malaysia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ujang, Uznir; Anton, François; Rahman, Alias Abdul

2013-01-01

air pollution in urban areas encompasses sophisticated air quality modeling and data acquisition. However, rapid developments in major cities cause difficulties in acquiring the city geometries. The existing method in acquiring city geometries data via ground or space measurement inspection....... Therefore this paper aims is to perform groundwork assessment and discuss on the current scenario in Malaysia in the aspect of current policies towards SUD, air quality monitoring stations, scale model and detail discussion on air pollution dispersion model used called the Operational Street Pollution Model......Understanding the behavior of urban air pollution is important en route for sustainable urban development (SUD). Malaysia is on its mission to be a developed country by year 2020 comprehends dealing with air pollution is one of the indicators headed towards it. At present monitoring and managing...

An urban informatics approach to smart city learning in architecture and urban design education

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Mirko Guaralda

2013-08-01

Full Text Available This study aims to redefine spaces of learning to places of learning through the direct engagement of local communities as a way to examine and learn from real world issues in the city. This paper exemplifies Smart City Learning, where the key goal is to promote the generation and exchange of urban design ideas for the future development of South Bank, in Brisbane, Australia, informing the creation of new design policies responding to the needs of local citizens. Specific to this project was the implementation of urban informatics techniques and approaches to promote innovative engagement strategies. Architecture and Urban Design students were encouraged to review and appropriate real-time, ubiquitous technology, social media, and mobile devices that were used by urban residents to augment and mediate the physical and digital layers of urban infrastructures. Our study’s experience found that urban informatics provide an innovative opportunity to enrich students’ place of learning within the city.

Quantifying the Trends in Land Surface Temperature and Surface Urban Heat Island Intensity in Mediterranean Cities in View of Smart Urbanization

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Anastasios Polydoros

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Land Surface Temperature (LST is a key parameter for the estimation of urban fluxes as well as for the assessment of the presence and strength of the surface urban heat island (SUHI. In an urban environment, LST depends on the way the city has been planned and developed over time. To this end, the estimation of LST needs adequate spatial and temporal data at the urban scale, especially with respect to land cover/land use. The present study is divided in two parts: at first, satellite data from MODIS-Terra 8-day product (MOD11A2 were used for the analysis of an eighteen-year time series (2001–2017 of the LST spatial and temporal distribution in five major cities of the Mediterranean during the summer months. LST trends were retrieved and assessed for their statistical significance. Secondly, LST values and trends for each city were examined in relation to land cover characteristics and patterns in order to define the contribution of urban development and planning on LST; this information is important for the drafting of smart urbanization policies and measures. Results revealed (a positive LST trends in the urban areas especially during nighttime ranging from +0.412 °K in Marseille to +0.923 °K in Cairo and (b the SUHI has intensified during the last eighteen years especially during daytime in European Mediterranean cities, such as Rome (+0.332 °K and Barcelona (+0.307 °K.

Effects of Urbanization and Seasonal Cycle on the Surface Urban Heat Island Patterns in the Coastal Growing Cities: A Case Study of Casablanca, Morocco

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Hicham Bahi

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The urban heat island (UHI phenomenon is a harmful environmental problem in urban areas affecting both climatic and ecological processes. This paper aims to highlight and monitor the spatial distribution of Surface UHI (SUHI in the Casablanca region, Morocco, using remote sensing data. To achieve this goal, a time series of Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI-TIRS images was acquired from 1984 to 2016 and analyzed. In addition, nocturnal MODIS images acquired from 2005 to 2015 were used to evaluate the nighttime SUHI. In order to better analyze intense heat produced by urban core, SUHI intensity (SUHII was computed by quantifying the difference of land surface temperature (LST between urban and rural areas. The urban core SUHII appears more significant in winter seasons than during summer, while the pattern of SUHII becomes moderate during intermediate seasons. During winter, the average daytime SUHII gradually increased in the residential area of Casablanca and in some small peri-urban cities by more than 1 °C from 1984 to 2015. The industrial areas of the Casablanca region were affected by a significant rise in SUHII exceeding 15 °C in certain industrial localities. In contrast, daytime SUHII shows a reciprocal effect during summer with emergence of a heat island in rural areas and development of cool islands in urban and peri-urban areas. During nighttime, the SUHII remains positive in urban areas year-round with higher values in winter as compared to summer. The results point out that the seasonal cycle of daytime SUHII as observed in the Casablanca region is different from other mid-latitude cities, where the highest values are often observed in summer during the day.

Towards “Sustainable” Sanitation: Challenges and Opportunities in Urban Areas

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Kim Andersson

2016-12-01

Full Text Available While sanitation is fundamental for health and wellbeing, cities of all sizes face growing challenges in providing safe, affordable and functional sanitation systems that are also sustainable. Factors such as limited political will, inadequate technical, financial and institutional capacities and failure to integrate safe sanitation systems into broader urban development have led to a persistence of unsustainable systems and missed opportunities to tackle overlapping and interacting urban challenges. This paper reviews challenges associated with providing sanitation systems in urban areas and explores ways to promote sustainable sanitation in cities. It focuses on opportunities to stimulate sustainable sanitation approaches from a resource recovery perspective, generating added value to society while protecting human and ecosystem health. We show how, if integrated within urban development, sustainable sanitation has great potential to catalyse action and contribute to multiple sustainable development goals.

Constructing a paleo-DEM in an urban area by the example of the city of Aachen, Germany: Methods and previous results

Science.gov (United States)

Pröschel, Bernhard; Lehmkuhl, Frank

2017-04-01

Reconstructing paleo-landscapes in urban areas is always a special challenge since the research area often witnessed constant human impact over long time periods. Dense building development is a major difficulty, particularly in regard to accessibility to in-situ soils and archaeological findings. It is therefore necessary to use data from various sources and combine methods from different fields to gain a detailed picture of the former topography. The area, which is occupied by the city of Aachen today, looks back on a long history of human influence. Traces of human activity can be dated back to Neolithic time. The first architectural structures and the first road network were built by the Romans about 2000 years ago. From then on, the area of Aachen was more or less continuously inhabited forming today's city. This long history is represented by archaeological findings throughout the city. Several meters of settlement deposits, covering different eras, are present in many locations. Therefore, it can be assumed that the modern topography significantly differs from the pre-roman topography. The main objective of this project is a reconstruction of the paleo-topography of Aachen in order to gain new insights on the spatial preconditions that the first settlers found. Moreover, further attention is given to the question whether and to what extent a paleo-DEM can help to clarify specific open archaeological and historical questions. The main database for the reconstruction are the archaeological excavation reports of the past 150 years, provided by municipal and regional archives. After analyzing these written accounts, we linked this information to drill data, provided by the Geological Service of North Rhine-Westphalia. Together with additional sources like geological and hydrological maps, we generated a GIS-based terrain model. The result is a high-resolution terrain model, representing the undisturbed pre-roman topography of the inner city of Aachen without any

Renewable Energy in Urban Areas: Worldwide Research Trends

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Miguel-Angel Perea-Moreno

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This study aims to highlight the contribution made by different international institutions in the field of urban generation of renewable energy, as a key element to achieve sustainability. This has been possible through the use of the Scopus Elsevier database, and the application of bibliometric techniques through which the articles content published from 1977 to 2017 has been analysed. The results shown by Scopus (e.g., journal articles and conferences proceedings have been taken into account for further analysis by using the following search pattern (TITLE-ABS-KEY ({Renewable energy} AND ({urban} OR ({cit*}. In order to carry out this study, key features of the publications have been taken into consideration, such as type of document, language, thematic area, type of publication, and keywords. As far as keywords are concerned, renewable energy, sustainability, sustainable development, urban areas, city, and energy efficiency, have been the most frequently used. The results found have been broken down both geographically and by institution, showing that China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and India are the main research countries and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Education China and Tsinghua University the major contributing institutes. With regard to the categories, Energy, Environmental Sciences, and Engineering are positioned as the most active categories. The scientific community agrees that the study of the renewable energy generation in cities is of vital importance to achieve more sustainable cities, and for the welfare of a growing urban population. Moreover, this is in line with the energy policies adopted by most of developed countries in order to mitigate climate change effects.

The Social and Ecological Problems of Urbanized Areas in Mongolia

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Peter D. Gunin

2006-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the results of studies on the formation of urbanized territories and metropolitan areas in Mongolia, and the in fl uences of the industrial complex on the pollution level in urban landscapes, as well as on population health. The capital city, Ulaanbaatar, is one of the most highly polluted cities in the Central Asian region. The data on spatial distribution and the contents of toxic elements in the soils, snow cover, plants and human hair are given, according to the main ecological zones of the city. The statistical data on the dynamics of birthrate, rates of sickness and death of the population by the main groups of diseases are analyzed in accordance with the classi fi cation of the World Health Organization.

Comparison of the impacts of urban development and climate change on exposing European cities to pluvial flooding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaspersen, Per Skougaard; Høegh Ravn, Nanna; Arnbjerg-Nielsen, Karsten

2017-01-01

The economic and human consequences of extreme precipitation and the related flooding of urban areas have increased rapidly over the past decades. Some of the key factors that affect the risks to urban areas include climate change, the densification of assets within cities and the general expansion...

Urban Big Data and the Development of City Intelligence

OpenAIRE

Pan, Yunhe; Tian, Yun; Liu, Xiaolong; Gu, Dedao; Hua, Gang

2016-01-01

This study provides a definition for urban big data while exploring its features and applications of China's city intelligence. The differences between city intelligence in China and the “smart city” concept in other countries are compared to highlight and contrast the unique definition and model for China's city intelligence in this paper. Furthermore, this paper examines the role of urban big data in city intelligence by showing that it not only serves as the cornerstone of this trend as it...

