WorldWideScience

Sample records for urban land transport

  1. Measuring the impact of urban policies on transportation energy saving using a land use-transport model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masanobu Kii

    2014-03-01

    This study demonstrates the applicability of a land-use transport model to the assessment of urban policies for building smart communities. First, we outline a model that explicitly formulates the actors' location-related decisions and travel behavior. Second, we apply this model to two urban policies – road pricing and land-use regulation – to assess their long-term impact on energy saving and sustainability using the case of a simplified synthetic city. Our study verifies that, under assumed conditions, the model has the capacity to assess urban policies on energy use and sustainability in a consistent fashion.

  2. Long-term energy consumptions of urban transportation: A prospective simulation of 'transport-land uses' policies in Bangalore

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lefevre, Benoit

    2009-01-01

    The current trends of urban dynamics in the Third World are alarming with regard to climate change, because they are giving an increasingly important role to cars-to the detriment of public and non-motorized transportation. Yet this is the type of energy consumption that is expected to grow the fastest, in business-as-usual scenarios. How can these market-based urban trends be influenced? What level of emissions reduction can be achieved? This article shows that first, there is a relevant and urgent need to tackle the urban dynamics of cities in developing countries focusing on the 'transport-land uses' couple, and second, that existing transport technologies and decision-helping tools are already available to take up the climate change challenge. Through the application of an integrated 'transport-land uses' model, TRANUS, this study demonstrates that transit technologies affordable to an emerging city like Bangalore can significantly curb the trajectories of energy consumption and the ensuing carbon dioxide emissions, if and only if they are implemented in the framework of appropriate urban planning. Furthermore, this study establishes that there are tools which are available to facilitate the necessary policy-making processes. These tools allow stakeholders to discuss different political alternatives integrating energy issues, based on quantitative assessments

  3. A technical review of urban land use - transportation models as tools for evaluating vehicle travel reduction strategies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Southworth, F.

    1995-07-01

    The continued growth of highway traffic in the United States has led to unwanted urban traffic congestion as well as to noticeable urban air quality problems. These problems include emissions covered by the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) and 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), as well as carbon dioxide and related {open_quotes}greenhouse gas{close_quotes} emissions. Urban travel also creates a major demand for imported oil. Therefore, for economic as well as environmental reasons, transportation planning agencies at both the state and metropolitan area level are focussing a good deal of attention on urban travel reduction policies. Much discussed policy instruments include those that encourage fewer trip starts, shorter trip distances, shifts to higher-occupancy vehicles or to nonvehicular modes, and shifts in the timing of trips from the more to the less congested periods of the day or week. Some analysts have concluded that in order to bring about sustainable reductions in urban traffic volumes, significant changes will be necessary in the way our households and businesses engage in daily travel. Such changes are likely to involve changes in the ways we organize and use traffic-generating and-attracting land within our urban areas. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the ability of current analytic methods and models to support both the evaluation and possibly the design of such vehicle travel reduction strategies, including those strategies involving the reorganization and use of urban land. The review is organized into three sections. Section 1 describes the nature of the problem we are trying to model, Section 2 reviews the state of the art in operational urban land use-transportation simulation models, and Section 3 provides a critical assessment of such models as useful urban transportation planning tools. A number of areas are identified where further model development or testing is required.

  4. Urban development control based on transportation carrying capacity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miharja, M.; Sjafruddin, A. H.

    2017-06-01

    Severe transportation problems in Indonesian urban areas are stimulated by one fundamental factor, namely lack of awareness on transportation carrying capacity in these areas development control. Urban land use development towards more physical coverage is typically not related with the capability of transportation system to accommodate additional trips volume. Lack of clear connection between development permit with its implication on the transportation side has led to a phenomenon of exceeding transport demand over supply capacity. This paper discusses the concept of urban land use development control which will be related with transport carrying capacity. The discussion would cover both supply and demand sides of transportation. From supply side, the analysis regarding the capacity of transport system would take both existing as well as potential road network capacity could be developed. From demand side, the analysis would be through the control of a maximum floor area and public transport provision. Allowed maximum floor area for development would be at the level of generating traffic at reasonable volume. Ultimately, the objective of this paper is to introduce model to incorporate transport carrying capacity in Indonesian urban land use development control.

  5. A meta-analysis of global urban land expansion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seto, Karen C; Fragkias, Michail; Güneralp, Burak; Reilly, Michael K

    2011-01-01

    The conversion of Earth's land surface to urban uses is one of the most irreversible human impacts on the global biosphere. It drives the loss of farmland, affects local climate, fragments habitats, and threatens biodiversity. Here we present a meta-analysis of 326 studies that have used remotely sensed images to map urban land conversion. We report a worldwide observed increase in urban land area of 58,000 km(2) from 1970 to 2000. India, China, and Africa have experienced the highest rates of urban land expansion, and the largest change in total urban extent has occurred in North America. Across all regions and for all three decades, urban land expansion rates are higher than or equal to urban population growth rates, suggesting that urban growth is becoming more expansive than compact. Annual growth in GDP per capita drives approximately half of the observed urban land expansion in China but only moderately affects urban expansion in India and Africa, where urban land expansion is driven more by urban population growth. In high income countries, rates of urban land expansion are slower and increasingly related to GDP growth. However, in North America, population growth contributes more to urban expansion than it does in Europe. Much of the observed variation in urban expansion was not captured by either population, GDP, or other variables in the model. This suggests that contemporary urban expansion is related to a variety of factors difficult to observe comprehensively at the global level, including international capital flows, the informal economy, land use policy, and generalized transport costs. Using the results from the global model, we develop forecasts for new urban land cover using SRES Scenarios. Our results show that by 2030, global urban land cover will increase between 430,000 km(2) and 12,568,000 km(2), with an estimate of 1,527,000 km(2) more likely.

  6. Land use impacts on transport : how land use factors affect travel behavior

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Litman, T.

    2005-11-16

    The relationship between land use patterns and travel behaviour was examined with reference to the ability of land use management strategies to achieve transportation planning objectives. The study examined how land use factors such as density, regional accessibility, roadway connectivity affect per capita motor vehicle ownership and use; mode split; non-motorized travel; and accessibility by people who are physically or economically disadvantaged. The social, economic and environmental impacts that result from higher travel were discussed with reference to the degree to which conventional planning accounts for this increased travel. Alternatives for improving mobility in urban and suburban areas were presented. It was concluded that travel behaviour can change by promoting more efficient use of existing roadway capacity, by improving travel options and providing incentives to use alternative transport modes. It was suggested that strategies such as Smart Growth and New Urbanism can be applied in a variety of land use scenarios, including urban, suburban and rural areas to help achieve transportation planning objectives. 122 refs., 16 tabs., 12 figs.

  7. Co-evolution of transportation and land use : modeling historical dependencies in land use and transportation decision making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-11-01

    The interaction between land use and transportation has long been the central issue in urban and regional planning. Models of such : interactions provide vital information to support many public policy decisions, such as land supply, infrastructure p...

  8. Urban Land Uses and Smart Mobility

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mauro Francini

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The object of this work consists of the will to define a renewed relationship between spatial planning and transport systems, which focuses attention on road safety, whereas to date the studies on this relationship have mainly examined the transport impacts on land use. Therefore, in addition to the analysis of the physical characteristics of road infrastructure, there is a need to examine which urban land uses can generate points of risk, both in terms of attraction of vehicles and pedestrian flows as well as in terms of concentration of vulnerable road users, in order to organize a complete information and telecommunication system for road safety. In short, considering a specific testing ground, some urban land uses have been located, with relative dimensional analysis and characterization of access conditions in typological-functional terms: services (schools, healthcare structures, sports facilities; tertiary/production industry (wholesale, shopping centres, industrial sites; tourism sector (hotels, resorts, historical and cultural heritage. The collection of information, corresponding to mapping of prospective risk factors, represented the basis for the entry of specific data within a wider reference database.

  9. Sustainable Urban Transport Planning

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    Boitor Melania R.

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Environmental protection has become a common issue in every area, but extremely important for the domains which deal with intensive energy consumption as it is the case of the transportation. Achieving the sustainable cities on the other hand, is also focused on the protection of the environment in order to provide a higher quality of life for the population. Therefore it is considered that by improving the urban transportation planning additional benefits could be provided for both the environment and the sustainable development of the cities. One possibility is to supplement the traditionally land-use plans with the transportrelated zones analysis, where the city is divided in public transport, pedestrian and caroriented zones. Analyzing the transport-related zones of a city is important as it provides additional information in the assessment of the development trend. The process of zoning was conducted for the city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. In this paper, the outcome of the zoning was analyzed for a more comprehensive review of the urban transport in order to attain a sustainable-oriented approach of the urban area development.

  10. Driving factors of urban land growth in Guangzhou and its implications for sustainable development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Xuezhu; Li, Shaoying; Wang, Xuetong; Xue, Xiaolong

    2018-04-01

    Since 2000, China's urban land has expanded at a dramatic speed because of the country's rapid urbanization. The country has been experiencing unbalanced development between rural and urban areas, causing serious challenges such as agricultural security and land resources waste. Effectively evaluating the driving factors of urban land growth is essential for improving efficient land use management and sustainable urban development. This study established a principal component regression model based on eight indicators to identify their influences on urban land growth in Guangzhou. The results provided a grouping analysis of the driving factors, and found that economic growth, urban population, and transportation development are the driving forces of urban land growth of Guangzhou, while the tertiary industry has an opposite effect. The findings led to further suggestions and recommendations for urban sustainable development. Hence, local governments should design relevant policies for achieving the rational development of urban land use and strategic planning on urban sustainable development.

  11. Urban land teleconnections and sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seto, Karen C.; Reenberg, Anette; Boone, Christopher G.; Fragkias, Michail; Haase, Dagmar; Langanke, Tobias; Marcotullio, Peter; Munroe, Darla K.; Olah, Branislav; Simon, David

    2012-01-01

    This paper introduces urban land teleconnections as a conceptual framework that explicitly links land changes to underlying urbanization dynamics. We illustrate how three key themes that are currently addressed separately in the urban sustainability and land change literatures can lead to incorrect conclusions and misleading results when they are not examined jointly: the traditional system of land classification that is based on discrete categories and reinforces the false idea of a rural–urban dichotomy; the spatial quantification of land change that is based on place-based relationships, ignoring the connections between distant places, especially between urban functions and rural land uses; and the implicit assumptions about path dependency and sequential land changes that underlie current conceptualizations of land transitions. We then examine several environmental “grand challenges” and discuss how urban land teleconnections could help research communities frame scientific inquiries. Finally, we point to existing analytical approaches that can be used to advance development and application of the concept. PMID:22550174

  12. The Influence of Urban Land-Use and Public Transport Facilities on Active Commuting in Wellington, New Zealand: Active Transport Forecasting Using the WILUTE Model

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    Joreintje Dingena Mackenbach

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Physical activity has numerous physical and mental health benefits, and active commuting (walking or cycling to work can help meet physical activity recommendations. This study investigated socioeconomic differences in active commuting, and assessed the impact of urban land-use and public transport policies on active commuting in the Wellington region in New Zealand. We combined data from the New Zealand Household Travel Survey and GIS data on land-use and public transport facilities with the Wellington Integrated Land-Use, Transportation and Environment (WILUTE model, and forecasted changes in active commuter trips associated with changes in the built environment. Results indicated high income individuals were more likely to commute actively than individuals on low income. Several land-use and transportation factors were associated with active commuting and results from the modelling showed a potential increase in active commuting following an increase in bus frequency and parking fees. In conclusion, regional level policies stimulating environmental factors that directly or indirectly affect active commuting may be a promising strategy to increase population level physical activity. Access to, and frequency of, public transport in the neighbourhood can act as a facilitator for a more active lifestyle among its residents without negatively affecting disadvantaged groups.

  13. Low-Carbon Transportation Oriented Urban Spatial Structure: Theory, Model and Case Study

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    Yuyao Ye

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Optimising the spatial structure of cities to promote low-carbon travel is a primary goal of urban planning and construction innovation in the low-carbon era. There is a need for basic research on the structural characteristics that help to reduce motor traffic, thereby promoting energy conservation. We first review the existing literature on the influence of urban spatial structure on transport carbon dioxide emissions and summarise the influence mechanisms. We then present two low-carbon transportation oriented patterns of urban spatial structure including the traditional walking city and the modern transit metropolis, illustrated by case studies. Furthermore, we propose an improved model Green Transportation System Oriented Development (GTOD, which is an extension of traditional transit-oriented development (TOD and includes the additional features of a walking city and an emphasis on the integration of land use with a green transportation system, consisting of the public transportation and non-auto travel system. A compact urban form, effective mix of land use and appropriate scale of block are the basic structural features of a low-carbon transportation city. However, these features are only effective at promoting low-carbon transportation when integrated with the green traffic systems. Proper integration of the urban structural system with the green space system is also required. The optimal land use/transportation integration strategy is to divide traffic corridors with wedge-shaped green spaces and limit development along the transit corridors. This strategy forms the basis of the proposed urban structural model to promote low-carbon transportation and sustainable urban growth management.

  14. Investigation of enhanced cross-city transport and trapping of air pollutants by coastal and urban land-sea breeze circulations

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    Lo, Jeff C. F.; Lau, Alexis K. H.; Fung, Jimmy C. H.; Chen, Fei

    2006-07-01

    Recent satellite observations show that a layer of haze perpetually hangs over the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region and surface observations show numerous violations of the Hong Kong Air Quality Objective. This layer of haze mostly concentrates in the Pearl River Estuary and a narrow (20 km wide) band along the shoreline, in particular during weak wind situations. Although researchers suspect the land-sea breeze (LSB) circulations "concentrate" or "trap" various pollutants in this region, the physical mechanism of the phenomenon has never been fully explained or quantified. In this paper, a mesoscale atmospheric model (MM5) coupled with the Noah land surface model (LSM), which has bulk urban land use treatments along with a detailed Pearl River Delta land use map, is used to investigate the unique feature and mechanism of this land-sea breeze effect and the temporal evolution. A three-dimensional particle trajectory model is used to understand its associated pollutant transport, trapping and accumulation. A conceptual model is then developed for the perpetual air pollution phenomenon in the region. Further sensitivity experiments are used to illustrate the impact of urbanization and large-scale winds on the pollution processes. Results show that urbanization enhances the pollutant trapping and therefore contributes to the overall poor air quality in the region.

  15. Urban land planning in Serbia

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    Zeković Slavka L.

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the capitalization, urban land management and planning routine have been explored. The focus dwells on the praxis and urban planning perspectives as a link and means for realizing the public interest in space and the role of 'urban transplants' as a lever of urban development. It has also been pointed to a certain discrimination of the property status and property rights through the category of 'public interest', which is articulated by way of urban planning. The unfairness of the existing planning system towards private property and 'taxation' of entrepreneurial activities is evident, especially in urban land use i.e. installing the height of the land rent. It is expected that urban planning is competent upon the background of societal democratization, privatization and introduction of market institutions where the perspectives shift towards democratic transformation, the regulatory role and protection of property rights and different actors’ interests in using urban land. The conclusion is that changes in the management of urban land are required with recommendations to consider public-private sector partnerships.

  16. Using geometrical, textural, and contextual information of land parcels for classification of detailed urban land use

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    Wu, S.-S.; Qiu, X.; Usery, E.L.; Wang, L.

    2009-01-01

    Detailed urban land use data are important to government officials, researchers, and businesspeople for a variety of purposes. This article presents an approach to classifying detailed urban land use based on geometrical, textural, and contextual information of land parcels. An area of 6 by 14 km in Austin, Texas, with land parcel boundaries delineated by the Travis Central Appraisal District of Travis County, Texas, is tested for the approach. We derive fifty parcel attributes from relevant geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing data and use them to discriminate among nine urban land uses: single family, multifamily, commercial, office, industrial, civic, open space, transportation, and undeveloped. Half of the 33,025 parcels in the study area are used as training data for land use classification and the other half are used as testing data for accuracy assessment. The best result with a decision tree classification algorithm has an overall accuracy of 96 percent and a kappa coefficient of 0.78, and two naive, baseline models based on the majority rule and the spatial autocorrelation rule have overall accuracy of 89 percent and 79 percent, respectively. The algorithm is relatively good at classifying single-family, multifamily, commercial, open space, and undeveloped land uses and relatively poor at classifying office, industrial, civic, and transportation land uses. The most important attributes for land use classification are the geometrical attributes, particularly those related to building areas. Next are the contextual attributes, particularly those relevant to the spatial relationship between buildings, then the textural attributes, particularly the semivariance texture statistic from 0.61-m resolution images.

  17. The transformation of urban industrial land use: A quantitative method

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    Rongxu Qiu

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available A large number of cities around the world today owe their land use growth to the rapid development of industrial areas. The spatial structure of industrial distribution in cities shape urban spatial morphology linking with land use, transportation, economic activities, and housing. Meanwhile, growth and expansion of city population and land use reconfigure the spatial structure of industrial distribution. Research into urban industrial spatial distribution and its transformation process may help urban planners and decision makers understand the land use and population dynamics of a city. Genetic algorithms are believed to be one kind of the promising methods to simulate this dynamic process. In this paper, we propose a novel method to simulate urban industrial spatial distribution and its transformation process in Shanghai, China. The results show that along with increasing urban land price over time, industries are going to move outward from the city center. However, the maximum profit of a firm tends to decrease, which could lead industrial factories to move beyond city boundary. The analysis of the current industrial spatial distribution in Shanghai indicates that, when land price in a city rises above a specific threshold, new government policies and other competitive advantages need to be enacted if the city wants to retain industrial firms within the city boundary.

  18. Automobile dependence in cities: An international comparison of urban transport and land use patterns with implications for sustainability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kenworthy, J.R.; Laube, F.B.

    1996-01-01

    Cities around the world are subject to increasing levels of environmental impact from dependence on the automobile. In the highly auto-dependent cities of the US and Australia, this is manifested in problems such as urban sprawl and its destruction of prime farming land and natural landscapes, photochemical smog that can be primarily attributed to auto emissions. On top of the more local impacts of the automobile, the global dimension should not be forgotten. Perhaps the two most pressing issues in this regard are the oil problem and the greenhouse problem. A comparison of global cities over the period 1980 to 1990 reveals large differences in automobile dependence with implications for the future sustainability of cities in different countries. This study explores some of the underlying land use, transport, and economic reasons for these different transport patterns. It briefly reviews what the sustainability agenda means for transport and land use patterns in cities and suggests a suite of targets or goals for sustainability by which cities might measure their current directions and plans

  19. The Urban Land Question, Land Reform and the Spectre of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The country's urban land reform mechanism, that is, land restitution, has so far been very marginal in making urban land or property available to the landless and/or homeless people. As a result, since 2014, the country is facing new aggressive extrajudicial land occupations in urban areas spearheaded by the ultra-left ...

  20. Urban land grab or fair urbanization? : Compulsory land acquisition and sustainable livelihoods in Hue, Vietnam

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nguyen Quang, P.

    2015-01-01

    Urbanization often goes hand in hand with a growing demand for housing, urban infrastructure and other facilities that are necessary for sustainable urban development. This has created numerous pressures on land, especially in peri-urban areas where land, traditionally used for agriculture, is still

  1. Urban form, transportation and greenhouse gas emissions- Experiences in the Nordic Countries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Harmaajaervi, I; Heinonen, S.; Lahti, P. [VTT, Building and Transport (Finland)

    2004-07-01

    The main objective of the project was to identify instruments to develop urban form and transportation systems in a sustainable way to decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the Nordic countries. Instruments can be found on different levels: national, regional and local. The main sectors are land use and transportation planning, land use and transportation policies, tax policy, co-operation, information dissemination, interaction, monitoring and early warning systems. Instruments concern for example control of urban development, supporting residential activities in city centres, control of location of shopping malls, preventing long commuting trips, reduction of transportation need and car dependency, promotion of walking, cycling and public transport and eco-managed telework. (au)

  2. The Factors Influencing Transport Energy Consumption in Urban Areas: a Review

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    Rocco Papa

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Transport energy consumption accounts for about one third of total energy consumption in EU. Despite significant advances in transport technology and fuel formulation, transport energy consumption has increased in most EU countries over the last three decades. This increase in consumption occurred as a result of factors such as higher car ownership, a growth in automobile use and an increase in vehicle distances traveled. As travel and land-use are a function of one another, it is often hypothesized that changing urban structure can result in changes in energy consumption. Understanding how different land use characteristics may influence travel behaviour and the corresponding energy consumption is crucial for planners and policy makers in order to develop strategic actions to shrink the environmental footprint of the urban transportation sector. The aim of this article is to review the current literature on the connections between land use, travel behavior and energy consumption. In particular, this paper seeks to identify the determinants of transport energy consumption in urban areas by reviewing evidence from empirical studies. To this aim, nine characteristics of land use are presented and their effects on both travel behaviour and energy use are discussed Our review shown that, in contrast to the focus on the effect of the built environment on travel, only few researchers have empirically investigated the linkage between the built environment and transportation energy use. The research described in this paper has been developed within the PON04a2_E Smart Energy Master project. It represents part of a much broader research project aimed at the development of an integrated model of urban energy efficiency.

  3. The urban public space betterment and land use sustainability Under the human behavior

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Xiaofan; Ji, Yanning

    2018-02-01

    This paper analyzes the differences between Chinese and western public life and environmental behavior habits. Identify specific needs for Chinese urban public Spaces. At the same time, the paper analyzes the problems related to urban construction in China, including micro-land use, transportation and urban pattern. The solution of Chinese urban public space layout is proposed and the prospects of sustainable urban public space. Urban betterment are prospected in the future.

  4. Monitoring urban expansion and land use/land cover changes of Shanghai metropolitan area during the transitional economy (1979-2009) in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Jie; Yin, Zhane; Zhong, Haidong; Xu, Shiyuan; Hu, Xiaomeng; Wang, Jun; Wu, Jianping

    2011-06-01

    This study explored the spatio-temporal dynamics and evolution of land use/cover changes and urban expansion in Shanghai metropolitan area, China, during the transitional economy period (1979-2009) using multi-temporal satellite images and geographic information systems (GIS). A maximum likelihood supervised classification algorithm was employed to extract information from four landsat images, with the post-classification change detection technique and GIS-based spatial analysis methods used to detect land-use and land-cover (LULC) changes. The overall Kappa indices of land use/cover change maps ranged from 0.79 to 0.89. Results indicated that urbanization has accelerated at an unprecedented scale and rate during the study period, leading to a considerable reduction in the area of farmland and green land. Findings further revealed that water bodies and bare land increased, obviously due to large-scale coastal development after 2000. The direction of urban expansion was along a north-south axis from 1979 to 2000, but after 2000 this growth changed to spread from both the existing urban area and along transport routes in all directions. Urban expansion and subsequent LULC changes in Shanghai have largely been driven by policy reform, population growth, and economic development. Rapid urban expansion through clearing of vegetation has led to a wide range of eco-environmental degradation.

  5. Rates, trends, causes, and consequences of urban land-use change in the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acevedo, William; Taylor, Janis L.; Hester, Dave J.; Mladinich, Carol S.; Glavac, Sonya

    2006-01-01

    Over the past 200 years, changes to the Nation's urban areas have been dramatic. Changes that have occurred relate both to the location of urban centers, as well as to the spatial extent of land dedicated to urban uses. Urban areas at the beginning of the 19th century were located primarily along major rivers or bodies of water, as waterways provided the most efficient means for transporting goods and people. As railroads became prominent, urban areas were able to expand or develop away from the water's edge.Geographic features such as steep slopes, wetlands, and lack of freshwater impeded settlement. In 1902, the National Reclamation Act was passed and with it came funding for the construction of water storage and transportation systems. This encouraged urban expansion in the arid west. After World War II, the Nation's urban areas continued to expand outward away from the city center as populations migrated to the margins of urban areas, where land was less expensive and the environment was less polluted. In 1956, the Federal Highway Act and the building of Interstate highways further facilitated urban expansion across the Unite States. Rural towns, small industrial centers, and farmland were engulfed by expanding urban centers.Over the past 200 years, numerous social, cultural, economic, and political incentives have encouraged urban expansion. In the 1800s, the industrial revolution influenced where people lived and worked. Many people shifted from agricultural production in rural areas to factory work in urban centers. Advances in transportation systems, such as rail transport in the 19th and early 20th centuries, followed by the mass production of the automobile and convenient air travel, facilitated a mobile society and a national economy. Economic growth and a population boom after World War II spurred increased suburbanization-the shifting of residential areas to the outlying section of a city or to a separate municipality-on the fringe of urban areas

  6. Comprehensive evaluation of environmental and economic benefits of China's urban underground transportation construction projects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Xiaobin; Chen, Zhilong; Guo, Dongjun

    2015-07-01

    Urban underground transportation projects are introduced to address problems of scarce green land and traffic pollution. As construction of urban underground transportation is still in its infancy, there is no definite quantitative measurement on whether the construction is beneficial and what influences it will place on the region in China. This study intends to construct a comprehensive evaluation method for evaluating social, economic and environmental benefits of urban underground transportation projects and proposes the concept, role and principle for evaluation of environmental and economic benefits. It figures out relationship between the environment and factors of city development. It also summarizes three relevant factors, including transportation, biophysics and social economy, and works out indicators to evaluate the influence of urban underground transportation construction. Based on Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), Cost of Illness Approach (CIA), Human Capital Approach (HCA), this paper constructs 13 monetization calculation models for social, economic and environmental benefits in response to seven aspects, namely, reducing noise pollution and air pollution, using land efficiently, improving traffic safety, reducing traffic congestion, saving shipping time and minimizing transportation costs.