Multifunctionality assessment of urban agriculture in Beijing City, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Jian; Liu, Zhicong; Liu, Yanxu; Hu, Xiaoxu; Wang, An

2015-12-15

As an important approach to the realization of agricultural sustainable development, multifunctionality has become a hot spot in the field of urban agriculture. Taking 13 agricultural counties of Beijing City as the assessing units, this study selects 10 assessing index from ecological, economic and social aspects, determines the index weight using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method, and establishes an index system for the integrated agricultural function. Based on standardized data from agricultural census and remote sensing, the integrated function and multifunctionality of urban agriculture in Beijing City are assessed through the index grade mapping. The results show that agricultural counties with the highest score in ecological, economic, and social function are Yanqing, Changping, and Miyun, respectively; and the greatest disparity among those counties is economic function, followed by social and ecological function. Topography and human disturbance may be the factors that affect integrated agricultural function. The integrated agricultural function of Beijing rises at the beginning then drops later with the increase of mean slope, average altitude, and distance from the city. The whole city behaves balance among ecological, economic, and social functions at the macro level, with 8 out of the 13 counties belonging to ecology-society-economy balanced areas, while no county is dominant in only one of the three functions. On the micro scale, however, different counties have their own functional inclination: Miyun, Yanqing, Mentougou, and Fengtai are ecology-society dominant, and Tongzhou is ecology-economy dominant. The agricultural multifunctionality in Beijing City declines from the north to the south, with Pinggu having the most significant agricultural multifunctionality. The results match up well with the objective condition of Beijing's urban agriculture planning, which has proved the methodological rationality of the assessment to a certain extent

Identification of the potential gap areas for the developing green infrastructure in the Urban area using High resolution satellite Imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Kanaparthi, M. B.

2017-12-01

In India urban population is growing day by day which is causing air pollution less air quality finally leading to climate change and global warming. To mitigate the effect of the climate change we need to plant more trees in the urban area. The objective of this study is develop a plan to improve the urban Green Infrastructure (GI) to fight against the climate change and global warming. Improving GI is a challenging and difficult task in the urban areas because land unavailability of land, to overcome the problem greenways is a good the solution. Greenway is a linear open space developed along the rivers, canals, roads in the urban areas to form a network of green spaces. Roads are the most common structures in the urban area. The idea is to develop the greenways alongside the road to connecting the different green spaces. Tree crowns will act as culverts to connect the green spaces. This will require the spatial structure of the green space, distribution of trees along the roads and the gap areas along the road where more trees can be planted. This can be achieved with help of high resolution Satellite Imagery and the object extraction techniques. This study was carried in the city Bhimavaram which is located in state Andhra Pradesh. The final outcome of this study is potential gap areas for planting trees in the city.

WARMER URBAN CLIMATES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF GREEN SPACES IN NORTHERN SIBERIAN CITIES

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Igor Esau

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Modern human societies have accumulated considerable power to modify their environment and the earth’s system climate as the whole. The most significant environmental changes are found in the urbanized areas. This study considers coherent changes in vegetation productivity and land surface temperature (LST around four northern West Siberian cities, namely, Tazovsky, Nadym, Noyabrsk and Megion. These cities are located in tundra, forest-tundra, northern taiga and middle taiga bioclimatic zones correspondingly. Our analysis of 15 years (2000–2014 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS data revealed significantly (1.3 °C to 5.2 °C warmer seasonally averaged LST within the urbanized territories than those of the surrounding landscapes. The magnitude of the urban LST anomaly corresponds to climates found 300–600 km to the South. In the climate change perspective, this magnitude corresponds to the expected regional warming by the middle or the end of the 21st century. Warmer urban climates, and specifically warmer upper soil layers, can support re-vegetation of the disturbed urban landscapes with more productive trees and tall shrubs. This afforestation is welcome by the migrant city population as it is more consistent with their traditional ecological knowledge. Survival of atypical, southern plant species encourages a number of initiatives and investment to introduce even broader spectrum of temperate blossoming trees and shrubs in urban landscapes. The unintended changes of the urban micro-climates in combination with knowledgeable urban planning could transform the Siberian pioneer settlements into places of belonging.

Spatio-temporal Urban Change Analysis and the Ecological Threats Concerning The Third Bridge in Istanbul City

Science.gov (United States)

Akin, A.; Aliffi, S.; Sunar, F.

2014-09-01

Urban growth is a complex dynamical process associated with landscape change driving forces such as the environment, politics, geography and many others that affect the city at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Istanbul, one of the largest agglomerations in Europe and the fifth-largest city in the world in terms of population within city limits, has been growing very rapidly over the late 20th century at a rate of 3.45 %, causing to have many environmental issues. Recently, Istanbul's new third bridge and proposed new routes for across the Bosphorus are foreseen to not only threaten the ecology of the city, but also it will give a way to new areas for unplanned urbanization. The dimensions of this threat are affirmed by the urban sprawl especially after the construction of the second bridge and the connections such as Trans European Motorway (TEM). Since the spatial and temporal components of urbanization can be more simply identified through modeling, this study aims to analyze the urban change and assess the ecological threats in Istanbul city through the proper modeling for the year 2040. For this purpose, commonly used urban modeling approach, the Markov Chain within Cellular Automata (CA), was selected to simulate urban/non-urban growth process. CA is a simple and effective tool to capture and simulate the complexity of urban system dynamic. The key factor for a Markov is the transition probability matrix, which defines change trend from past to today and into the future for a certain class type, and land use suitability maps for urban. Multi Criteria Analysis was used to build these suitability maps. Distance from each pixel to the urban, road and water classes, plus the elevation, slope and land use maps (as excluded layer) were defined as factors. Calibration data were obtained from remotely sensed data recorded in 1972, 1986 and 2013. Validation was performed by overlaying the simulated and actual 2013 urban maps and Kappa Index of Agreement was

Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Planning in African Cities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Gertrud; Herslund, Lise Byskov; Lund, Dorthe Hedensted

2014-01-01

Resilience of urban structures towards impacts of a changing climate is one of the emerging tasks that cities all over the world are facing at present. Effects of climate change take many forms, depending on local climate, spatial patterns, and socioeconomic structures. Cities are only just...... beginning to be aware of the task, and some time will pass before it is integrated into mainstream urban governance. This chapter is based on work in progress. It covers urban governance and planning aspects of climate change adaptation as studied in the CLUVA project (CLimate change and Urban Vulnerability...... in Africa), as well as some experiences from Denmark. Focus is on the responses and capacities of urban authorities, strengths and weaknesses of the efforts, data needs and possible ways forward. The chapter concludes that many adaptation activities are taking place in the CLUVA case cities...

Urban growth trends in midsize Chilean cities: the case of Temuco

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Carla Marchant Santiago

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Academic production about the main Chilean cities exceeds the existing documentation on intermediate cities, though they have shown interesting trends patterns in recent years which have changed the urban system in Chile. This paper aims to analyze the urban growth processes in Chilean intermediate cities using Temuco as a case study. It begins with an historical look at the city and then mentions that in the last decades this kind of cities have undergone new forms of segregation associated to real estate activities such as private communities, rural residential properties and new localization of services which have resulted in a fragmentation of urban space, a phenomenon reinforced by the consolidation of some satellite cities. At the same time, many urban problems associated to poverty, like a standstill of the regional economy and environmental pollution have appeared, jeopardizing the sustainability of these spaces, questioning current development parameters. The article ends considering the future challenges in Temuco’s urban development.

Impact of rural urban migration on physical and social environment: The case of Dhaka city

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Momtaz Jahan

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Rural urban migration is the principle component of rapid and unplanned growth of towns and cities in the developing countries. Gross disparities in socio-economic opportunity between urban and rural areas and frequent natural disasters in some regions encourage large flow of migrants from rural Bangladesh to the large cities. For various reasons Dhaka is an attractive destination for the rural migrants. Migration to Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, is the focus of this article which identifies the factors contributing to the migration process. The impact of migration is diverse both at the urban destination and at the rural origin. At both ends there are economic, demographic, environmental and socio-cultural impacts. This paper focuses on the urban end. It examines the overall conditions of the underprivileged, poor migrants and the consequences of migration on the physical and social environment on their choice of destination.

The Spatial Reproduction in the Urban Green Areas in the Nampula City, Mozambique

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Reginaldo Rodrigues Moreno Muacuveia

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract: the work presents reflective elements on the changes of the space in the green areas of the city of Nampula due to the trade. He argues that urban green areas built for ecological, aesthetic and even psychic functions, socially produced, become places of exacerbated consumption and, at the same time, the medium of formal and informal commerce. The objective is to analyze the (re production of the space of the urban green areas in Nampula city, as well as the practice of informal commerce, in order to perceive its spatial dynamics. In order to do so, an analysis was carried out from a review of the bibliography in order to understand the conceptual meaning and later, to analyze the trade dynamics practiced in these areas, the spatiality that it reproduces. The results indicate that the green areas of the city have turned into places of practice of formal commerce carried out in stalls and fixed stalls subject to the payment of taxes and the informal practice practiced by mobile strollers who evade taxes. A Reprodução do Espaço nas Áreas Verdes Urbanas na Cidade de Nampula, Moçambique Resumo: o trabalho apresenta elementos reflexivos sobre as alterações do espaço nas áreas verdes da cidade de Nampula em função do comércio. Argumenta como as áreas verdes urbanas construídas para funções ecológicas, estéticas e até psíquicas, socialmente produzidas passam a ser locais de consumo exacerbado e ao mesmo tempo o meio onde se realiza o comércio formal e informal. O objetivo é analisar a (re produção do espaço das áreas verdes urbana da cidade de Nampula, bem como a prática comércio informal, de modo a perceber a sua dinâmica espacial. Para tanto, realizou-se uma análise a partir de revisão da bibliografia de modo a compreender a acepção conceitual e a posterior, analisar a dinâmica do comércio praticado nestas áreas e a espacialidade que ela reproduz. Os resultados indicam que as áreas verdes da cidade

The Pedagogical Benefits of "SimCity" in Urban Geography Education

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Kim, Minsung; Shin, Jungyeop

2016-01-01

This article investigated the pedagogical potential of the "SimCity" simulation game in an urban geography course. University students used "SimCity" to build their own cities and applied a wide range of theories to support their urban structures. Moreover, the students critically evaluated the logic and functioning of the…

An assessment of urban heat island effect adopting urban parameterizations in COSMO-CLM simulations over big cities in Northern Italy

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Montesarchio, Myriam; Rianna, Guido; Mercogliano, Paola; Castellari, Sergio; Schiano, Pasquale

2015-04-01

In Europe, about 80% of people live in urban areas, which most of them can be particularly vulnerable to climate impacts (e.g. high air temperatures along with heat waves, flooding due to intense precipitation events, water scarcity and droughts). In fact, the density of people and assets within relatively small geographic areas, such as an urban settlements, mean more risk exposure than in rural areas. Therefore, reliable numerical climate models are needed for elaborating climate risk assessment at urban scale. These models must take into account the effects of the complex three-dimensional structure of urban settlements, combined with the mixture of surface types with contrasting radiative, thermal and moisture characteristics. In this respect, previous studies (e.g. Trusilova et al., 2013) have already assessed the importance to consider urban properties in very high resolution regional climate modeling to better reproduce the features of urban climate, especially in terms of urban heat island effect. In this work, two different configurations of the regional climate model COSMO-CLM at the horizontal resolution of 0.02° (about 2.2km), one including urban parameterization scheme and another without including them, have been applied in order to perform two different climate simulations covering the entire northern Italy. In particular, the present study is focused on large urban settlements such as Milan and Turin. Due to high computational cost required to run very high resolution simulations, the results of the two simulations have been compared over a period of ten years, from 1980 to 1989. Preliminary results indicate that the modification of climate conditions, due to the presence of urban areas, is present mainly in the areas covered by big cities and surrounding them, or rather the presence of urban areas induces modification mainly in their local climate. Other evidences are that the simulation including urban parameterization scheme shows, in general

Urbanization and economic development: a bias toward large cities?