  7. URBAN TRANSPORT AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN ASIAN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

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    Akira MORITA

    2004-01-01

    This paper comprises a GIS-based land use analysis on the relationship between urbanization and transport infrastructure development, b GPS-based travel behavior survey, and c interview survey on residents' satisfaction with transport infrastructures and services. It was shown that the current land use patterns largely differ depending on the existence of agricultural infrastructure development in the pre-urbanized stage. It was also confirmed by a GPS-based travel survey that travel behavior patterns in scattered development areas are significantly different from those in orderly development areas. The former areas lack not only road space but also a structured hierarchy of networks, resulting in inefficient travel behaviors with low speed and detours. The GPS survey gave clearer pictures to grasp the relationship between travel patterns of residents and their demand for the improvement of local transport services. It was indicated that local governments who are responsible for these demands often fail to meet them due to financial and institutional limitations of the current system.

  8. Study on temporal and spatial variations of urban land use based on land change data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Ping; Liu, Yanfang; Fan, Min; Zhang, Yang

    2009-10-01

    With the rapid development of urbanization, demands of urban land increase in succession, hence, to analyze temporal and spatial variations of urban land use becomes more and more important. In this paper, the principle of trend surface analysis and formula of urban land sprawl index ( ULSI) are expatiated at first, and then based on land change data of Jiayu county, the author fits quadratic trend surface by choosing urban land area as dependent variable and urbanization and GDP as independent variables from 1996 to 2006, draws isoline of trend surface and residual values; and then urban land sprawl indexes of towns are calculated on the basis of urban land area of 1996 and 2006 and distribution map of ULSI is plotted. After analyzing those results, we can conclude that there is consanguineous relationship between urban land area and urbanization, economic level etc.

  9. Envisioning Parking Strategies in the Framework of Sustainable Urban Transport

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    Giovanni Circella

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available Monetary instruments to regulate parking are often used in central areas of cities to discourage long term parking of vehicles. The availability of parking facilities, and its cost, in fact represents an important element in the decision to operate private vehicles in urban areas. The availability of instruments and tools to check the outcome of modification in parking regulations, in terms of modification of car use, successfully support planners in the determination of the best policies to decrease congestion, and regulate the use of transportation in cities. Integrated land use transportation models may successfully contribute to the assessment of such policy packages. This contribution discusses the use of the model MARS-Bari (Metropolitan Activity Relocation Simulator for the analysis of future scenarios of development of land use and transportation. MARS-Bari is a fast integrated land use transportation model, which is designed for applications in strategic planning of urban and metropolitan areas. The model was developed as a decision support tool, to help planners in the definition of sets of policies on land use and transportation, and promote equilibrated growth of the urban system (smart growth. MARS-Bari shares the basic assumptions of the Metropolitan Activity Relocation Simulator (MARS modeling system, so far successfully applied to many cities of both Europe and Asia. The structure of MARS-Bari is highly flexible on purpose, allowing multiple hypothesis tests of future scenarios and policies. MARS-Bari works at a high level of spatial aggregation, and its simulations are developed on a long-term time horizon (30-years in the current version. Two main sub-models run in MARS-Bari: they respectively simulate the development of land use, and the transportation system. Four different classes of users are distinguished in the transportation model, depending on the possible access to one or more of the five transportation modes: car

  10. A zone-based approach to identifying urban land uses using nationally-available data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Falcone, James A.

    city of Boston. A generalized version of the method (six land use classes) was also developed and cross-validated among additional geographic settings: Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Providence. The results suggest that even with the thematically-detailed ten-class structure, it is feasible to map most urban land uses with reasonable accuracy at the block group scale, and results improve with class aggregation. When classified by predicted majority land use, 79% of block groups correctly matched the actual majority land use with the ten-class models. Six-class models typically performed well for the geographic area they were developed from, however models had mixed performance when transported to other geographic settings. Contextual variables, which characterized a block group's spatial relationship to city centers, transportation routes, and other amenities, were consistently strong predictors of most land uses, a result which corresponds to classic urban land use theory. The method and metrics derived here provide a prototype for mapping urban land uses from readily-available data over broader geographic areas than is generally practiced today using current image-based solutions.

  11. Review of methods and indicators in sustainable urban transport studies overview from 2000 to 2016

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Puji Adiatna Nadi

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The attention of countries either the developed or developing countries on sustainable urban transport is becoming more popular. The purpose of paper is to review the methods and the indicators used for measuring performance of sustainable urban transport. This study is based on the literature review and the case study observation and also uses the quantitative assessment. It reviews the theoretical aspects of sustainability factors at various research works and performance indicator in urban transportation. The indicators were classified into two major categories: (i assessment methods in sustainable urban transport (SUT, and (ii basic of sustainability indicators for urban transport. This study found several types of analytical techniques for measuring sustainability indicators in urban transport. It also identify five indicators as basic element to measure sustainable urban transport performance i.e. traffic congestion, traffic air pollution, traffic noise pollution, traffic accidents and land consumption for transport infrastructure.

  12. Managing the environmental impacts of land transport: integrating environmental analysis with urban planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Irving, Paul; Moncrieff, Ian

    2004-01-01

    Ecological systems have limits or thresholds that vary by pollutant type, emissions sources and the sensitivity of a given location. Human health can also indicate sensitivity. Good environmental management requires any problem to be defined to obtain efficient and effective solutions. Cities are where transport activities, effects and resource management decisions are often most focussed. The New Zealand Ministry of Transport has developed two environmental management tools. The Vehicle Fleet Model (VFM) is a predictive database of the environmental performance of the New Zealand traffic fleet (and rail fleet). It calculates indices of local air quality, stormwater, and greenhouse gases emissions. The second is an analytical process based on Environmental Capacity Analysis (ECA). Information on local traffic is combined with environmental performance data from the Vehicle Fleet Model. This can be integrated within a live, geo-spatially defined analysis of the overall environmental effects within a defined local area. Variations in urban form and activity (traffic and other) that contribute to environmental effects can be tracked. This enables analysis of a range of mitigation strategies that may contribute, now or in the future, to maintaining environmental thresholds or meeting targets. A case study of the application of this approach was conducted within Waitakere City. The focus was on improving the understanding of the relative significance of stormwater contaminants derived from land transport

  13. Urban Land Use Classifcation Linked to Planning Management

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    QI Dongjin; ZHOU Jianyun; SHI Ke

    2012-01-01

    By analyzing the applicability of the new Code for Classification of Urban Land Use and Planning Standards of Development Land from the angle of planning management,this paper points out the conflicts between the planning and land use management institutions.Referring to the experience of land use control in the US and the UK through zoning and case law respectively,this paper puts forward that the urban land use classification should take into consideration the characteristics of the actual urban planning system and the possibility of mixed land use due to the uncertainty of urban development,and be linked to the institutions of planning and land supply management.

  14. Using GIS to integrate the analysis of land-use, transportation, and the environment for managing urban growth based on transit oriented development in the metropolitan of Jabodetabek, Indonesia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hasibuan, H S; Moersidik, S; Koestoer, R; Soemardi, T P

    2014-01-01

    There is an interaction between land use, transportation, and environment in improving and managing urban quality. One of the concpets to integrate those three aspects is Transit Oriented Development (TOD). It is a concept for managing urban growth in transit corridors which have characteristics of mixed land use, compact, walkability, and development focused around public transit area. This research aims at utilizing GIS to organize, sort, and analyze spatial data including aspects of land use, transportation, and environment. Jabodetabek is a strategic metropolitan area in Indonesia, and consists of DKI Jakarta and the neighboring Bodetabek cities, with more than 27 million population in 2010. Approximately 1,105,000 people are entering Jakarta every workday from the negihboring Bodetabek region. The surge in the number of passenger cars and motorcycles is astonishing. In contrast, the usage of public transport has declined deeply. Public transport infrastructure development without the integration of TOD may not attain the objective of reducing car dependency. This paper discusses the study which was carried out to identify the applicability of TOD principles in Jabodetabek using GIS as a tool to analysis and create model

  15. Sustainable Urban Transport in the Developing World: Beyond Megacities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dorina Pojani

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Megacities have frequently received a disproportionate amount of attention over other sizes of cities in recent discourse on urban sustainability. In this article, the authors argue that a focus on smaller and medium-sized cities is crucial to achieving substantial progress towards more sustainable urban development, not only because they are home to at least a quarter of the world’s population but because they also offer great potential for sustainable transformations. In principle, their size allows for flexibility in terms of urban expansion, adoption of “green” travel modes, and environmental protection. At the same time, smaller and medium-sized cities often have fewer resources to implement new transport measures and can be more vulnerable to fluctuations in the world economy. This article critically reviews the potential role and impact of nine commonly considered options for sustainable urban transport in cities in developing countries: (1 road infrastructure; (2 rail-based public transport; (3 road-based public transport; (4 support for non-motorized travel modes; (5 technological solutions; (6 awareness-raising campaigns; (7 pricing mechanisms; (8 vehicle access restrictions; and (9 control of land-uses. Drawing on international research and examples of policies to reduce the environmental impacts of transport in urban areas, this article identifies some key lessons for sustainable urban transport in smaller and medium-sized cities in developing countries. These lessons are certainly not always identical to those for megacities in the global south.

  16. Estimating changes in urban land and urban population using refined areal interpolation techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zoraghein, Hamidreza; Leyk, Stefan

    2018-05-01

    The analysis of changes in urban land and population is important because the majority of future population growth will take place in urban areas. U.S. Census historically classifies urban land using population density and various land-use criteria. This study analyzes the reliability of census-defined urban lands for delineating the spatial distribution of urban population and estimating its changes over time. To overcome the problem of incompatible enumeration units between censuses, regular areal interpolation methods including Areal Weighting (AW) and Target Density Weighting (TDW), with and without spatial refinement, are implemented. The goal in this study is to estimate urban population in Massachusetts in 1990 and 2000 (source zones), within tract boundaries of the 2010 census (target zones), respectively, to create a consistent time series of comparable urban population estimates from 1990 to 2010. Spatial refinement is done using ancillary variables such as census-defined urban areas, the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) and the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) as well as different combinations of them. The study results suggest that census-defined urban areas alone are not necessarily the most meaningful delineation of urban land. Instead, it appears that alternative combinations of the above-mentioned ancillary variables can better depict the spatial distribution of urban land, and thus make it possible to reduce the estimation error in transferring the urban population from source zones to target zones when running spatially-refined temporal areal interpolation.

  17. Determination of the Impact of Urbanization on Agricultural Lands using Multi-temporal Satellite Sensor Images

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaya, S.; Alganci, U.; Sertel, E.; Ustundag, B.

    2015-12-01

    Throughout the history, agricultural activities have been performed close to urban areas. Main reason behind this phenomenon is the need of fast marketing of the agricultural production to urban residents and financial provision. Thus, using the areas nearby cities for agricultural activities brings out advantage of easy transportation of productions and fast marketing. For decades, heavy migration to cities has directly and negatively affected natural grasslands, forests and agricultural lands. This pressure has caused agricultural lands to be changed into urban areas. Dense urbanization causes increase in impervious surfaces, heat islands and many other problems in addition to destruction of agricultural lands. Considering the negative impacts of urbanization on agricultural lands and natural resources, a periodic monitoring of these changes becomes indisputably important. At this point, satellite images are known to be good data sources for land cover / use change monitoring with their fast data acquisition, large area coverages and temporal resolution properties. Classification of the satellite images provides thematic the land cover / use maps of the earth surface and changes can be determined with GIS based analysis multi-temporal maps. In this study, effects of heavy urbanization over agricultural lands in Istanbul, metropolitan city of Turkey, were investigated with use of multi-temporal Landsat TM satellite images acquired between 1984 and 2011. Images were geometrically registered to each other and classified using supervised maximum likelihood classification algorithm. Resulting thematic maps were exported to GIS environment and destructed agricultural lands by urbanization were determined using spatial analysis.

  18. Urban Land Use Efficiency and Coordination in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaodong Yang

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Due to the focused pursuit of economic growth in the process of the large-scale urban development of China, the phenomena of low land use efficiency and discordance of land use induce unwanted economic, social, and environmental costs. This paper presents a comprehensive study of urban land use efficiency and of the degree of land use coordination of 33 cities in China, using theoretical analysis, data envelopment analysis, principal component analysis, the coordination coefficient method, and four-quadrant analysis. The findings of this study suggest a gradually increasing proportion of land use efficiency from eastern to central and western regions of China, coinciding with China’s pattern of socioeconomic development. No correlation was found between high levels of urban land use efficiency and the degree of land use coordination; however, a significant correlation was found between low land use efficiency and low degrees of land use coordination. Rational land use planning and policy design can effectively improve both urban land use efficiency and coordination.

  19. Unlocking Land Values to Finance Urban Infrastructure : Land-Based Financing Options for Cities

    OpenAIRE

    George E. Peterson

    2008-01-01

    Raising capital to finance urban infrastructure is a challenge. One solution is to 'unlock' urban land values - such as by selling public lands to capture the gains in value created by investment in infrastructure projects. Land-based financing techniques are playing an increasingly important role in financing urban infrastructure in developing countries. They complement other capital fina...

  20. Land expropriation in urbanizing China

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Hui; Zhu, Pengyu; Chen, Xiao Qing

    2017-01-01

    A driving force of urban development is “accumulation by dispossession” which occurs through expropriation, privatization, and commodification of land. While the macro theory is now well refined, there is still much we do not know about how the underlying processes occur and how they shape economic...... development and urbanization. In this study, we analyze 2009 survey data of land expropriation cases across 12 Chinese cities, and find that expropriation takes different forms leading to specific outcomes. In half the cases, local governments followed central government policies requiring them to pay...... undermines urban development leading to social instability....

  1. Understanding Informal Urban Land Market Functioning in Peri ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Understanding Informal Urban Land Market Functioning in Peri-urban Areas of Secondary Towns of Rwanda: Case Study of Tumba Sector, Butare Town. ... Land price is negotiable and varies greatly based on the land size and its specific location and is higher than the reference land price. Land right transfer is evidenced ...

  2. 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.

  3. Urban land acquisition and social justice in Ethiopia | Mengie ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In this work, the author argues that the existing urban land acquisition system of Ethiopia has resulted in social injustice by denying the poor from access to urban land; and creating discriminatory environment while enforcing the new lease system. Keywords: access to land, land lease, social justice, tenure security, urban ...

  4. Projecting land-use and land cover change in a subtropical urban watershed

    Science.gov (United States)

    John J. Lagrosa IV; Wayne C. Zipperer; Michael G. Andreu

    2018-01-01

    Urban landscapes are heterogeneous mosaics that develop via significant land-use and land cover (LULC) change. Current LULC models project future landscape patterns, but generally avoid urban landscapes due to heterogeneity. To project LULC change for an urban landscape, we parameterize an established LULC model (Dyna-CLUE) under baseline conditions (continued current...

  5. Modelling land use changes according to transportation scenarios using raster based GIS indicators

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fuglsang, Morten; Münier, Bernd; Hansen, Henning Sten

    2012-01-01

    the cellular automata model LUCIA. An Eastern Danish case area was selected, comprising the Copenhagen metropolitan area and its hinterland. The different scenarios are described using a range of different GIS datasets. These include mapping of accessibility based on public and private transportation, urban....... In the EU-FP7 research project PASHMINA (Paradigm Shift modelling and innovative approaches), three storylines of future transportation paradigm shifts towards 2050 are created. These storylines are translated into spatial planning strategies and their implication on land use changes were modelled via...... in urban distribution that different spatial planning strategies may initiate, and thus change the shape of the urban landscape. The scenarios outline different planning strategies, leading to a more homogenous urban structure, targeted at a reduction of transportation work and thus energy consumption...

  6. Liberalizing rural-to-urban construction land transfers in China

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tan, Rong; Wang, Rongyu; Heerink, Nico

    2018-01-01

    China's land market is characterized by a dual urban-rural system, with the government in control of rural-urban land transfers. In recent years, different types of pilot projects have been implemented to experiment with liberalizing markets for rural-urban construction land transfers. The objective

  7. Land use transport interaction models: Application perspectives for the city of Thessaloniki

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pozoukidou Georgia

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Land use patterns and transport system are considered to be the two basic components of the urban development process, and as such they have been in the core of spatial planning policies for the last 4 decades. Land use transport interaction models are computer tools that could help us understand land use changes and organization of human activities in relation to existing or planned transport infrastructure. In this context this paper examines the perspectives of applying a land use transport interaction model for the city of Thessaloniki. Obtaining, preparing and validating socioeconomic data is a crucial part of the modeling process, therefore an extensive search of the required data was performed. The quest for appropriate and suitable data concluded with a detailed recording of emerged problems. In response to the inability of finding suitable data to perform the first step of the modeling process i.e. calibration, the paper concludes with some thoughts related to data availability, organization and standardization issues. Last but not least, the paper stresses out the significance of data availability for utilization of land use transport models, so as not to remain purely academic products but tools with practical value in planning.

  8. Decoupling urban transport from GHG emissions in Indian cities-A critical review and perspectives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Jun

    2011-01-01

    How to sustain rapid economic and urban growth with minimised detriment to environment is a key challenge for sustainable development and climate change mitigation in developing countries, which face constraints of technical and financial resources scarcity as well as dearth of infrastructure governance capacity. This paper attempts to address this question by investigating the driving forces of transport demand and relevant policy measures that facilitate mitigating GHG emissions in the urban transport sector in Indian cities based on a critical review of the literature. Our overview of existing literature and international experiences suggests that it is critical to improve urban governance in transport infrastructure quality and develop efficient public transport, coupled with integrated land use/transport planning as well as economic instruments. This will allow Indian cities to embark on a sustainable growth pathway by decoupling transport services demand of GHG emissions in the longer term. Appropriate policy instruments need to be selected to reconcile the imperatives of economic and urban growth, aspiration to higher quality of life, improvements in social welfare, urban transport-related energy consumption and GHG emissions mitigation target in Indian cities. - Highlights: → Investigating the relevant policies that facilitate mitigating GHG emissions in urban transport in Indian cities. → Determining the factors of increase in energy demand and carbon emissions in transport. → Improving urban governance in transport infrastructure with integrated transport planning. → Designing and implementing the policy and economic instruments for low-carbon urban transport in India.

  9. 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.

  10. Modelling land-use effects of future urbanization using cellular automata

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fuglsang, Morten; Münier, B.; Hansen, H.S.

    2013-01-01

    project PASHMINA (Paradigm Shift modelling and innovative approaches), three storylines of future transportation paradigm shifts towards 2040 are created. These storylines are translated into spatial planning strategies and modelled using the cellular automata model LUCIA. For the modelling, an Eastern......The modelling of land use change is a way to analyse future scenarios by modelling different pathways. Application of spatial data of different scales coupled with socio-economic data makes it possible to explore and test the understanding of land use change relations. In the EU-FP7 research...... Danish case area was selected, comprising of the Copenhagen metropolitan area and its hinterland. The different scenarios are described using a range of different descriptive GIS datasets. These include mapping of accessibility based on public and private transportation, urban density and structure...

  11. Urban and rural land use in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sebastian Martinuzzi; William A. Gould; Olga M. Ramos Gonzalez; Maya Quinones; Michael E. Jimenez

    2008-01-01

    We have developed three land use regions for Puerto Rico: Urban, Suburban, and Rural (Gould et al. 2008; Martinuzzi et al. 2007). These three regions can also be considered urban, densely-populated rural, and sparsely-populated rural or as urban and wildland with a wildland-urban interface. The suburban use is the most dynamic in terms of population growth and land...

  12. Urban Dynamics: Analyzing Land Use Change in Urban Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acevedo, William; Richards, Lora R.; Buchanan, Janis T.; Wegener, Whitney R.

    2000-01-01

    In FY99, the Earth Resource Observation System (EROS) staff at Ames continued managing the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Urban Dynamics Research program, which has mapping and analysis activities at five USGS mapping centers. Historic land use reconstruction work continued while activities in geographic analysis and modeling were expanded. Retrospective geographic information system (GIS) development - the spatial reconstruction of a region's urban land-use history - focused on the Detroit River Corridor, California's Central Valley, and the city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

  13. Understanding Informal Urban Land Market Functioning in Peri ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    rapid urbansisation that requires huge land for various purposes including housing, industry ... domain. In Rwandan urban areas, as observed by many scholars (Sagashya, ... demand to the offer perspectives, analysing drivers of informal land market ... Desk study was used to collect secondary data on urban land market.

  14. Mozambique - Urban Land Regularization

    Data.gov (United States)

    Millennium Challenge Corporation — This baseline survey was developed for the impact evaluation of activities related to 'improving land access in urban hotspot areas.' The site-specific interventions...

  15. Land use and transport relationships: A perspective from the United States

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Seskin, S.N.

    1995-12-31

    As transportation and land use planners and policy makers world wide grapple with the increasingly challenging consequences of automobile use, there is a growing need to communicate globally about both the knowledge of interactions between transport and land use and the ability to analyze these relationships in a systematic manner. As the world`s largest consumer of energy in general and petroleum in particular, the United States continues to conduct research and innovate in integrated transportation and land use policy issues. The need for improving the state of knowledge and practice, however, is more compelling in developing nations, such as Chile and Thailand, from which, despite their transportation and environmental problems, the United States in fact has much to learn. Nevertheless it is instructive to take a long and broad look at the way the United States is planning and building urban environments. This paper focuses on four aspects of that effort. The first is the state of knowledge on the relationships between land use and travel demand. The second is the analytic tools used to evaluate these relationships. Third is the array of approaches used by government to integrate transport and land use. The last is the ways in which individuals and organizations outside of the formal structure of government participate in metropolitan planning and development.

  16. Activity-Based Costing Application in an Urban Mass Transport Company

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Popesko Boris

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to provide a basic overview of the application of Activity-Based Costing in an urban mass transport company which operates land public transport via buses and trolleys within the city. The case study was conducted using the Activity-Based Methodology in order to calculate the true cost of individual operations and to measure the profitability of particular transport lines. The case study analysis showed the possible effects of the application of the Activity-Based Costing for an urban mass transport company as well as the limitations of using the ABC methodology in the service industry. With regards to the application of the ABC methodology, the primary limitation of the accuracy of the conclusions is the quality of the non-financial information which had to be gathered throughout the implementation process. A basic limitation of the accurate data acquisition is the nature of the fare system of the transport company which does not allow the identification of the route that is taken by an individual passenger. The study illustrates the technique of ABC in urban mass transport and provides a real company example of information outputs of the ABC system. The users indicated that, the ABC model is very useful for profitability reporting and profit management. Also, the paper shows specific application of the Activity-Based Methodology in conditions of urban mass transport companies with regional specifics.

  17. Transport and land-use policies in Delhi.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tiwari, Geetam

    2003-01-01

    Current transportation policies in mega-cities worldwide lead to major threats to health through traffic injuries, air pollution, noise, reduction in physical activities, and adverse impact on urban quality of life. In addition, a large section of the population in cities in low-income countries has to live in informal-sector, substandard housing. Many transportation policies fail to take enough account of their impacts on poverty and social exclusion, and they neglect the access and transportation demands of the more economically disadvantaged groups of society, who rely mostly on public transportation, walking, and cycling. Delhi, the capital city of India, is an interesting case because failure to consider the broad spectrum of health effects that may result from transport and land-use policies and investments has resulted in decisions that penalize the least affluent groups of the population and make it more difficult for them to get to jobs, education, health care, amenities, and services.