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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

A New Automatic Method of Urban Areas Mapping in East Asia from LANDSAT Data

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XU, R.; Jia, G.

2012-12-01

Cities, as places where human activities are concentrated, account for a small percent of global land cover but are frequently cited as the chief causes of, and solutions to, climate, biogeochemistry, and hydrology processes at local, regional, and global scales. Accompanying with uncontrolled economic growth, urban sprawl has been attributed to the accelerating integration of East Asia into the world economy and involved dramatic changes in its urban form and land use. To understand the impact of urban extent on biogeophysical processes, reliable mapping of built-up areas is particularly essential in eastern cities as a result of their characteristics of smaller patches, more fragile, and a lower fraction of the urban landscape which does not have natural than in the West. Segmentation of urban land from other land-cover types using remote sensing imagery can be done by standard classification processes as well as a logic rule calculation based on spectral indices and their derivations. Efforts to establish such a logic rule with no threshold for automatically mapping are highly worthwhile. Existing automatic methods are reviewed, and then a proposed approach is introduced including the calculation of the new index and the improved logic rule. Following this, existing automatic methods as well as the proposed approach are compared in a common context. Afterwards, the proposed approach is tested separately in cities of large, medium, and small scale in East Asia selected from different LANDSAT images. The results are promising as the approach can efficiently segment urban areas, even in the presence of more complex eastern cities. Key words: Urban extraction; Automatic Method; Logic Rule; LANDSAT images; East AisaThe Proposed Approach of Extraction of Urban Built-up Areas in Guangzhou, China

Industrial pollutions is an environmental issue of Karachi urban area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jokhio, M.H.; Abro, M.I.; Essani, A.

2005-01-01

The Industrial pollution is one of the serious Environmental issues of the Karachi urban area, categorized as air pollution and water pollution. The localization more the 6000 industries in Karachi urban area at four different sites of Sindh industrial trading estate, Landhi industrial trading estate, Korangi industrial area west Warf industrials, Port Qasim industrial. Area and Hub industrial are near Karachi city. The major iron and steel industries includes Pakistan steel mills and its allied industries at Bin Qasim more than 100 re-rolling industries are located at site area. Karachi ship yard engineering works, Peoples steel Mill, automobile industries and various manufacturing industries which requires metal and its alloy in manufacturing of product mostly located at Bin Qasim, Korangi, and Shershah site areas. None of the industrial sector contain the waster treatment or recycling plant. The ill planted growth of Karachi and its industries caused the environmental degradation of the city and its coastal areas complete with massive mangrove destruction, air water, fishing, and agriculture possessing a potential threat to the lives of more than 10 million citizens. The environmental issues of the metal related industries include the scrap, waste and pollution. Scrapes am waste of the metal industries can be reused in other manufacturing of engineering materials or recycled to produce the new material. However the pollution is the one of the major environmental issue related with the metal industries which need the considerable research and development work in order to over come the serve environmental issues of the urban areas. This article reviews and identifies the level of industrial pollution emphasized on metal related industries of the Karachi urban areas. (author)

The Evolution of Urban Green Areas in Romania during 2002-2013

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Iulian Adrian Şorcaru

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The small size of green areas in Romanian urban settlements remains a problem of current urbanization, having a negative impact on the healthy lifestyle of the population. Nowadays, the green areas from most of the Romanian cities are under the WHO standard of 50 m2/inhabitant, under the E.U. standard of 26 m2/inhabitant, and also under the national standard (94 urban settlements-29.4% have less than 10 m2/inhabitant of green area in 2013. Furthermore, the evolution of green areas after 2002, shows that almost a quarter of Romanian urban settlements (24.5% recorded significant declines, some towns having less than one square meter per inhabitant. This study presents a detailed analysis of Romanian urban green areas, their evolution over the period 2002-2013, based on the latest data provided by INS (National Institute of Statistics, identifying in the same time the causes and effects that led to the current situation. Mapping the results and identifying regional disparities, along with proposing measures to increase urban green areas are also objectives achieved in this study.

Modelling regional climate change and urban planning scenarios and their impacts on the urban environment in two cities with WRF-ACASA

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Falk, M.; Pyles, R. D.; Marras, S.; Spano, D.; Paw U, K. T.

2011-12-01

The number of urban metabolism studies has increased in recent years, due to the important impact that energy, water and carbon exchange over urban areas have on climate change. Urban modeling is therefore crucial in the future design and management of cities. This study presents the ACASA model coupled to the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF-ARW) mesoscale model to simulate urban fluxes at a horizontal resolution of 200 meters for urban areas of roughly 100 km^2. As part of the European Project "BRIDGE", these regional simulations were used in combination with remotely sensed data to provide constraints on the land surface types and the exchange of carbon and energy fluxes from urban centers. Surface-atmosphere exchanges of mass and energy were simulated using the Advanced Canopy Atmosphere Soil Algorithm (ACASA). ACASA is a multi-layer high-order closure model, recently modified to work over natural, agricultural as well as urban environments. In particular, improvements were made to account for the anthropogenic contribution to heat and carbon production. For two cities four climate change and four urban planning scenarios were simulated: The climate change scenarios include a base scenario (Sc0: 2008 Commit in IPCC), a medium emission scenario (Sc1: IPCC A2), a worst case emission scenario (Sce2: IPCC A1F1) and finally a best case emission scenario (Sce3: IPCC B1). The urban planning scenarios include different development scenarios such as smart growth. The two cities are a high latitude city, Helsinki (Finland) and an historic city, Florence (Italy). Helsinki is characterized by recent, rapid urbanization that requires a substantial amount of energy for heating, while Florence is representative of cities in lower latitudes, with substantial cultural heritage and a comparatively constant architectural footprint over time. In general, simulated fluxes matched the point observations well and showed consistent improvement in the energy partitioning over

[Ecological suitability assessment and optimization of urban land expansion space in Guiyang City].

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Qiu, Cong-hao; Li, Yang-bing; Feng, Yuan-song

2015-09-01

Based on the case study of Guiyang City, the minimum cumulative resistance model integrating construction land source, ecological rigid constraints and ecological function type resistance factor, was built by use of cost-distance analysis of urban spatial expansion resistance value through ArcGIS 9.3 software in this paper. Then, the ecological resistance of city spatial expansion of Guiyang from 2010 was simulated dynamically and the ecological suitability classification of city spatial expansion was assessed. According to the conflict between the newly increased city construction land in 2014 and its ecological suitability, the unreasonable city land spatial allocation was discussed also. The results showed that the ecological suitability zonation and the city expansion in the study area were basically consistent during 2010-2014, but the conflict between the new city construction and its land ecological suitability was more serious. The ecological conflict area accounted for 58.2% of the new city construction sites, 35.4% of which happened in the ecological control area, 13.9% in the limited development area and 8.9% in the prohibition development area. The intensification of ecological land use conflict would impair the ecological service function and ecological safety, so this paper put forward the city spatial expansion optimal path to preserve the ecological land and improve the construction land space pattern of Guiyang City so as to ensure its ecological safety.

'Schismo-urbanism': cities, natural disaster, and urban sociology.

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Kammerbauer, Mark

2013-07-01

This paper examines a city and a natural disaster, specifically New Orleans, Louisiana, after Hurricane Katrina of August 2005. Recovery here is ongoing and the process of return is incomplete, with long-term dislocation to other cities in the United States, such as Houston, Texas. The question arises as to how planning and stratification influence evacuation and return/dislocation and how they result in a particular practice of adaptation. This interrelated process is conceptually integrated and termed 'schismo-urbanism' and is analysed within a multidimensional theoretical framework to evaluate aspects of urban sociology and natural disasters. Empirical research is based on a quantitative and qualitative mixed-method case study. Data were collected during two rounds of field research in New Orleans and Houston in 2007 and 2009. As a comparative socio-spatial study of affected and receptor communities, it makes a novel theoretical and methodological contribution to research on urban disasters in the context of continuing and rapid social change, and is targeted at disaster researchers, planning theorists and practitioners, and urbanists. © 2013 The Author(s). Journal compilation © Overseas Development Institute, 2013.

Modelling the urban air quality in Hamburg with the new city-scale chemistry transport model CityChem

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Karl, Matthias; Ramacher, Martin; Aulinger, Armin; Matthias, Volker; Quante, Markus

2017-04-01

Health Organization (WHO) guideline concentration limits for O3 and of the regulatory limits for NO2. Model tests were performed with CityChem to study the ozone formation rate with simultaneous variation of emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC). Emissions of VOC in urban areas are not well quantified as they may originate from various sources, including solvent usage, industry, combustion plants and vehicular traffic. The employed chemical mechanism contains large uncertainties with respect to ozone formation. Observed high-O3 episodes were analyzed by comparing modelled pollutant concentrations with concentration data from the Hamburg air quality surveillance network (http://luft.hamburg.de/). The analysis inspected possible reasons for too low modelled O3 in summer such as missing emissions of VOC from natural sources like green parks and the vertical exchange of O3 towards the surface.

System for Conservation of Specially Protected Natural Areas as Sustainable Urban Development Element

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Kryakhtunov, A.; Pelymskaya, O.; Chernykh, E.

2017-11-01

The article is devoted to the problem of the conservation of specially protected natural territories. The research topic is especially interesting for urban areas that provide sustainable urban development. The authors consider the main aspects of the sustainable settlement development and substantiate the direct dependence of the evolution of territories in the implementation of urban development activities with the ecological framework of a city. The object of the study is a specially protected natural area located in Western Siberia in the city of Tyumen, the Tyumen region. As a result of the analysis, the main problems of preservation of the nature monument of regional importance were revealed as well as a set of measures and management decisions regarding the conservation of the forest park.

Quality assessment of urban areas based on neural network modeling and GIS

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Popova, Olga; Glebova, Julia; Pustovgar, Andrey

2018-03-01

In this article the authors carry out the research of the urban development areas structure and propose the system of its characteristics on the basis of sector affiliation of the municipal economy. The authors have developed an algorithm for quality assessment of urban development areas. The results of the research are presented on the example of several central quarters of Arkhangelsk city. The city's residential development was formed in the periods from 1900-1950, 1950-1980 and from 2002 to date. It is currently presented by low-rise wooden, homestead type residential houses and barracks-type houses; mid-rise and high-rise brick and panel buildings of typical development, buildings of large-panel housing construction. Structural SOM-analysis compiled separate quarters of Arkhangelsk into 5 groups with a high level of characteristic similarity: "Commercial", "Prospective complex development", "Sustainable development", "Perspective renovation of residential development", "Investment-unattractive". Typical development strategies for each group of quarters are determined. Most developed areas characterized by upward height. The development strategies for depressed areas is in a high-rise building, which show the economic, social and environmental benefits of upward growth of the city. Using GIS allows to visually reflect the state and assess the quality of the urban development area by the aggregate of all parameters, and also to assess the quality of the quarters for each sector.

Spatio-temporal Assessment of Land Use/ Land Cover Dynamics and Urban Heat Island of Jaipur City using Satellite Data

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Jalan, S.; Sharma, K.

2014-11-01

Urban Heat Island (UHI) refers to the phenomena of higher surface temperature occurring in urban areas as compared to the surrounding countryside attributable to urbanization. Spatio-temporal changes in UHI can be quantified through Land Surface Temperature (LST) derived from satellite imageries. Spatial variations in LST occur due to complexity of land surface - combination of impervious surface materials, vegetation, exposed soils as well as water surfaces. Jaipur city has observed rapid urbanization over the last decade. Due to rising population pressure the city has expanded considerably in areal extent and has also observed substantial land use/land cover (LULC) changes. The paper aims to determine changes in the LST and UHI phenomena for Jaipur city over the period from 2000 to 2011 and analyzes the spatial distribution and temporal variation of LST in context of changes in LULC. Landsat 7 ETM+ (2000) and Landsat 5 TM (2011) images of summer season have been used. Results reveal that Jaipur city has witnessed considerable growth in built up area at the cost of greener patches over the last decade, which has had clear impact on variation in LST. There has been an average rise of 2.99 °C in overall summer temperature. New suburbs of the city record 2° to 4 °C increase in LST. LST change is inversely related to change in vegetation cover and positively related to extent of built up area. The study concludes that UHI of Jaipur city has intensified and extended over new areas.

Assessment of Urban Heat Islands in Small- and Mid-Sized Cities in Brazil

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Renata dos Santos Cardoso

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Urban heat islands (UHIs in large cities and different climatic regions have been thoroughly studied; however, their effects are becoming a common concern in smaller cities as well. We assessed UHIs in three tropical cities, analyzing how synoptic conditions, urban morphology, and land cover affect the heat island magnitude. Data gathering involved mobile surveys across Paranavaí (Paraná, Rancharia (São Paulo, and Presidente Prudente (São Paulo, Brazil, during summer evenings (December 2013–January 2014. Temperature data collected over five days in each city point to heat islands with magnitudes up to 6 °C, under calm synoptic conditions, whereas summer average UHI magnitudes peak at 3.7 °C. In addition, UHI magnitudes were higher in areas with closely spaced buildings and few or no trees and building materials that are not appropriate for the region’s climate and thermal comfort.

Understanding urban water performance at the city-region scale using an urban water metabolism evaluation framework.

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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

Bird Richness and Abundance in Response to Urban Form in a Latin American City: Valdivia, Chile as a Case Study

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García, Cristóbal E.; Estay, Sergio A.

2015-01-01

There is mounting evidence that urban areas influence biodiversity. Generalizations however require that multiple urban areas on multiple continents be examined. Here we evaluated the role of urban areas on avian diversity for a South American city, allowing us to examine the effects of urban features common worldwide, using the city of Valdivia, Chile as case study. We assessed the number of birds and their relative abundance in 152 grid cells of equal size (250 m2) distributed across the city. We estimated nine independent variables: land cover diversity (DC), building density (BD), impervious surface (IS),municipal green space (MG),non-municipal green space (NG), domestic garden space (DG), distance to the periphery (DP), social welfare index (SW), and vegetation diversity (RV). Impervious surface represent 41.8% of the study area, while municipal green, non-municipal green and domestic garden represent 11.6%, 23.6% and 16% of the non- man made surface. Exotic vegetation species represent 74.6% of the total species identified across the city. We found 32 bird species, all native with the exception of House Sparrow and Rock Pigeon. The most common species were House Sparrow and Chilean Swallow. Total bird richness responds negatively to IS and MG, while native bird richness responds positively to NG and negatively to BD, IS DG and, RV. Total abundance increase in areas with higher values of DC and BD, and decrease in areas of higher values of IS, SW and VR. Native bird abundance responds positively to NG and negatively to BD, IS MG, DG and RV. Our results suggest that not all the general patterns described in previous studies, conducted mainly in the USA, Europe, and Australia, can be applied to Latin American cities, having important implications for urban planning. Conservation efforts should focus on non-municipal areas, which harbor higher bird diversity, while municipal green areas need to be improved to include elements that can enhance habitat quality for

Bird Richness and Abundance in Response to Urban Form in a Latin American City: Valdivia, Chile as a Case Study.

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Carmen Paz Silva

Full Text Available There is mounting evidence that urban areas influence biodiversity. Generalizations however require that multiple urban areas on multiple continents be examined. Here we evaluated the role of urban areas on avian diversity for a South American city, allowing us to examine the effects of urban features common worldwide, using the city of Valdivia, Chile as case study. We assessed the number of birds and their relative abundance in 152 grid cells of equal size (250 m2 distributed across the city. We estimated nine independent variables: land cover diversity (DC, building density (BD, impervious surface (IS,municipal green space (MG,non-municipal green space (NG, domestic garden space (DG, distance to the periphery (DP, social welfare index (SW, and vegetation diversity (RV. Impervious surface represent 41.8% of the study area, while municipal green, non-municipal green and domestic garden represent 11.6%, 23.6% and 16% of the non- man made surface. Exotic vegetation species represent 74.6% of the total species identified across the city. We found 32 bird species, all native with the exception of House Sparrow and Rock Pigeon. The most common species were House Sparrow and Chilean Swallow. Total bird richness responds negatively to IS and MG, while native bird richness responds positively to NG and negatively to BD, IS DG and, RV. Total abundance increase in areas with higher values of DC and BD, and decrease in areas of higher values of IS, SW and VR. Native bird abundance responds positively to NG and negatively to BD, IS MG, DG and RV. Our results suggest that not all the general patterns described in previous studies, conducted mainly in the USA, Europe, and Australia, can be applied to Latin American cities, having important implications for urban planning. Conservation efforts should focus on non-municipal areas, which harbor higher bird diversity, while municipal green areas need to be improved to include elements that can enhance habitat

Bird Richness and Abundance in Response to Urban Form in a Latin American City: Valdivia, Chile as a Case Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Carmen Paz; García, Cristóbal E; Estay, Sergio A; Barbosa, Olga

2015-01-01

There is mounting evidence that urban areas influence biodiversity. Generalizations however require that multiple urban areas on multiple continents be examined. Here we evaluated the role of urban areas on avian diversity for a South American city, allowing us to examine the effects of urban features common worldwide, using the city of Valdivia, Chile as case study. We assessed the number of birds and their relative abundance in 152 grid cells of equal size (250 m2) distributed across the city. We estimated nine independent variables: land cover diversity (DC), building density (BD), impervious surface (IS),municipal green space (MG),non-municipal green space (NG), domestic garden space (DG), distance to the periphery (DP), social welfare index (SW), and vegetation diversity (RV). Impervious surface represent 41.8% of the study area, while municipal green, non-municipal green and domestic garden represent 11.6%, 23.6% and 16% of the non- man made surface. Exotic vegetation species represent 74.6% of the total species identified across the city. We found 32 bird species, all native with the exception of House Sparrow and Rock Pigeon. The most common species were House Sparrow and Chilean Swallow. Total bird richness responds negatively to IS and MG, while native bird richness responds positively to NG and negatively to BD, IS DG and, RV. Total abundance increase in areas with higher values of DC and BD, and decrease in areas of higher values of IS, SW and VR. Native bird abundance responds positively to NG and negatively to BD, IS MG, DG and RV. Our results suggest that not all the general patterns described in previous studies, conducted mainly in the USA, Europe, and Australia, can be applied to Latin American cities, having important implications for urban planning. Conservation efforts should focus on non-municipal areas, which harbor higher bird diversity, while municipal green areas need to be improved to include elements that can enhance habitat quality for

Model of urban water management towards water sensitive city: a literature review

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Maftuhah, D. I.; Anityasari, M.; Sholihah, M.

2018-04-01

Nowadays, many cities are facing with complex issues such as climate change, social, economic, culture, and environmental problems, especially urban water. In other words, the city has to struggle with the challenge to make sure its sustainability in all aspects. This research focuses on how to ensure the city sustainability and resilience on urban water management. Many research were not only conducted in urban water management, but also in sustainability itself. Moreover, water sustainability shifts from urban water management into water sensitive city. This transition needs comprehensive aspects such as social, institutional dynamics, technical innovation, and local contents. Some literatures about model of urban water management and the transition towards water sensitivity had been reviewed in this study. This study proposed discussion about model of urban water management and the transition towards water sensitive city. Research findings suggest that there are many different models developed in urban water management, but they are not comprehensive yet and only few studies discuss about the transition towards water sensitive and resilience city. The drawbacks of previous research can identify and fulfill the gap of this study. Therefore, the paper contributes a general framework for the urban water management modelling studies.

The Urban Heat Island Behavior of a Large Northern Latitude Metropolitan Area

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Twine, T. E.; Snyder, P. K.; Hertel, W.; Mykleby, P.