  18. Towards a Pedagogy of Land: The Urban Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Styres, Sandra; Haig-Brown, Celia; Blimkie, Melissa

    2013-01-01

    This article examines the possibilities when shifting what we have come to call a pedagogy of Land from rural to urban contexts. The authors explore some persisting questions around what it means to bring a pedagogy of Land into classrooms and communities in urban settings. The authors consider the ways a pedagogy of Land might translate from…

  19. Urban Mobility Analysis on Efficiency and Sustainability by Means of Transportation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Branea, Ana-Maria; Gaman, Marius; Badescu, Stefana

    2017-10-01

    Patterns of urban land use are inherently linked to the predominantly used means of transportation, both generating and being generated themselves. While each mode of transportation shapes a different development typology a clear understanding of their interrelations and dependencies is needed in order to create a comprehensive mobility strategy. The study proposes a 15-criteria analysis framework developed to identify and quantify the main modes of transportation’s key aspects. The analysis framework was applied to a yearlong research on Timisoara, Romania, comprising hard, quantitative data, digital simulations and mobility pattern analysis and soft data, quality assessment and perceived needs and satisfaction levels. The research was carried out in clear opposition to the national trend of official mobility strategies focusing on accommodating increased levels of car traffic on the underdeveloped existing roads infrastructure. By analysing the efficiency and sustainability of all four main modes of transportation the results offer a holistic comprehensive view. While, despite current practices, no mobility strategy can focus on a single means of transportation, the article will only present in detail the research on cycling, infrastructure and use, as it is the most underdeveloped and least discussed at the national level and proven through our study to be the most efficient for a city of Timisoara’s size and characteristics. By identifying a clear link between urban land use patterns, infrastructure quality and perceptions and the most efficient means of transportation for each particular city type mobility strategies could shift the trend of urban development towards a more sustainable one.

  20. Generation of a U.S. national urban land use product

    Science.gov (United States)

    Falcone, James A.; Homer, Collin G.

    2012-01-01

    Characterization of urban land uses is essential for many applications. However, differentiating among thematically-detailed urban land uses (residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, recreational, etc.) over broad areas is challenging, in part because image-based solutions are not ideal for establishing the contextual basis for identifying economic function and use. At present no current United States national-scale mapping exists for urban land uses similar to the classical Anderson Level II classification. This paper describes a product that maps urban land uses, and is linked to and corresponds with the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2006. In this product, NLCD urban pixels, in addition to their current imperviousness intensity classification, are assigned one of nine urban use classes based on information drawn from multiple data sources. These sources include detailed infrastructure information, population characteristics, and historical land use. The result is a method for creating a 30 m national-scale grid providing thematically-detailed urban land use information which complements the NLCD. Initial results for 10 major metropolitan areas are provided as an on-line link. Accuracy assessment of initial products yielded an overall accuracy of 81.6 percent.

  1. A Comparative Land Use-Based Analysis of Noise Pollution Levels in Selected Urban Centers of Nigeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baloye, David O; Palamuleni, Lobina G

    2015-09-29

    Growth in the commercialization, mobility and urbanization of human settlements across the globe has greatly exposed world urban population to potentially harmful noise levels. The situation is more disturbing in developing countries like Nigeria, where there are no sacrosanct noise laws and regulations. This study characterized noise pollution levels in Ibadan and Ile-Ife, two urban areas of Southwestern Nigeria that have experienced significant increases in population and land use activities. Eight hundred noise measurements, taken at 20 different positions in the morning, afternoon, and evening of carefully selected weekdays, in each urban area, were used for this study. Findings put the average noise levels in the urban centers at between 53 dB(A) and 89 dB (A), a far cry from the World Health Organization (WHO) permissible limits in all the land use types, with highest noise pollution levels recorded for transportation, commercial, residential and educational land use types. The result of the one-way ANOVA test carried out on the dependent variable noise and fixed factor land use types reveals a statistically significant mean noise levels across the study area (F(3,34) = 15.13, p = 0.000). The study underscores noise pollution monitoring and the urgent need to control urban noise pollution with appropriate and effective policies.

  2. Urban Transport and Communication

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Irandu, E.M.

    1999-01-01

    The population according to the 1989 census was 21,448,774 inhabitants. This figure shows that on average the total population has been increasing by more than 40% every decade since 1948. As a result the widening gap between fertility and mortality, the population is growing at an accelerated rate. The current official population growth rate figure of 3.4% per annum puts the country among the world's most rapidly growing nations. It is projected that by the year 2010, the population will be about 37.4 million. At present the urban centres with a population size of 2,000 people and above constitute about 18.1% of the total population (Kenya, 1994). Rapid economic growth has led to the development of a number of urban centres as centres of commerce, industry and tourism. Consequently, this has led to rural urban drift. This drift to urban areas causes a number of problems which if unresolved will limit the ability of the urban centres to support their population The rapid increase in urban population causes a shortage of facilities to meet the increasing demand in services such as public transport, water supply, sewage and housing (Ramatullah, 1997: 161-168). Urban Transport acts as catalyst to both urban and national development, by facilitating the movements associated with urban and national Development. They provide a means by which goods and services are made available to industry and consumers, creating opportunity for social and economic interaction and employment. Without urban transport, access to health, education and employment would not be possible. Indeed urban transport is what gives life to urban development

  3. The interaction between land subsidence and urban development in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. Yang

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The Yangtze River Delta and North China Plain are experiencing serious land subsidence development and are also the areas that have undergone the fastest urbanization. Rapid urban development inevitably requires more water resources. However, China is a country with small per capita water resources, nonuniform distribution of water resources, and over-exploitation of groundwater – all of which are critical factors contributing to the potential for a land subsidence disaster. In addition, land subsidence has brought about elevation loss, damaged buildings, decreased safety of rail transit projects, lowered land value, and other huge economic losses and potential safety hazards in China. In this paper, Beijing, a typical northern Chinese city deficient in water, is taken as an example to explore (a the problems of urban development, utilization of water resources, and land subsidence development; (b the harm and influence of land subsidence hazards on urban construction; and (c the relationship between urban development and land subsidence. Based on the results, the author has predicted the trend of urban development and land subsidence in Beijing and puts forward her viewpoints and suggestions.

  4. Trans-European transport networks and urban systems in European Union

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maksin-Mićić Marija

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available The trans-European transport network has different effects at interregional macro-regional and mezzo-regional level, and its effectiveness rises at the lower regional levels. Possible approaches to the trans-European transport network impact and effect survey and policy options have been pointed out. In that respect the brief review of survies, strategic framework and policies in European Union has been given. The importance of increased accessibility and mobility for regional expansion and for more balanced and polycentric system of city networks has been underlined. The question is how the new major transport infrastructure affects the development of functional complementarity between cities and regions. The new trans-European or major transport infrastructure does not per se create regional and urban system network development, although it can affect the conditions for the processes that create growth and development. The effects can be increased by co-ordination of measures of regional and urban policy, land use, transport and other policies. The necessary measure is the introduction of spatial impact assessment as sectorial policy instrument for the large transport infrastructure projects.

  5. The challenges of automobile-dependent urban transport strategy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jovanović Miomir

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The fundamental aims of sustainable urban development and the pro-automobile oriented economic development are on a collision course. It is obvious that automobile-dependent urban development is under heavy/powerful influence of the automobile lobby (automobile and oil industries, along with construction. In this domain famous land-use-transportation studies (or ‘grand transportation studies’ are, unfortunately, still prevailing - a vicious circle of self-fulfilling prophecy of congestion, road building, sprawl, congestion and more road building. Until recently, it was commonly thought that investment in public transport was not economically sustainable and that focusing on the development of the automobile industry and financing the construction of roadways stimulated economic growth. In this paper we clearly show that automobile industry is now overcapitalized, less profitable than many other industries (and may become even less profitable in the future, that transport market is characterized with huge distortions (more than a third of motor-vehicle use can be explained by underpriced driving, while new road investment does not have a major impact on economic growth (especially in a region with an already well-developed infrastructure, and that pro-automobile transport strategy inexorably incurs harmful global, regional and local ecological consequences. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 37010

  6. Access to Urban Land and its Role in Enhancing Business ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Access to urban land for business activities relates to access to working space, or using and/or controlling a unit of land based on open access, land ownership, land lease, business lease or premise rentals. Diversified and broad-based access to urban land with due regulatory control against speculation and holdouts ...

  7. Urban Expansion and Agricultural Land Loss in China: A Multiscale Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaifang Shi

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available China’s rapid urbanization has contributed to a massive agricultural land loss that could threaten its food security. Timely and accurate mapping of urban expansion and urbanization-related agricultural land loss can provide viable measures to be taken for urban planning and agricultural land protection. In this study, urban expansion in China from 2001 to 2013 was mapped using the nighttime stable light (NSL, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI, and water body data. Urbanization-related agricultural land loss during this time period was then evaluated at national, regional, and metropolitan scales by integrating multiple sources of geographic data. The results revealed that China’s total urban area increased from 31,076 km2 in 2001 to 80,887 km2 in 2013, with an average annual growth rate of 13.36%. This widespread urban expansion consumed 33,080 km2 of agricultural land during this period. At a regional scale, the eastern region lost 18,542 km2 or 1.2% of its total agricultural land area. At a metropolitan scale, the Shanghai–Nanjing–Hangzhou (SNH and Pearl River Delta (PRD areas underwent high levels of agricultural land loss with a decrease of 6.12% (4728 km2 and 6.05% (2702 km2 of their total agricultural land areas, respectively. Special attention should be paid to the PRD, with a decline of 13.30% (1843 km2 of its cropland. Effective policies and strategies should be implemented to mitigate urbanization-related agricultural land loss in the context of China’s rapid urbanization.

  8. Improving Land Administration and Management for Sustainable Urban Development : Philippines Urbanization Review Policy Notes

    OpenAIRE

    World Bank

    2017-01-01

    This policy note assesses the performance of existing land administration and management (LAM) system in the Philippines in creating an environment for competitive cities. It looks at the influence of LAM (including property rights) in the proper functioning of land markets in urban areas; the effectiveness of land use planning and regulations in shaping urban growth, reducing informality,...

  9. A case study predicting environmental impacts of urban transport planning in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Chong; Shao, Li-guo; Xu, Ling; Shang, Jin-cheng

    2009-10-01

    Predicting environmental impacts is essential when performing an environmental assessment on urban transport planning. System dynamics (SD) is usually used to solve complex nonlinear problems. In this study, we utilized system dynamics (SD) to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with urban transport planning in Jilin City, China with respect to the local economy, society, transport, the environment and resources. To accomplish this, we generated simulation models comprising interrelated subsystems designed to utilize changes in the economy, society, road construction, changes in the number of vehicles, the capacity of the road network capacity, nitrogen oxides emission, traffic noise, land used for road construction and fuel consumption associated with traffic to estimate dynamic trends in the environmental impacts associated with Jilin's transport planning. Two simulation scenarios were then analyzed comparatively. The results of this study indicated that implementation of Jilin transport planning would improve the current urban traffic conditions and boost the local economy and development while benefiting the environment in Jilin City. In addition, comparative analysis of the two scenarios provided additional information that can be used to aid in scientific decision-making regarding which aspects of the transport planning to implement in Jilin City. This study demonstrates that our application of the SD method, which is referred to as the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), is feasible for use in urban transport planning.

  10. Modeling Urban Expansion and Agricultural Land Conversion in Henan Province, China: An Integration of Land Use and Socioeconomic Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Jiang

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available China has experienced rapid urban expansion and agricultural land loss, and the land conversion has accelerated in central provinces since the mid-1990s. The goal of this paper is to examine the relative importance of socioeconomic and policy factors on the urban conversion of agricultural land in Henan Province, China. Using panel econometric models, we examine how socioeconomic and policy factors affect agricultural land conversion at the county level across three time periods, 1995–2000, 2000–2005, and 2005–2010. The results show that both urban land rent and urban wages are essential factors that positively contribute to the conversion of agricultural land. It is also found that per capita GDP is correlated with more urban development and agricultural land loss. Consistent with expectations, agricultural financial support is negatively correlated with agricultural land conversion, suggesting a policy success. Finally, the decomposition analysis illustrates that urban wages are the most influential positive factor and agricultural financial support is the most influential negative factor affecting the urban conversion of agricultural land.