2012-12-01

Urban heat islands (UHIs) occur when urban and suburban areas experience elevated temperatures relative to their rural surroundings because of differences in vegetation cover, buildings and other development, and infrastructure. Most cities in the United States are warming at twice the rate of the outlying rural areas and the planet as a whole. Temperatures in the urban center can be 2-5°C warmer during the daytime and as much as 10°C at night. Urban warming is responsible for excessive energy consumption, heat-related health effects, an increase in urban pollution, degradation of urban ecosystems, changes in the local meteorology, and an increase in thermal pollution into urban water bodies. One mitigation strategy involves manipulating the surface energy budget to either reduce the amount of solar radiation absorbed at the surface or offset absorbed energy through latent cooling. Options include using building materials with different properties of reflectivity and emissivity, increasing the reflectivity of parking lots, covering roofs with vegetation, and increasing the amount of vegetation overall through tree planting or increasing green space. The goal of the Islands in the Sun project is to understand the formation and behavior of urban heat islands and to mitigate their effects through sensible city engineering and design practices. As part of this project, we have been characterizing the UHI of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (TCMA), a 16,000 square kilometer urban and suburban region located in east central Minnesota that includes the two cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and evaluating mitigation strategies for reducing urban warming. Annually, the TCMA has a modest 2-3°C UHI that is especially apparent in winter when the urban core can be up to 5-6°C warmer than the surrounding countryside. We present an analysis of regional temperature variations from a dense network of sensors located throughout the TCMA. We focus on the diurnal and seasonal

City Labs as Vehicles for Innovation in Urban Planning Processes

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Christian Scholl

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper assesses the role of urban experiments for local planning processes through a case-based analysis of the city lab of Maastricht. In conjunction with this, the article offers three contributions, as additional elements. Firstly, the paper develops a set of defining characteristics of city labs as an analytical concept which is relevant for discussions about (collaborative planning. Secondly, it refines the literature on collaborative planning by drawing attention to experimentation and innovation. Thirdly, the paper assesses the potential of city labs to contribute to the innovation of urban governance. The work draws from the literature on experimentation and learning as well as the literature on collaborative urban planning. In the conclusions, we discuss the potential of city labs as vehicles for learning about new urban planning approaches and their limitations as spaces for small-scale experimentation. The paper is based on research for the URB@Exp research project funded by JPI Urban Europe.

Effects of Urbanization Expansion on Landscape Pattern and Region Ecological Risk in Chinese Coastal City: A Case Study of Yantai City

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Di Zhou

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Applied with remote sensing, GIS, and mathematical statistics, the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of urbanization expansion of Yantai city from 1974 to 2009 was studied. Based on landscape pattern metrics and ecological risk index, the landscape ecological risk from the landscape pattern dynamics was evaluated. The results showed that the area of urban land increased by 189.77 km2 with average expansion area of 5.42 km2 y−1 from 1974 to 2009. The urbanization intensity index during 2004–2009 was 3.92 times of that during 1974–1990. The land use types of urban land and farmland changed greatly. The changes of landscape pattern metrics for land use patterns indicated that the intensity of human activities had strengthened gradually in study period. The landscape ecological risk pattern of Yantai city shaped half-round rings along the coastline. The ecological risk index decreased with increase of the distance to the coastline. The ratio of high ecological risk to subhigh ecological risk zones in 2009 was 2.23 times of that in 1990. The significant linear relationship of urbanization intensity index and regional ecological risk indicated that the anthropological economic activities were decisive factors for sustainable development of costal ecological environment.

Effects of Urbanization Expansion on Landscape Pattern and Region Ecological Risk in Chinese Coastal City: A Case Study of Yantai City

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Zhou, D.; Yu, J.; Li, Y.; Zhan, C.

2017-12-01

Applied with remote sensing, GIS, and mathematical statistics, the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of urbanization expansion of Yantai city from1974 to 2009 was studied. Based on landscape pattern metrics and ecological risk index, the landscape ecological risk from the landscape pattern dynamics was evaluated. The results showed that the area of urban land increased by 189.77 km2 with average expansion area of 5.42 km2 y-1 from1974 to 2009.The urbanization intensity index during 2004-2009 was 3.92 times of that during 1974-1990. The land use types of urban land and farmland changed greatly. The changes of landscape pattern metrics for land use patterns indicated that the intensity of human activities had strengthened gradually in study period. The landscape ecological risk pattern of Yantai city shaped half-round rings along the coastline. The ecological risk index decreased with increase of the distance to the coastline. The ratio of high ecological risk to sub-high ecological risk zones in 2009 was 2.23 times of that in 1990.The significant linear relationship of urbanization intensity index and regional ecological risk indicated that the anthropological economic activities were decisive factors for sustainable development of costal ecological environment.

Effects of urbanization expansion on landscape pattern and region ecological risk in Chinese coastal city: a case study of Yantai city.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Di; Shi, Ping; Wu, Xiaoqing; Ma, Jinwei; Yu, Junbao

2014-01-01

Applied with remote sensing, GIS, and mathematical statistics, the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of urbanization expansion of Yantai city from 1974 to 2009 was studied. Based on landscape pattern metrics and ecological risk index, the landscape ecological risk from the landscape pattern dynamics was evaluated. The results showed that the area of urban land increased by 189.77 km(2) with average expansion area of 5.42 km(2) y(-1) from 1974 to 2009. The urbanization intensity index during 2004-2009 was 3.92 times of that during 1974-1990. The land use types of urban land and farmland changed greatly. The changes of landscape pattern metrics for land use patterns indicated that the intensity of human activities had strengthened gradually in study period. The landscape ecological risk pattern of Yantai city shaped half-round rings along the coastline. The ecological risk index decreased with increase of the distance to the coastline. The ratio of high ecological risk to subhigh ecological risk zones in 2009 was 2.23 times of that in 1990. The significant linear relationship of urbanization intensity index and regional ecological risk indicated that the anthropological economic activities were decisive factors for sustainable development of costal ecological environment.

The Impact of the Urban Heat Island during an Intense Heat Wave in Oklahoma City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeffrey B. Basara

2010-01-01

Full Text Available During late July and early August 2008, an intense heat wave occurred in Oklahoma City. To quantify the impact of the urban heat island (UHI in Oklahoma City on observed and apparent temperature conditions during the heat wave event, this study used observations from 46 locations in and around Oklahoma City. The methodology utilized composite values of atmospheric conditions for three primary categories defined by population and general land use: rural, suburban, and urban. The results of the analyses demonstrated that a consistent UHI existed during the study period whereby the composite temperature values within the urban core were approximately 0.5∘C warmer during the day than the rural areas and over 2∘C warmer at night. Further, when the warmer temperatures were combined with ambient humidity conditions, the composite values consistently revealed even warmer heat-related variables within the urban environment as compared with the rural zone.

Urban forest restoration cost modeling: a Seattle natural areas case study

Science.gov (United States)

Jean M. Daniels; Weston Brinkley; Michael D. Paruszkiewicz

2016-01-01

Cities have become more committed to ecological restoration and management activities in urban natural areas. Data about costs are needed for better planning and reporting. The objective of this study is to estimate the costs for restoration activities in urban parks and green space in Seattle, Washington. Stewardship activity data were generated from a new database...

Urban morphological determinants of temperature regulating ecosystem services in African cities: the case of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Science.gov (United States)

Cavan, Gina; Lindley, Sarah; Kibassa, Deusdedit; Shemdoe, Riziki; Capuano, Paolo; De Paola, Francesco; Renner, Florian; Pauleit, Stephan

2013-04-01

Urban green structure provides important regulating ecosystem services, such as temperature and flood regulation, and thus, has the potential to increase the resilience of African cities to climate change. Green structures within urban areas are not only limited to discrete units associated with recreational parks, agricultural areas and open spaces: they also exist within zones which have other primary functions, such as church yards, along transport routes, and within residential areas. Differing characteristics of urban areas can be conceptualised and subsequently mapped through the idea of urban morphology types. Urban morphology types are classifications which combine facets of urban form and function. When mapped, UMT units provide biophysically relevant meso-scale geographical zones which can be used as the basis for understanding climate-related impacts and adaptations. For example, they support the assessment of urban temperature patterns and the temperature regulating services provided by urban green structures. There are some examples of the use of UMTs for assessing regulating ecosystem services in European cities but little similar knowledge is available in an African context. This paper outlines the concept of urban morphology types (UMTs) and how they were applied to African case study cities (Cavan et al., 2012). It then presents the methods used to understand temperature regulating ecosystem services across an example African case study city, including (i) a GIS-based assessment of urban green structures, and (ii) applying an energy balance model to estimate current and future surface temperatures under climate change projections. The assessment is carried out for Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Existing evidence suggests increases in both mean and extreme temperatures in the city. Historical analysis of the number of hot days per year suggests a rise from a maximum of 47 days per year in the period 1961-87 to 72 days per year in 2003-2011 (Giugni et al

Rural to urban migration is associated with increased prevalence of childhood wheeze in a Latin-American city.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, Alejandro; Vaca, Maritza G; Chico, Martha E; Rodrigues, Laura C; Barreto, Mauricio L; Cooper, Philip J

2017-01-01

The urbanisation process has been associated with increases in asthma prevalence in urban and rural areas of low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, although rural to urban migration and migration between cities are considered important determinants of this process, few studies have evaluated the effects of internal migration on asthma in urban populations of LMICs. The present study evaluated the effects of internal migration on the prevalence of wheeze in an urban area of Latin America. We did a cross-sectional analysis of 2510 schoolchildren living in the city of Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Logistic regression was used to analyse associations between childhood wheeze and different aspects of migration among schoolchildren. 31% of schoolchildren were migrants. Rural to urban migrants had a higher prevalence of wheeze, (adj.OR=2.01,95% CI1.30 to 3.01, p=0.001) compared with non-migrants. Age of migration and time since migration were associated with wheeze only for rural to urban migrants but not for urban to urban migrants. Children who had migrated after 3 years of age had a greater risk of wheeze (OR 2.51, 95% CI 1.56 to 3.97, p=0.001) than non-migrants while migrants with less than 5 years living in the new residence had a higher prevalence of wheeze than non-migrants (Latin-American city. Age of migration and time since migration were important determinants of wheeze only among migrants from rural areas. A better understanding of the social and environmental effects of internal migration could improve our understanding of the causes of the increase in asthma and differences in prevalence between urban and rural populations.

Urban Growth Modeling Using Anfis Algorithm: a Case Study for Sanandaj City, Iran

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammady, S.; Delavar, M. R.; Pijanowski, B. C.

2013-10-01

Global urban population has increased from 22.9% in 1985 to 47% in 2010. In spite of the tendency for urbanization worldwide, only about 2% of Earth's land surface is covered by cities. Urban population in Iran is increasing due to social and economic development. The proportion of the population living in Iran urban areas has consistently increased from about 31% in 1956 to 68.4% in 2006. Migration of the rural population to cities and population growth in cities have caused many problems, such as irregular growth of cities, improper placement of infrastructure and urban services. Air and environmental pollution, resource degradation and insufficient infrastructure, are the results of poor urban planning that have negative impact on the environment or livelihoods of people living in cities. These issues are a consequence of improper land use planning. Models have been employed to assist in our understanding of relations between land use and its subsequent effects. Different models for urban growth modeling have been developed. Methods from computational intelligence have made great contributions in all specific application domains and hybrid algorithms research as a part of them has become a big trend in computational intelligence. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) has the capability to deal with imprecise data by training, while fuzzy logic can deal with the uncertainty of human cognition. ANN learns from scratch by adjusting the interconnections between layers and Fuzzy Inference Systems (FIS) is a popular computing framework based on the concept of fuzzy set theory, fuzzy logic, and fuzzy reasoning. Fuzzy logic has many advantages such as flexibility and at the other sides, one of the biggest problems in fuzzy logic application is the location and shape and of membership function for each fuzzy variable which is generally being solved by trial and error method. In contrast, numerical computation and learning are the advantages of neural network, however, it is

URBAN GROWTH MODELING USING ANFIS ALGORITHM: A CASE STUDY FOR SANANDAJ CITY, IRAN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Mohammady

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Global urban population has increased from 22.9% in 1985 to 47% in 2010. In spite of the tendency for urbanization worldwide, only about 2% of Earth's land surface is covered by cities. Urban population in Iran is increasing due to social and economic development. The proportion of the population living in Iran urban areas has consistently increased from about 31% in 1956 to 68.4% in 2006. Migration of the rural population to cities and population growth in cities have caused many problems, such as irregular growth of cities, improper placement of infrastructure and urban services. Air and environmental pollution, resource degradation and insufficient infrastructure, are the results of poor urban planning that have negative impact on the environment or livelihoods of people living in cities. These issues are a consequence of improper land use planning. Models have been employed to assist in our understanding of relations between land use and its subsequent effects. Different models for urban growth modeling have been developed. Methods from computational intelligence have made great contributions in all specific application domains and hybrid algorithms research as a part of them has become a big trend in computational intelligence. Artificial Neural Network (ANN has the capability to deal with imprecise data by training, while fuzzy logic can deal with the uncertainty of human cognition. ANN learns from scratch by adjusting the interconnections between layers and Fuzzy Inference Systems (FIS is a popular computing framework based on the concept of fuzzy set theory, fuzzy logic, and fuzzy reasoning. Fuzzy logic has many advantages such as flexibility and at the other sides, one of the biggest problems in fuzzy logic application is the location and shape and of membership function for each fuzzy variable which is generally being solved by trial and error method. In contrast, numerical computation and learning are the advantages of neural network

Harvesting urban resources towards more resilient cities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Agudelo Vera, C.M.; Leduc, W.R.W.A.; Mels, A.R.; Rijnaarts, H.H.M.

2012-01-01

With accelerating global changes, cities have to cope with growing pressures, especially for resource supply. Cities may be considered as resources reservoirs and producers of secondary resources. This paper introduces the concept of urban harvesting as a management tool to change inefficient linear

Characterization and spatial modeling of urban sprawl in the Wuhan Metropolitan Area, China

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Chen; Liu, Yaolin; Stein, Alfred; Jiao, Limin

2015-02-01

Urban sprawl has led to environmental problems and large losses of arable land in China. In this study, we monitor and model urban sprawl by means of a combination of remote sensing, geographical information system and spatial statistics. We use time-series data to explore the potential socio-economic driving forces behind urban sprawl, and spatial models in different scenarios to explore the spatio-temporal interactions. The methodology is applied to the city of Wuhan, China, for the period from 1990 to 2013. The results reveal that the built-up land has expanded and has dispersed in urban clusters. Population growth, and economic and transportation development are still the main causes of urban sprawl; however, when they have developed to certain levels, the area affected by construction in urban areas (Jian Cheng Qu (JCQ)) and the area of cultivated land (ACL) tend to be stable. Spatial regression models are shown to be superior to the traditional models. The interaction among districts with the same administrative status is stronger than if one of those neighbors is in the city center and the other in the suburban area. The expansion of urban built-up land is driven by the socio-economic development at the same period, and greatly influenced by its spatio-temporal neighbors. We conclude that the integration of remote sensing, a geographical information system, and spatial statistics offers an excellent opportunity to explore the spatio-temporal variation and interactions among the districts in the sprawling metropolitan areas. Relevant regulations to control the urban sprawl process are suggested accordingly.

Agromere: how to integrate urban agriculture in the development of the Dutch city of Almere

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jansma, J.E.; Visser, A.J.; Wolf, de P.L.; Stobbelaar, D.J.

2008-01-01

Urban agriculture produces green city areas with as an extra dimension providing food, energy, care, education or recreation for the civilians. And thus it can contribute to a more sustainable and liveable cities. The objective of the project Agromere is to create a process which will lead to a new

Politics for cities, cities for the political. About possibility (and necessity of radical urban politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wiktor Marzec

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Essay faces the problem of determinacy of global capitalism processes for the reality of urban political life. The city is naturally communitarian form of human life and seems to be the place where radical pro-community politics could be undertaken. Already existing and operating forms of power could fruitfully influence the city social relations. Values and norms of conduct are broadly delegated on the urban space and materiality, thus conscious shaping of city space has severe consequences for community life. If a crisis of the political partly has its roots in metamorphoses of the cities, then also remedies, rising from the urban materiality and reestablishing political subjects, could be thought. City, as most real place of political life could be either reduced to the aggregate of consumers or reestablished as a political community. Due to this is the place where undesired course of action could be stopped, hence precisely here the radical democratic politics can emerge.

Urban area and green space: volume estimation using medium resolution satellite imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Handayani, H. H.

2017-12-01

The latest revision of the UN World Urbanization Prospects predicts the world's urban population to increase by 1.4 billion between 2010 and 2030, 60% of the population will live in cities. Consequently, this expansion affects the existence of ecosystem services in the context of sustainability environment. Green space is a focal point of the ecological system and is affected by the urbanization process. The green space has essential functions in cleaning the water, adjusting the microclimate, eliminating noise, and beautifying the surrounding makes the green quantity as well as quality very vital to its existence. The urban expansion leads the growth into vertical development. Therefore, the third dimension using urban volume as an indicator of vertical development is introduced. Therefore, this study estimates the urban and green volume by using medium resolution remote sensing. Surabaya is used as a case study since the city has grown up significantly in both of population and capital investment in this decade. Here, urban and green volume is investigated by ALOS datasets with urban referring built-up. Also, we examine the area with low and high green volume by performing hot and cold spots analysis. The average of built-up volume reaches 173.05 m3/pixel presented by the building for a residential single house with the height less than 7m. The average of green volume is 14.74m3/pixel performed by the vegetation with the height generally 0.6 to 1m which is frequently planted in the backyard of house. However, the ratio of green volume to the built-up volume shows a small portion which is around 8.52%. Therefore, we identify the hot and cold spots, we evaluate 5 areas having cold spot regarding lack of green volume. The two locations of cold spot are located in the northern part and another is in the southern part. Those areas have high number of built-up volume which is in particularly as sub-CBD area. We emphasize that the improvement of green quantity is needed

Changes On the Housing Market of the Downtown Area in Selected Polish Cities

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Rącka Izabela

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Large Polish cities are currently dealing with an increasing significance of downtown areas, extending outside of the city centers (meaning the area directly surrounding the city square. The downtown alone seems to influence the fate of entire cities, facilitating their success or contributing to their failure. A good demographic, social and economic condition of a downtown, its positive image and the dynamic development of the part of the city perceived as the business and administration centre and a meeting place of residents and tourists, contribute to the image and potential of the whole city to a great extent. Changes in urban surroundings, the signs of which may be observed in spatial, aesthetic, architectural, urban-planning and socio-economic aspects, determine the functioning and condition of local real estate markets. Whether potential buyers consider the real estate attractive depends on the assessment of its significant features, of which transaction price is representative. The main research objective of the article is the identification, assessment and interpretation of differences in prices registered in the years 2009-2014 in downtown residential real estate markets. These considerations have been referred to analogical phenomena within the entire cities under examination. The detailed research objective is an attempt to explain the sources of individual reactions of the analyzed real estate markets in downtown areas. The cities under research include: Bydgoszcz, Kalisz, Toruń and Wrocław. The authors applied quantitative analysis (statistical, comparative to transaction data registered in local residential real estate markets.

The Contributions of Urban Landscape to Urban Life

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Ahmet Tuğrul Polat

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The issues of urban and urbanization emerged after the industrial revolution. Thus, cities that have increased rapidly in population have become points of attraction for people. Over the past century, the world population has begun to gather quickly in urban areas. Cities are transforming into unhealthy living environments with distorted ecological balance, lost green areas and aesthetic qualities. The value of accessible green spaces in urban areas is increasing to the unprecedented levels. The green space system seen as a necessity in the cities have provided the emergence of the "urban landscape" phenomenon. The issue of urban landscape is now a very serious concept. The landscape change is moving along with the level of civilization. Primarily, guidance service should be offered for more efficient, comfortable and protective areas. An interdisciplinary approach is needed in the creation of urban spaces. In this study, the term of urban landscape was explained and the researches about the contributions of urban landscape to urban life were examined and suggestions were made about the subject.

Compact or spread? A quantitative spatial model of urban areas in Europe since 1990.

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Manuel Wolff

Full Text Available Changes in urban residential density represent an important issue in terms of land consumption, the conservation of ecosystems, air quality and related human health problems, as well as the consequential challenges for urban and regional planning. It is the decline of residential densities, in particular, that has often been used as the very definition of sprawl, describing a phenomenon that has been extensively studied in the United States and in Western Europe. Whilst these studies provide valuable insights into urbanization processes, only a handful of them have reflected the uneven dynamics of simultaneous urban growth and shrinkage, using residential density changes as a key indicator to uncover the underlying dynamics. This paper introduces a contrasting analysis of recent developments in both de- and re-concentration, defined as decreasing or increasing residential densities, respectively. Using a large sample of European cities, it detects differences in density changes between successional population growth/decline. The paper shows that dedensification, found in some large cities globally, is not a universal phenomenon in growing urban areas; neither the increasing disproportion between a declining demand for and an increasing supply of residential areas nor actual concentration processes in cities were found. Thus, the paper provides a new, very detailed perspective on (dedensification in both shrinking and growing cities and how they specifically contribute to current land take in Europe.