  11. Urban Land Expansion and Structural Change in the Yangtze River Delta, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jinlong Gao

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Urban development in China has attracted considerable scholarly attention. However, more work is still needed to examine and understand the mechanisms of urban land expansion, especially within the context of globalization/marketization, decentralization and urbanization. This paper analyzes urban land expansion and structural changes in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD. We find that cities in the YRD are experiencing urban land expansion mainly characterized by the growth of residential and industrial land. The dominant characteristics of urban land expansion in cities have also varied within different development and administrative levels. Based on our conceptual framework, we have used multi-models to investigate the driving forces of urban land expansion and structural changes in the YRD. The results reveal that six influencing factors—foreign direct investment (FDI, labor, government competition, institution, population, and job-housing relations—facilitate land use change in the economic transition process. However, their impacts differ in cities in different geographical locations, as well as with different administrative levels. Finally, this paper discusses policies to promote sustainable urban land use in the YRD.

  12. Urban Land Expansion and Spatial Dynamics in Globalizing Shanghai

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Han Li

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Urban land expansion in China has attracted considerable scholarly attention. However, more work is needed to apply spatial modeling to understanding the mechanisms of urban growth from both institutional and physical perspectives. This paper analyzes urban expansion in Shanghai and its development zones (DZs. We find that, as nodes of global-local interface, the DZs are the most significant components of urban growth in Shanghai, and major spatial patterns of urban expansion in Shanghai are infilling and edge expansion. We apply logistic regression, geographically weighted logistic regression (GWLR and spatial regime regression to investigate the determinants of urban land expansion including physical conditions, state policy and land development. Regressions reveal that, though the market has been an important driving force in urban growth, the state has played a predominant role through the implementation of urban planning and the establishment of DZs to fully capitalize on globalization. We also find that differences in urban growth dynamics exist between the areas inside and outside of the DZs. Finally, this paper discusses policies to promote sustainable development in Shanghai.

  13. Trans-European transport networks influence on the regional development and urban systems: Serbian experience

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maksin-Mićić Marija

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available The trans-European transport network has different effects at macro-regional, mezzo-regional and micro-regional level, and on urban systems development, and its effectiveness rises at the lower regional levels. Possible approaches to the trans-European transport network impact and effect survey and policy options have been pointed out. The importance of increased accessibility and mobility for regional expansion and for more balanced and polycentric system of city networks has been underlined. The question is how the new major transport infrastructure affects the development of functional complementarity between cities and regions. Changes of the spatial organization, utilization and structure of cities, as well as of social benefits and losses subsequent to impacts of trans-European transport corridor "X" on urban system Ćuprija-Jagodina-Paraćin at section Belgrade-Nis have been analysed. The new trans-European or major transport infrastructure does not per se create regional and urban system network development, although it can affect the conditions for the processes that create growth and development. The effects can be increased by co-ordination of measures of regional and urban policy, land use, transport and other policies. The guidances and options of urban systems and urban centres development policies in trans-European transport corridor, as well as possibilities to improve our planning system have been given. The necessary measure is the introduction of spatial impact assessment as sectorial policy instrument for the large transport infrastructure projects.

  14. URBAN EXPANSION AND LOSS OF AGRICULTURAL LAND IN ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Dr Osondu

    1987-09-23

    Sep 23, 1987 ... study and to assess its influence on agricultural lands. ... average annual rates of urban growth in Uyo Urban area were 4.48%, 0.56% between 1978/1988, 8.57% .... region (Woodwell et, al; 1984 and Williams, ... The reverse was the case with agricultural land. ... cohesive, organized network of vegetable.

  15. Geographically explicit urban land use change scenarios for Mega cities: a case study in Tokyo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamagata, Y.; Bagan, H.; Seya, H.; Nakamichi, K.

    2010-12-01

    In preparation for the IPCC 5th assessment report, the international modeling community is developing four Representative Concentration Paths employing the scenarios developed by four different Integrated Assessment Models. These RCPs will be employed as an input to climate models, such as Earth System Models. In these days, the importance of assessment of not only global but also local (city/zone level) impacts of global change has gradually been recognized, thereby downscaling climate models are one of the urgent problems to be solved. Needless to say, reliable downscaling requires spatially high resolution land use change scenarios. So far, there has been proposed a lot of methods for constructing land use change scenarios with considering economic behavior of human, such as agent-based model (e.g., Parker et al., 2001), and land use transport (LUT) model (e.g., Anas and Liu, 2007). The latter approach in particular has widely been applied to actual urban/transport policy; hence modeling the interaction between them is very important for creating reliable land use change scenarios. However, the LUT models are usually built based on the zones of cities/municipalities whose spatial resolutions are too low to derive sensible parameters of the climate models. Moreover, almost all of the works which attempt to build spatially high resolution LUT model employs very small regions as the study area. The objective of this research is deriving various input parameters to climate models such as population density, fractional green vegetation cover, and anthropogenic heat emission with spatially high resolution land use change scenarios constructed with LUT model. The study area of this research is Tokyo metropolitan area, which is the largest urban area in the world (United Nations., 2010). Firstly, this study employs very high ground resolution zones composed of micro districts around 1km2. Secondly, the research attempt to combine remote sensing techniques and LUT models

  16. Influences of Urban Expansion on Cultivated Lands in China Since 1970S

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, F.; Zhang, Z.; Zhao, X.; Yu, S.; Wang, X.; Zuo, L.

    2018-04-01

    Urban expansion has far-reaching influences on cultivated lands, and has a serious effect on grain output and safety. However, relatively little attention has been paid to monitor cultivated land losses through urban expansion over a long timeframe and multi-frequency, especially its differences on national scale systematically. In this work, the characteristics of Chinese cultivated land dynamics were described using annual occupied area per city, contribution rate of cultivated lands to urban expansion and the classification method of basic trend of cultivated land losses. Results indicate that: (1) in the past four decades, large amount of cultivated lands have been occupied during the urban expansion process, and have become the first land source for Chinese urban expansion. (2) Cultivated land loss among municipalities, provincial capitals and other cities was obviously different. The higher of cities' administrative level was, the more obvious of cultivated land loss in these cities appeared, and the earlier of acceleration loss stage of cultivated lands occurred. (3) Cultivated land loss in five population-size cities was unbalanced, representing obviously different loss process and contribution on urban expansion. The bigger of cities' population size was, the more obvious of cultivated land loss in these cities appeared, and the earlier of acceleration loss stage of cultivated lands occurred. (4) Cultivated land losses during urban expansion process were imbalanced in China, and were classified into seven trends. (5) Chinese cultivated land protection has been carried out from the awakening stage to the deep implementation stage.

  17. Perspective on an urban transportation strategy with BRT for developing cities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fumihiko Nakamura

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available A Bus Rapid Transit (BRT system is one of the best strategies for urban transportation, especially in developing cities, mainly because of its cost-efficiency. Starting from Curitiba, Brazil in 1974, including Bogota, Colombia in 1999, many cities in Latin American Countries have implemented a BRT system. In almost all cases, BRT systems are working as a reliable high capacity service. In some cases, BRT systems are well coordinated with an urban transportation strategy framework and/or an urban planning strategy framework, integrating other transportation modes and land uses. Alternatively, there have been very few cases of BRT systems in Southeast Asian countries. Many cities considering implementation of BRT systems do not consider other urban transportation strategies such as Transit Oriented Development (TOD. The objective of the paper is to discuss the perspective of a BRT for developing cities. First, the paper reviews the history of BRT systems followed by a field survey of the results in Curitiba, mainly from an urban transportation and planning strategy point of view. Second, multimodal and inter-modal aspects are discussed, where the relationship with city buses, a balance between private car use and parking policies are emphasized. Third a framework of urban bus planning, management and operation is discussed considering the roles of public and private sectors based on the experiences of several developed cities. Finally, in terms of an urban planning strategy, reviewing the original and applied concepts of TOD, the authors discuss how a TOD strategy could work with BRT systems. The authors address the possibilities and limitations of BRT systems, especially in developing cities. More specific implications are presented in the case of medium sized cities of Southeast Asian countries.

  18. Planning and land policy tools for limiting urban sprawl: The example of Belgrade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeković Slavka

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Both the characteristics of Serbia’s urban land policy, the delay in reforms and land development management of the Belgrade Metropolitan Area (BMA illustrate the complexities following the reshaping of institutional framework under the conditions of economic and other uncertainties of societal transition. The negative implications of the prolonged crisis on the new urban development policy and urban land tools can postpone the establishment and application of guidelines for limiting the urban sprawl. This paper presents a brief literature review, as well as the current urban land policy and land-use efficiency in the BMA. Traditional urban land tools will be shortly described, followed by recommendations for limiting sprawl. There is a need for readjusting the current planning and urban policy regarding the urban sprawl, from an urban “command-and-control” approach to a “learn-and-adapt” approach. We suggest the introduction of more innovative and flexible urban land policy tools. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III47014

  19. Achiving sustainability in urban transport in developing and transition countries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Braeuninger, Michael; Schulze, Sven; Leschus, Leon [Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI), Hamburg (Germany); Perschon, Juergen; Hertel, Christof; Field, Simon; Foletta, Nicole [European Institute for Sustainable Transport (EURIST), Hamburg (Germany)

    2012-01-15

    Sustainable transport is an urging issue on a few accounts: The transport sector was responsible for 23% global CO{sub 2} emission in 2007. It also has a number of other effects like air and noise pollution, land use etc. These effects are especially relevant in cities, where already half of the world's population is living today. With a growing world population and ongoing urbanisation the number and share of city dwellers will rise considerably in the next decades. Thus, sustainability in urban transport becomes increasingly important. This report first provides a short overview of the most important data behind the sustainability problems in urban transport. Then the question is addressed, what sustainable mobility is and where the main obstacles are on the path to more sustainability. The central part of the study deals with the most important policies and instruments enhancing sustainable (urban) mobility. The main feature of each section within that part of the study is the combination of theoretical background information and arguments with case studies from developing and transition countries. Accordingly, the reader gets an idea of the vast range of available instruments in order to promote sustainable mobility. But it is also shown that it is not only necessary but also possible to introduce or enhance sustainable urban transport regardless of the income position of the specific region, country or city. Besides, success factors for different instruments are identified, thereby deriving promising routes for countries or a group of countries according to their state of economic development. (orig.)

  20. Achiving sustainability in urban transport in developing and transition countries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Braeuninger, Michael; Schulze, Sven; Leschus, Leon [Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI), Hamburg (Germany); Perschon, Juergen; Hertel, Christof; Field, Simon; Foletta, Nicole [European Institute for Sustainable Transport (EURIST), Hamburg (Germany)

    2012-01-15

    Sustainable transport is an urging issue on a few accounts: The transport sector was responsible for 23% global CO{sub 2} emission in 2007. It also has a number of other effects like air and noise pollution, land use etc. These effects are especially relevant in cities, where already half of the world's population is living today. With a growing world population and ongoing urbanisation the number and share of city dwellers will rise considerably in the next decades. Thus, sustainability in urban transport becomes increasingly important. This report first provides a short overview of the most important data behind the sustainability problems in urban transport. Then the question is addressed, what sustainable mobility is and where the main obstacles are on the path to more sustainability. The central part of the study deals with the most important policies and instruments enhancing sustainable (urban) mobility. The main feature of each section within that part of the study is the combination of theoretical background information and arguments with case studies from developing and transition countries. Accordingly, the reader gets an idea of the vast range of available instruments in order to promote sustainable mobility. But it is also shown that it is not only necessary but also possible to introduce or enhance sustainable urban transport regardless of the income position of the specific region, country or city. Besides, success factors for different instruments are identified, thereby deriving promising routes for countries or a group of countries according to their state of economic development. (orig.)