Compact or spread? A quantitative spatial model of urban areas in Europe since 1990

Science.gov (United States)

Haase, Dagmar; Haase, Annegret

2018-01-01

Changes in urban residential density represent an important issue in terms of land consumption, the conservation of ecosystems, air quality and related human health problems, as well as the consequential challenges for urban and regional planning. It is the decline of residential densities, in particular, that has often been used as the very definition of sprawl, describing a phenomenon that has been extensively studied in the United States and in Western Europe. Whilst these studies provide valuable insights into urbanization processes, only a handful of them have reflected the uneven dynamics of simultaneous urban growth and shrinkage, using residential density changes as a key indicator to uncover the underlying dynamics. This paper introduces a contrasting analysis of recent developments in both de- and re-concentration, defined as decreasing or increasing residential densities, respectively. Using a large sample of European cities, it detects differences in density changes between successional population growth/decline. The paper shows that dedensification, found in some large cities globally, is not a universal phenomenon in growing urban areas; neither the increasing disproportion between a declining demand for and an increasing supply of residential areas nor actual concentration processes in cities were found. Thus, the paper provides a new, very detailed perspective on (de)densification in both shrinking and growing cities and how they specifically contribute to current land take in Europe. PMID:29489851

Compact or spread? A quantitative spatial model of urban areas in Europe since 1990.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolff, Manuel; Haase, Dagmar; Haase, Annegret

2018-01-01

Changes in urban residential density represent an important issue in terms of land consumption, the conservation of ecosystems, air quality and related human health problems, as well as the consequential challenges for urban and regional planning. It is the decline of residential densities, in particular, that has often been used as the very definition of sprawl, describing a phenomenon that has been extensively studied in the United States and in Western Europe. Whilst these studies provide valuable insights into urbanization processes, only a handful of them have reflected the uneven dynamics of simultaneous urban growth and shrinkage, using residential density changes as a key indicator to uncover the underlying dynamics. This paper introduces a contrasting analysis of recent developments in both de- and re-concentration, defined as decreasing or increasing residential densities, respectively. Using a large sample of European cities, it detects differences in density changes between successional population growth/decline. The paper shows that dedensification, found in some large cities globally, is not a universal phenomenon in growing urban areas; neither the increasing disproportion between a declining demand for and an increasing supply of residential areas nor actual concentration processes in cities were found. Thus, the paper provides a new, very detailed perspective on (de)densification in both shrinking and growing cities and how they specifically contribute to current land take in Europe.

Urban Land-Cover Change and Its Impact on the Ecosystem Carbon Storage in a Dryland City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Yan

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Lack of research into the complexity in urban land conversion, and paucity of observational data of soil organic carbon (SOC beneath impervious surface area (ISA limit our understanding of the urbanization effects on carbon (C pools in dryland cities. Employing Landsat TM images acquired in 1990 and 2010, a hybrid classification method consisting of Linear Spectral Mixture Analysis and decision tree classification was applied to retrieve the land cover (water, ISA, greenspace, cropland, and remnant desert of the largest dryland city in China—Urumqi. Based on vegetation carbon (VEGC and SOC density data determined through field observations and literature reviews, we developed Urumqi’s C pool maps in 1990 and 2010, and assessed the urbanization impacts on ecosystem C. Our results showed that ISA tripled from 1990 to 2010 displacing remnant desert and cropland. The urban landscape, especially the greenspaces, became obviously fragmented. In 2010, more than 95% of the urban ecosystem C was SOC, 48% of which under the ISA. The city lost 19% of C stock from 1990 to 2010. About 82% of the ecosystem C loss was caused by the conversion of remnant desert and cropland into ISA, mainly in the northern city.

Networks Within Cities and Among Cities: A Paradigm for Urban Development and Governance

OpenAIRE

Pompili, Tomaso

2006-01-01

Networks and networking have become fashionable concepts and terms in regional science, and in particular in regional and urban geography in the last decade: we speak about network firms, network society, network economy but also network cities, city-networks, reti urbane, reseaux de villes. Only catch-words for somebody; a true new scientific paradigm according to others. Our opinion is that in fact we are confronted with a new paradigm in spatial sciences, under some precise conditions: - t...

Commercial facilities in future cities and urban redevelopment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1988-07-01

The future trends of commercial facilities were clarified by interviewing the people concerned in the commercial facilities with large floor area and relatively large energy consumption per unit area such as office building, hospital, hotel, department store, restaurant, educational facilities, sports facilities and urban redevelopment. Since an intelligent building will basically employ the office automation, it is estimated that most of the commercial buildings constructed for the future redevelopment will be intelligent buildings. Hospitals will require the system maintaining the quality of life of individual patient. It is expected that high quality hotels focusing on a touch of high class will be constructed. Department stores will aim at the daily living industry. Future restaurants will need a definite concept. Universities will have to increase new sections according to new students and change in social conditions. It is expected that high quality businesses districts and living quarters in business-centered cities will be planned for urban redevelopment. (4 figs. 3 tabs.)

Urban transformation for the development and enhancement of the consolidated city

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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.

Tooling up urban planning for climate change mitigation in Malaysian cities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chau, L W; Yap, Z C; Ho, C S

2014-01-01

The city's 2-dimensional spatial structure and 3-dimensional form significantly influence its energy and GHG emission intensity. In rapidly developing urban-regions, the ability of the local planning authorities to quantify the spatial structure and form of existing urban areas, new developments and the emergent urban-region in terms of GHG emission is vital to any effective local, national and global climate change mitigation effort. While a wide array of tools has been developed for assessing built environment sustainability at various spatial scales, these are predominantly eco-efficiency rating tools that do not model the 'spatial structure-GHG' relationship and do not illustrate the GHG implications of urban structure and form, which crucially inform local planning decisions with respect to climate change mitigation. This paper takes the first steps in analysing three spatial-based planning models (Envision Tomorrow, GHGProof, URBEMIS) that estimate GHG emissions towards assessing their adaptability for application in Malaysian cities. It looks into the models' i nner working , unpacking the variables and their relationships; assumptions and conversion rates used; and their data requirement and structure. The models' characteristics and features are critically compared to evaluate their capabilities, limitations and relevance to the Malaysian urban planning context, particularly in terms of data availability

Green Urbanism for the Greener Future of Metropolitan Areas

Science.gov (United States)

Zaręba, Anna; Krzemińska, Alicja; Widawski, Krzysztof

2016-10-01

Intensive urbanization is swallowing municipal green areas which causes intensification of erosion, decrease in biodiversity and permanent fragmentation of habitats. In the face of these changes, a risk of irreversible damages to urban ecosystems is growing. That is why planning of solutions within the framework of Green Urbanism in metropolitan areas inhabited by over 55% of the global population is of extraordinary importance. The task of the paper is to present patterns of the Green Urbanism using selected examples of metropolitan areas as case studies. The main goal of the research is to make comparison between GU practices in different countries, in various spatial settings. The principles of triple zero framework: zero fossil-fuel energy use, zero waste, zero emissions (from low-to-no-carbon emissions) introduce not only the contemporary trends in theoretical urban planning but are dictated by practical considerations to create a healthy environment for a healthy society with a minimized environmental footprint. The research results help to identify Green Urbanism techniques used for multiple functions, including ecological, recreational, cultural, aesthetic and other uses and present opportunities for implementation of Green Urbanism solutions in metropolitan areas. To achieve healthier society and environment, highly congested and polluted cities have to be recreated through working with the existing landscape, topography and natural resources particular to the site.

Urban sprawl and growth management - drivers, impacts and responses in selected European and US cities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fertner, Christian; Jørgensen, Gertrud; Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick

2016-01-01

Urban growth management has become a common term to circumscribe strategies and tools to regulate urban land use in metropolitan areas. It is particularly used to counteract negative impacts of urban sprawl but also to frame future urban development. We discuss recent challenges of urban growth...... in 6 European and 2 US American city-regions. The paper compares the urban development focusing on a quantification of drivers and effects of urban growth and a qualitative analysis of the applied urban growth management tools. We build our analysis on findings from the EU-FP6 project PLUREL...

Traffic noise in shielded urban areas: comparison of experimental data with model results

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Randrianoelina, A.; Salomons, E.M.

2008-01-01

Noise maps of cities are commonly produced with rather simple engineering models for sound propagation. These models may be inaccurate in complex urban situations, in particular in situations with street canyons. Street canyons are urban areas that are partly or completely enclosed by buildings, for

Assessing urban sustainability of slum settlements in Bangladesh: Evidence from Chittagong city

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Nasir Uddin

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the sustainability of urban development through the livelihood conditions of slum dwellers in Bangladesh. The empirical data were collected through interview schedule and FGD from 97 respondents in two slum areas of Bangladesh. The respondents were selected purposively from the second largest city of Bangladesh namely, Chittagong. The results clearly indicate that there exist significant diversity and differences of sustainability indicators, particularly household and housing characteristics, health, drinking water, waste disposal system and security. More specifically, the finding shows that slum dwellers have been experiencing with a wide range of substandard, overcrowded and unhealthy housing conditions in one hand. On the other hand, they have scarce and insufficient health, sanitation, water and waste disposal services which are unswervingly impeding to sustainable development in urban areas. Although the majority of slum dwellers have access to electricity, they are still threatened by the insecurities of women, drug dealing, eviction and natural disaster. Therefore, the findings suggest a holistic approach to address the multi-faceted sustainability issues that affect the livelihoods of slum dwellers within the framework of context-driven development policy of the country. Keywords: Sustainability, Urban slum, Sustainable development, Chittagong city, Bangladesh

The Coupling Strategy Research of Urban Public Space and Traffic for Improving the Residents’ Low-Carbon Travel Accessibility: A Case Study of Hexi New City Central Area in Nanjing

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Caiyun Qian

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Under the current model of advocating urban intensive development and updating built-up areas, promoting the coupling optimization of space and public transport in built-up areas is an important way to realize sustainable urban development. Apart from researching the space and accessibility of the central area in Hexi new city of Nanjing and analyzing problems from various aspects, i.e., urban land use, road network planning, bus station distribution, non-motorized traffic, and space and environment design, combining with the OD (Origin & Destination survey, this paper further put forward the corresponding improvement strategy for the public space accessibility of different levels and optimized design of non-motorized traffic.