  1. The Interpretation of Urban Land Use Maps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Roger J.

    1973-01-01

    Three steps in urban land use analysis, fieldwork mapping, processing of data, and classification and delimitation of zones in an urban area, are described. An appendix presents a classification of buildings by function. (KM)

  2. Influence of land urbanization on carbon sequestration of urban vegetation: A temporal cooperativity analysis in Guangzhou as an example.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Qian; Dong, Yu-Xiang; Yang, Ren

    2018-04-13

    Land urbanization can affect carbon sequestration. In this study, the relationships between land urbanization and carbon sequestration of urban vegetation were studied for Guangzhou, China. The methodology was based on land use data from Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery, MODIS13Q1 data, and climate data, and the improved Carnegie-Ames-Stanford approach (CASA) model and linear system models were employed. Characteristics such as the amount of expansion, spatial agglomeration, spatial expansion intensity, and spatial growth of built-up land were analyzed, and the influence of land urbanization (built-up land expansion) on carbon sequestration of urban vegetation was elucidated by a temporal sequential cooperativity analysis. The main results were as follows. (1) Land urbanization had a clear influence on carbon sequestration of urban vegetation in Guangzhou, and the proportion and spatial agglomeration of built-up land showed significant negative correlations with this carbon sequestration; the correlation coefficients were -0.443 and -0.537, respectively, in 2014. (2) The spatial expansion intensity and spatial growth of built-up land showed small correlations with carbon sequestration, and the correlations from 2000 to 2005 were relatively larger than those at other times; this was because the built-up land expansion speed was the fastest during this period. (3) The temporal sequential cooperativity analysis revealed that carbon was lost as natural surfaces were transformed to artificial surfaces, and land urbanization effects on carbon sequestration showed no significant temporal lag. Carbon sequestration of urban vegetation in the city could be improved by adding urban green spaces; however, this would likely take some time as the system recovers. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Mapping urban environmental noise: a land use regression method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Dan; Liu, Yi; Chen, Jining

    2011-09-01

    Forecasting and preventing urban noise pollution are major challenges in urban environmental management. Most existing efforts, including experiment-based models, statistical models, and noise mapping, however, have limited capacity to explain the association between urban growth and corresponding noise change. Therefore, these conventional methods can hardly forecast urban noise at a given outlook of development layout. This paper, for the first time, introduces a land use regression method, which has been applied for simulating urban air quality for a decade, to construct an urban noise model (LUNOS) in Dalian Municipality, Northwest China. The LUNOS model describes noise as a dependent variable of surrounding various land areas via a regressive function. The results suggest that a linear model performs better in fitting monitoring data, and there is no significant difference of the LUNOS's outputs when applied to different spatial scales. As the LUNOS facilitates a better understanding of the association between land use and urban environmental noise in comparison to conventional methods, it can be regarded as a promising tool for noise prediction for planning purposes and aid smart decision-making.

  4. Envisioning Parking Strategies in the Framework of Sustainable Urban Transport

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giovanni Circella

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available Parking policies and regulations are important tools in planning for the governance of urban mobility. The proper design and location of parking facilities, in fact, contributes to an efficient use of the transportation system (or it may reduce its efficiency, when these infrastructures are not properly planned. This paper discusses the role of parking as part of the policy packages for strategic planning aimed at increasing the sustainability of urban and metropolitan areas. In particular, the integration of parking strategies in a comprehensive vision for the future of a city may significantly improve the allocation of resources and the reduction of the overall environmental externalities. The role of parking in the strategic planning of cities is discussed through the analysis of several recent projects in the city of Bari (Italy. The paper discusses the way these projects are linked (or eventually not linked to broader strategies for urban mobility, and how they might be coordinated into policy packages that promote more sustainable transportation. The use of an integrated land use transportation modeling approach to simulate the long-term evolution of the urban area may significantly contribute to estimate the long-term effects of the proposed policies. This approach may successfully support the process of policy evaluation and the selection of the optimal strategies to implement.

  5. Analyzing Land Cover Change and Urban Growth Trajectories of the Mega-Urban Region of Dhaka Using Remotely Sensed Data and an Ensemble Classifier

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Mehedy Hassan

    2017-12-01

    place in the north, northwest, and southwest regions of Dhaka, transforming areas that were previously agricultural land, vegetation cover, wetland, and water bodies. The main factors driving the city towards northern corridors include flood-free higher land, the availability of a transportation network, and the agglomeration of manufacturing-based employment centers. The resulting thematic map and spatial information produced from this study therefore serve to facilitate a detailed understanding of urban growth dynamics and land cover change patterns in the mega-urban region of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

  6. Countermeasures for Intensive Use of Land from the Perspective of Urban-Rural Integration

    OpenAIRE

    Jia, Li-bin

    2012-01-01

    This paper analyzes problems of excessive emphasis on expansion of urban land, improper village and town construction, and low land utilization efficiency in urban-rural integration construction. In line with characteristics and principle of intensive land use of urban-rural integration, it puts forward integration of urban-rural land layout, practically exploring connotation, and improving land intensification in many ways. Based on these, it presents countermeasures for intensive use of lan...

  7. Removing non-urban roads from the National Land Cover Database to create improved urban maps for the United States, 1992-2011

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soulard, Christopher E.; Acevedo, William; Stehman, Stephen V.

    2018-01-01

    Quantifying change in urban land provides important information to create empirical models examining the effects of human land use. Maps of developed land from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) of the conterminous United States include rural roads in the developed land class and therefore overestimate the amount of urban land. To better map the urban class and understand how urban lands change over time, we removed rural roads and small patches of rural development from the NLCD developed class and created four wall-to-wall maps (1992, 2001, 2006, and 2011) of urban land. Removing rural roads from the NLCD developed class involved a multi-step filtering process, data fusion using geospatial road and developed land data, and manual editing. Reference data classified as urban or not urban from a stratified random sample was used to assess the accuracy of the 2001 and 2006 urban and NLCD maps. The newly created urban maps had higher overall accuracy (98.7 percent) than the NLCD maps (96.2 percent). More importantly, the urban maps resulted in lower commission error of the urban class (23 percent versus 57 percent for the NLCD in 2006) with the trade-off of slightly inflated omission error (20 percent for the urban map, 16 percent for NLCD in 2006). The removal of approximately 230,000 km2 of rural roads from the NLCD developed class resulted in maps that better characterize the urban footprint. These urban maps are more suited to modeling applications and policy decisions that rely on quantitative and spatially explicit information regarding urban lands.

  8. Compulsory Acquisition and Urban Land Delivery in Customary ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    E O Akrofi

    shows that this is a major hindrance to urban land delivery in customary areas. ..... also be acceptable when government assists private companies to acquire land ..... cash from the Land Valuation Board but they cannot conclusively state that ...

  9. Characterizing Factors Associated with Built-Up Land Expansion in Urban and Non-Urban Areas from a Morphological Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhonghao Zhang

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, built-up land expansion patterns and the associated factors were characterized in urban and non-urban areas across the Wen-Tai region of eastern China. Fractal dimension can be used as a reliable indicator of the complexity of built-up land form, and the increasing trend of fractal dimension indicated a more complex, dispersed pattern of built-up land in urban areas. Spatial regression models were quantitatively implemented to identify the indicators influencing the variation of fractal dimensions. Our findings suggested that the fractal dimension of built-up land forms was positively correlated to the patch density and elevation when built-up land expansion was more concentrated. Both landscape shape index and Gross Domestic Product (GDP were positively correlated with fractal dimension in urban areas, and total edge, edge density, and connective index had impacts on fractal dimension in non-urban areas. Slope and agricultural population also showed an influence on fractal dimension. This study provided a new way for urban studies in interpreting the complex interactions between fractal dimension and related factors. The combined approach of fractal dimension and spatial analysis can provide the government planners with valuable information that can be efficiently used to realize the influences of land use policies in urban and non-urban areas.

  10. The response of the terrestrial biosphere to urbanization: land cover conversion, climate, and urban pollution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Trusilova

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available Although urban areas occupy a relatively small fraction of land, they produce major disturbances of the carbon cycle through land use change, climate modification, and atmospheric pollution. In this study we quantify effects of urban areas on the carbon cycle in Europe. Among urbanization-driven environmental changes, which influence carbon sequestration in the terrestrial biosphere, we account for: (1 proportion of land covered by impervious materials, (2 local urban meteorological conditions, (3 urban high CO2 concentrations, and (4 elevated atmospheric nitrogen deposition. We use the terrestrial ecosystem model BIOME-BGC to estimate fluxes of carbon exchange between the biosphere and the atmosphere in response to these urban factors.

    We analysed four urbanization-driven changes individually, setting up our model in such a way that only one of the four was active at a time. From these model simulations we found that fertilization effects from the elevated CO2 and the atmospheric nitrogen deposition made the strongest positive contributions to the carbon uptake (0.023 Pg C year−1 and 0.039 Pg C year−1, respectively, whereas, the impervious urban land and local urban meteorological conditions resulted in a reduction of carbon uptake (−0.005 Pg C year−1 and −0.007 Pg C year−1, respectively. The synergetic effect of the four urbanization-induced changes was an increase of the carbon sequestration in Europe of 0.058 Pg C year−1.

  11. Land Politics under Market Socialism: The State, Land Policies, and Rural–Urban Land Conversion in China and Vietnam

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hoang Linh Nguyen

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper undertakes a comparative analysis of rural–urban land conversion policies in China and Vietnam, and examines the ideology of the state in land policymaking under a market socialism environment. It argues that land policies in both countries include ambiguous boundaries, which allow the socialist state to legitimize its politico-administrative power in land management and retain strong intervention capacity in the land market. In addition to similarities, land policies in China and Vietnam show significant differences in terms of the ownership of rural land and related legislation on land expropriation and transactions. Together, these distinctions cause divergent impacts on the interests and motivations of multiple stakeholders in rural land conversion. It is further observed that the state in both countries is characterized by dynamic, complex, and self-coordinated institutional systems, in which multiple levels of government have different driving forces and strategies in land development. The internal structure of authority in rural–urban land conversion between the multiple levels of government is readjusted by the regulatory land control of the central government.

  12. Monitoring the effects of land use/landcover changes on urban heat island

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gee, Ong K.; Sarker, Md Latifur Rahman

    2013-10-01

    Urban heat island effects are well known nowadays and observed in cities throughout the World. The main reason behind the effects of urban heat island (UHI) is the transformation of land use/ land cover, and this transformation is associated with UHI through different actions: i) removal of vegetated areas, ii) land reclamation from sea/river, iii) construction of new building as well as other concrete structures, and iv) industrial and domestic activity. In rapidly developing cities, urban heat island effects increases very hastily with the transformation of vegetated/ other types of areas into urban surface because of the increasing population as well as for economical activities. In this research the effect of land use/ land cover on urban heat island was investigated in two growing cities in Asia i.e. Singapore and Johor Bahru, (Malaysia) using 10 years data (from 1997 to 2010) from Landsat TM/ETM+. Multispectral visible band along with indices such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Build Index (NDBI), and Normalized Difference Bareness Index (NDBaI) were used for the classification of major land use/land cover types using Maximum Likelihood Classifiers. On the other hand, land surface temperature (LST) was estimated from thermal image using Land Surface Temperature algorithm. Emissivity correction was applied to the LST map using the emissivity values from the major land use/ land cover types, and validation of the UHI map was carried out using in situ data. Results of this research indicate that there is a strong relationship between the land use/land cover changes and UHI. Over this 10 years period, significant percentage of non-urban surface was decreased but urban heat surface was increased because of the rapid urbanization. With the increase of UHI effect it is expected that local urban climate has been modified and some heat related health problem has been exposed, so appropriate measure should be taken in order to

  13. Project ATLANTA (ATlanta Land-use ANalysis: Temperature and Air quality): A Study of how the Urban Landscape Affects Meteorology and Air Quality Through Time

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quattrochi, Dale A.; Luvall, Jeffrey C.; Estes, Maurice G.; Lo, C. P.; Kidder, Stanley Q.; Hafner, Jan; Taha, Haider; Bornstein, Robert D.; Gillies, Robert R.; Gallo, Kevin P.