Role of Green Spaces in Favorable Microclimate Creating in Urban Environment (Exemplified by Italian Cities)

Science.gov (United States)

Finaeva, O.

2017-11-01

The article represents a brief analysis of factors that influence the development of an urban green space system: territorial and climatic conditions, cultural and historical background as well as the modern strategy of historic cities development. The introduction defines the concept of urban greening, green spaces and green space distribution. The environmental parameters influenced by green spaces are determined. By the example of Italian cities the principles of the urban greening system development are considered: the historical aspects of formation of the urban greening system in Italian cities are analyzed, the role of green spaces in the formation of the urban environment structure and the creation of a favorable microclimate is determined, and a set of measures aimed at its improvement is highlighted. The modern principles of urban greening systems development and their characteristic features are considered. Special attention is paid to the interrelation of architectural and green structures in the formation of a favorable microclimate and psychological comfort in the urban environment; various methods of greening are considered by the example of existing architectural complexes depending on the climate of the area and the landscape features. The examples for the choice of plants and the application of compositional techniques are given. The results represent the basic principles of developing an urban green spaces system. The conclusion summarizes the techniques aimed at the microclimate improvement in the urban environment.

The extent of shifts in vegetation phenology between rural and urban areas within a human-dominated region.

Science.gov (United States)

Dallimer, Martin; Tang, Zhiyao; Gaston, Kevin J; Davies, Zoe G

2016-04-01

Urbanization is one of the major environmental challenges facing the world today. One of its particularly pressing effects is alterations to local and regional climate through, for example, the Urban Heat Island. Such changes in conditions are likely to have an impact on the phenology of urban vegetation, which will have knock-on implications for the role that urban green infrastructure can play in delivering multiple ecosystem services. Here, in a human-dominated region, we undertake an explicit comparison of vegetation phenology between urban and rural zones. Using satellite-derived MODIS-EVI data from the first decade of the 20th century, we extract metrics of vegetation phenology (date of start of growing season, date of end of growing season, and length of season) for Britain's 15 largest cities and their rural surrounds. On average, urban areas experienced a growing season 8.8 days longer than surrounding rural zones. As would be expected, there was a significant decline in growing season length with latitude (by 3.4 and 2.4 days/degree latitude in rural and urban areas respectively). Although there is considerable variability in how phenology in urban and rural areas differs across our study cities, we found no evidence that built urban form influences the start, end, or length of the growing season. However, the difference in the length of the growing season between rural and urban areas was significantly negatively associated with the mean disposable household income for a city. Vegetation in urban areas deliver many ecosystem services such as temperature mitigation, pollution removal, carbon uptake and storage, the provision of amenity value for humans and habitat for biodiversity. Given the rapid pace of urbanization and ongoing climate change, understanding how vegetation phenology will alter in the future is important if we wish to be able to manage urban greenspaces effectively.

Evaluation of parking management strategies for urban areas : final report.

Science.gov (United States)

1980-01-01

The state of the art of parking management in urban areas in the United States was established using an extensive review of the literature and a nationwide questionnaire survey that was distributed to 458 city officials, 173 of whom responded. Based ...

A TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF URBAN HEAT ISLAND IN BASIN CITY UTILIZING REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H.-T. Chang

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Urban Heat Island (UHI has been becoming a key factor in deteriorating the urban ecological environment. Spatial-temporal analysis on its prototype of basin city’s UHI and quantitatively evaluating effect from rapid urbanization will provide theoretical foundation for relieving UHI effect. Based on Landsat 8, ETM+ and TM images of Taipei basin areas from 1900 to 2015, this article has retrieved the land surface temperature (LST at summer solstice of each year, and then analysed spatial-temporal pattern and evolution characters of UHI in Taipei basin in this decade. The results showed that the expansion built district, UHI area constantly expanded from centre city to the suburb areas. The prototype of UHI in Taipei basin that showed in addition to higher temperatures in the centre city also were relatively high temperatures gathered boundaries surrounded by foot of mountains side. It calls “sinking heat island”. From 1900 to 2000, the higher UHI areas were different land use type change had obvious difference by public infrastructure works. And then, in next 15 years till 2015, building density of urban area has been increasing gradually. It has the trend that UHI flooding raises follow urban land use density. Hot spot of UHI in Taipei basin also has the same characteristics. The results suggest that anthropogenic heat release probably plays a significant role in the UHI effect, and must be considered in urban planning adaptation strategies.

Urban effects on convective precipitation in Mexico city

Science.gov (United States)

Jauregui, Ernesto; Romales, Ernesto

This paper reports on urban-related convective precipitation anomalies in a tropical city. Wet season (May-October) rainfall for an urban site (Tacubaya) shows a significant trend for the period 1941-1985 suggesting an urban effect that has been increasing as the city grew. On the other hand, rainfall at a suburban (upwind) station apparently unaffected by urbanization, has remained unchanged. Analysis of historical records of hourly precipitation for an urban station shows that the frequency of intense (> 20 mm h -1) rain showers has increased in recent decades. Using a network of automatic rainfall stations, areal distribution of 24 h isoyets show a series of maxima within the urban perimeter which may be associated to the heat island phenomenon. Isochrones of the beginning of rain are used to estimate direction and speed of movement of the rain cloud cells. The daytime heat island seems to be associated with the intensification of rain showers.

Heavy metal contamination in surface runoff sediments of the urban area of Vilnius, Lithuania

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Gytautas Ignatavičius

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Surface runoff from urbanized territories carries a wide range of pollutants. Sediments in untreated runoff from direct discharge stormwater systems significantly contribute to urban waterway pollution. In this study, heavy metal (Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr, Ba, As and Fe contamination in surface runoff sediments of the urban area of the city of Vilnius was investigated. The surface runoff sediment samples were collected from seven dischargers with the highest volume rate of water flow and concentrations of suspended solids. The geospatial analysis of the distribution of heavy metals shows that there are several active pollution sources supplying the dischargers with contaminated sediments. Most of these areas are located in the central part of the city and in old town with intense traffic. Principal components analysis and t-test results clearly depicted the significantly different chemical compositions of winter and autumn surface sediment samples. The sampling approach and assessment of results provide a useful tool to examine the contamination that is generated in urban areas, distinguish pollution sources and give a better understanding of the importance of permeable surfaces and green areas.

Water sensitive urban design retrofits in Copenhagen - 40% to the sewer, 60% to the city

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fryd, O.; Backhaus, Antje; Birch, Heidi

2013-01-01

Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) is emerging in Denmark. This interdisciplinary desk study investigated the options for WSUD retrofitting in a 15 km(2) combined sewer catchment area in Copenhagen. The study was developed in collaboration with the City of Copenhagen and its water utility......, neighbourhoods located near low-lying streams and public parks are disconnected from the sewer system and the sloping terrain is utilised to convey runoff. Fourth, the promotion of coherent blue and green wedges in the city is linked with WSUD retrofits and urban climate-proofing. Fifth, WSUD is implemented...

Environmental quality assessment of cold water stream spring in urban perimeter of Codo City, Brazil

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Luciana dos Santos Oliveira

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Lack of planning, accelerated and uncontrolled growth of Brazilian cities, has triggered a series of impacts in the aquatic ecosystems, including the degradation of springs. This study evaluated the macroscopic shape of the nascent state of cold water creek conservation in the urban area of Codo City, Maranhao State, by applying the Headwaters Environmental Impact Index (IIAN during the visit in the field. The spring is located in New Jerusalem neighborhood, with a poor degree of protection, with main macroscopic impact in degraded vegetation, easy access and the approach of urban facilities.

Assessment of the dynamics of urbanized areas by remote sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Yeprintsev, S. A.; Klevtsova, M. A.; Lepeshkina, L. A.; Shekoyan, S. V.; Voronin, A. A.

2018-01-01

This research looks at the results of a study of spatial ecological zoning of urban territories using the NDVI-analysis of actual multi-channel satellite images from Landsat-7 and Landsat-8 in the Voronezh region for the period 2001 to 2016. The results obtained in the course of interpretation of space images and processing of statistical information compiled in the GIS environment “Ecology of cities Voronezh region” on the basis of which carried out a comprehensive ecological zoning of the studied urbanized areas. The obtained data on the spatial classification of urban and suburban areas, the peculiarities of the dynamics of weakly and strongly anthropogenically territories, hydrological features and vegetation.

Adaptive urban development : a symbiosis between cities on land and water in the 21st century

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dr. ing. Rutger de Graaf

2012-01-01

Adaptive urban development is the design, construction and continuing evolution of urban areas to anticipate and react to changes in the environment and society. These changes include both processes within the city itself and external developments. It is expected that until 2100 a total of 5 billion

Nuclear methods used to compare air pollution in a city and a pollution-free area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shani, G.; Haccoun, A.

1976-01-01

A comparison study was made between city pollution and open-area pollution in order to be able to distinguish between air pollution whose source is urban activity (i.e. industry, transportation, etc.) and that in an area free of man's activities. The comparison was made between Beersheba, a city in the south of Isreal, and a spot in the desert, 40 km south of the city. The meteorological conditions at the two places are the same, and it is reasonable to assume that the background pollution (the dust that covers the area), is the same in both places. Neutron activation analysis was used for pollution detection; it is clear that certain elements cannot be detected by this means, though they may be known to exist in the air; hence, certain trace elements of the dust could be detected, but not, for example, the major components such as Ca and Si. The results are classified as typical urban pollutants and non-urban pollutants. Weather condition dependence was also investigated. The major source of urban pollution in Beersheba is bromine, which exists in the air in large quantities. The other urban pollutants are Zn, Cr, and Sb; these elements are found mainly in the city, in smaller quantities than bromine. The concentration of these elements is greatly reduced at night due to cessation of work in industry and reduced vehicular movement. The effect of weather and a seasonal dependence are clearly indicated (e.g. when the wind velocity increases and its direction is from the east, pollution in Beersheba rises). At the end of the winter the air is clearer than at the end of the summer. (author)

Urban Organization and Planning in the Post-Industrial City: An Editorial and Introduction to the Spring 2006 Issue of Sociation Today

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George H. Conklin

2006-11-01

Full Text Available 2006 is the year that the world as a whole becomes over half urban, yet no longer is the city the home of the industrial factory in the Western world. What shape should the new city take in the information age? Are we following an obsolete model when we plan in the Western world for a "new urbanism?" Does suburbanization have to fade away to promote racial justice? Why has urbanization concentrated poverty in the rural areas? We must re-examine these areas as sociologists and question past assumptions.