    1998-01-01

    It is our intent through this investigation to help facilitate measures that can be Project ATLANTA (ATlanta Land-use ANalysis: applied to mitigate climatological or air quality Temperature and Air-quality) is a NASA Earth degradation, or to design alternate measures to sustain Observing System (EOS) Interdisciplinary Science or improve the overall urban environment in the future. investigation that seeks to observe, measure, model, and analyze how the rapid growth of the Atlanta. The primary objectives for this research effort are: 1) To In the last half of the 20th century, Atlanta, investigate and model the relationship between Atlanta Georgia has risen as the premier commercial, urban growth, land cover change, and the development industrial, and transportation urban area of the of the urban heat island phenomenon through time at southeastern United States. The rapid growth of the nested spatial scales from local to regional; 2) To Atlanta area, particularly within the last 25 years, has investigate and model the relationship between Atlanta made Atlanta one of the fastest growing metropolitan urban growth and land cover change on air quality areas in the United States. The population of the through time at nested spatial scales from local to Atlanta metropolitan area increased 27% between 1970 regional; and 3) To model the overall effects of urban and 1980, and 33% between 1980-1990 (Research development on surface energy budget characteristics Atlanta, Inc., 1993). Concomitant with this high rate of across the Atlanta urban landscape through time at population growth, has been an explosive growth in nested spatial scales from local to regional. Our key retail, industrial, commercial, and transportation goal is to derive a better scientific understanding of how services within the Atlanta region. This has resulted in land cover changes associated with urbanization in the tremendous land cover change dynamics within the Atlanta area, principally in transforming

  14. Frontiers of Land and Water Governance in Urban Regions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Thomas, Hartmann; Spit, Tejo

    2015-01-01

    A society that intensifies and expands the use of land and water in urban areas needs to search for solutions to manage the frontiers between these two essential elements for urban living. Sustainable governance of land and water is one of the major challenges of our times. Managing retention areas

  15. Monitoring urban expansion and its effects on land use and land cover changes in Guangzhou city, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Yanyan; Li, Shuyuan; Yu, Shixiao

    2016-01-01

    There are widespread concerns about urban sprawl in China. In response, modeling and assessing urban expansion and subsequent land use and land cover (LULC) changes have become important approaches to support decisions about appropriate development and land resource use. Guangzhou, a major metropolitan city in South China, has experienced rapid urbanization and great economic growth in the past few decades. This study applied a series of Landsat images to assess the urban expansion and subsequent LULC changes over 35 years, from 1979 to 2013. From start to end, urban expansion increased by 1512.24 km(2) with an annual growth rate of 11.25 %. There were four stages of urban growth: low rates from 1979 to 1990, increased rates from 1990 to 2001, high rates from 2001 to 2009, and steady increased rates from 2009 to 2013. There were also three different urban growth types in these different stages: edge-expansion growth, infilling growth, and spontaneous growth. Other land cover, such as cropland, forest, and mosaics of cropland and natural vegetation, were severely impacted as a result. To analyze these changes, we used landscape metrics to characterize the changes in the spatial patterns across the Guangzhou landscape and the impacts of urban growth on other types of land cover. The significant changes in LULC and urban expansion were highly correlated with economic development, population growth, technical progress, policy elements, and other similar indexes.

  16. [Urban ecological land in Changsha City: its quantitative analysis and optimization].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xiao-Li; Zeng, Guang-Ming; Shi, Lin; Liang, Jie; Cai, Qing

    2010-02-01

    In this paper, a hierarchy index system suitable for catastrophe progression method was constructed to comprehensively analyze and evaluate the status of ecological land construction in Changsha City in 2007. Based on the evaluation results, the irrationalities of the distribution pattern of Changsha urban ecological land were discussed. With the support of geographic information system (GIS), the ecological corridors of the urban ecological land were constructed by using the 'least-cost' modeling, and, in combining with conflict analysis, the optimum project of the urban ecological land was put forward, forming an integrated evaluation system. The results indicated that the ecological efficiency of urban ecological land in Changsha in 2007 was at medium level, with an evaluation value being 0.9416, and the quantitative index being relatively high but the coordination index being relatively low. The analysis and verification with software Fragstats showed that the ecological efficiency of the urban ecological land after optimization was higher, with the evaluation value being 0.9618, and the SHDI, CONTAG, and other indices also enhanced.

  17. Influences of Different Land Use Spatial Control Schemes on Farmland Conversion and Urban Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Min; Tan, Shukui; Zhang, Lu

    2015-01-01

    Land use planning is always officially implemented as an effective tool to control urban development and protect farmland. However, its impact on land use change remains untested in China. Using a case study of Hang-Jia-Hu region, the main objective of this paper was to investigate the influence of different land use spatial control schemes on farmland conversion and urban development. Comparisons of farmland conversion and urban development patterns between the urban planning area and the non-urban planning area were characterized by using remote sensing, geographical information systems, and landscape metrics. Results indicated that farmland conversion in the non-urban planning area was more intensive than that in the urban planning area, and that farmland patterns was more fragmented in the non-urban planning area. Built-up land patterns in the non-urban planning area showed a trend of aggregation, while those in the urban planning area had a dual trend of fragmentation and aggregation. Existing built-up areas had less influence on built-up land sprawl in the non-urban planning area than that in the urban planning area. Built-up land sprawl in the form of continuous development in the urban planning area led to farmland conversion; and in the non-urban planning area, built-up land sprawl in the form of leapfrogging development resulted in farmland areal declines and fragmentation. We argued that it is a basic requirement to integrate land use plans in urban and non-urban planning areas for land use planning and management. PMID:25915897

  18. Influences of different land use spatial control schemes on farmland conversion and urban development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Min; Tan, Shukui; Zhang, Lu

    2015-01-01

    Land use planning is always officially implemented as an effective tool to control urban development and protect farmland. However, its impact on land use change remains untested in China. Using a case study of Hang-Jia-Hu region, the main objective of this paper was to investigate the influence of different land use spatial control schemes on farmland conversion and urban development. Comparisons of farmland conversion and urban development patterns between the urban planning area and the non-urban planning area were characterized by using remote sensing, geographical information systems, and landscape metrics. Results indicated that farmland conversion in the non-urban planning area was more intensive than that in the urban planning area, and that farmland patterns was more fragmented in the non-urban planning area. Built-up land patterns in the non-urban planning area showed a trend of aggregation, while those in the urban planning area had a dual trend of fragmentation and aggregation. Existing built-up areas had less influence on built-up land sprawl in the non-urban planning area than that in the urban planning area. Built-up land sprawl in the form of continuous development in the urban planning area led to farmland conversion; and in the non-urban planning area, built-up land sprawl in the form of leapfrogging development resulted in farmland areal declines and fragmentation. We argued that it is a basic requirement to integrate land use plans in urban and non-urban planning areas for land use planning and management.

  19. Urban Land Use Planning Trend and Sustainable Challenges in Socio-Economic Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Yousif Mangi

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Land use planning is a technical approach for developing and managing the land into various public interests to endorse sustainable socio-economic development. This paper focuses on socio-economic problems by improper allocations of urban land uses particularly in vertical development (High rise buildings. Taluka Qasimabad Town was selected as a case study to observe the existing urban land use trends. Spatial and Quantitative data were collected through detailed land use survey and formal interviews. The ArcGIS and SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science online software were used to analyze spatial and quantitative data. LRM (Linear Regression Model was used for predicting urban land use change particularly in vertical development by the year 2050. In this context, yearly code and land use change variables were applied in LRM to predict land use change since 2007. The results were found that rapid change in land uses occurred in the study area, by which inhabitants are facing problems like privacy, insecurity, property devaluation, and orientation nearby their accommodations. This research can lead to suggest several ways to improve and enhance urban land use planning approaches for betterment of urban communities.

  20. Long-Term Urban Growth and Land Use Efficiency in Southern Europe: Implications for Sustainable Land Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marco Zitti

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The present study illustrates a multidimensional analysis of an indicator of urban land use efficiency (per-capita built-up area, LUE in mainland Attica, a Mediterranean urban region, along different expansion waves (1960–2010: compaction and densification in the 1960s, dispersed growth along the coasts and on Athens’ fringe in the 1970s, fringe consolidation in the 1980s, moderate re-polarization and discontinuous expansion in the 1990s and sprawl in remote areas in the 2000s. The non-linear trend in LUE (a continuous increase up to the 1980s and a moderate decrease in 1990 and 2000 preceding the rise observed over the last decade reflects Athens’ expansion waves. A total of 23 indicators were collected by decade for each municipality of the study area with the aim of identifying the drivers of land use efficiency. In 1960, municipalities with low efficiency in the use of land were concentrated on both coastal areas and Athens’ fringe, while in 2010, the lowest efficiency rate was observed in the most remote, rural areas. Typical urban functions (e.g., mixed land uses, multiple-use buildings, vertical profile are the variables most associated with high efficiency in the use of land. Policies for sustainable land management should consider local and regional factors shaping land use efficiency promoting self-contained expansion and more tightly protecting rural and remote land from dispersed urbanization. LUE is a promising indicator reflecting the increased complexity of growth patterns and may anticipate future urban trends.

  1. Urban Transportation: Issue and Solution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haryati Shafii

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Generally, quality of life of urban population is heavily dependent on social facilities provided within the environment. One of the most important facilities is transportations. Study on transportation mode in an urban area is especially very important because for almost every individual living in a large and densely populated area, mobility is one of the most crucial issues in everyday life. Enhance mobility, faster journey to work and less pollution from petrol-propelled vehicles can increase the quality of life, which in turn lead to a sustainable urban living. The study present transportation mode usage issues faced by community related to quality of life in an urban area. This study identifies several issues of transportation mode in urban areas and its impact on the quality of life. The study areas are Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur and Bandar Kajang, Selangor. The methodology used in this research is secondary and primary data. The questionnaires for the survey were distributed from May 2008 to Jun 2008. These researches were conducted on 144 respondents for to evaluate their perception of transportation mode correlated to the quality of life. The collected data were then analyzed using “Statistical Packages for the Social Science” (SPSS. The respondents comprise of 61 males and 84 females from the age group of 18 to 57 years. This study identifies the percentage of public transportation mode usage in urban area, such as buses (16.7%, train (ERL, monorail and commuter-6.4%; which is very low compared to owning personal car (45.8% and motorcycle (25.4%.The result shows owning personal car is the highest (45.8% in three study areas and monorail and taxi are the lowest (1.4%. The Chi Square Test shows that among the mode transportation with traffic jam is quite difference in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Kajang. Analysis of the Chi Square Test shows the result is 0.000 (two sides to respondent answering “yes” and analysis of Spearman

  2. Land use/land cover study of urban features using spot imagery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mahmood, S.A.; Qureshi, J.; Abbas, I.

    2005-01-01

    This study is based on visual interpretation and classification of the urban area of Peshawar. Cloud free satellite image of the French SPOT System in panchromatic mode at 100m/pixel spatial detail was used for this purpose. The coverage area comprised nearly (7.5 x 6)sq. km. on the ground depicting the major portion of the city. Various image interpretation elements were exploited to accomplish the study, thirteen land cover classes were identified and demarcated on a tracing sheet. Having prepared the base map. Satellite image map was constructed by assigning disparate colors to the identified features. Dimensions of some of the prominent, regular and liner features were computed from the image. The results indicate that high-resolution satellite image can be effectively used for mapping and area estimation of urban land use/land cover features. (author)

  3. Transport Improvements and Impacts on Land Use Dynamics and Economic Development: Evidence for the Dublin-Belfast Corridor

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Williams, Brendan; Foley, Walter; Shahumyan, Harutyun

    2016-01-01

    Transport infrastructure improvements are frequently dealt without adequate consideration of land use management issues. Theoretically this would not appear to be consistent with urban economic theory which prioritises the critical role that transportation plays in all urban economic spatial land...... and planning systems need to be better aligned. In this paper we examine policy evolution and recent policy outcomes and trends in the Belfast-Dublin corridor in light of the major infrastructure investment which occurred based upon official data within the time period mid 1990s (when many investments...... commenced) to 2012 (completion and use of those investments). It will investigate recent trends in terms of emerging economic development patterns since the creation of the M1 motorway and improved rail links. The research will incorporate spatial analytic modelling of current and future development trends...

  4. Urban Land Use Mapping by Combining Remote Sensing Imagery and Mobile Phone Positioning Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuanxin Jia

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Land use is of great importance for urban planning, environmental monitoring, and transportation management. Several methods have been proposed to obtain land use maps of urban areas, and these can be classified into two categories: remote sensing methods and social sensing methods. However, remote sensing and social sensing approaches have specific disadvantages regarding the description of social and physical features, respectively. Therefore, an appropriate fusion strategy is vital for large-area land use mapping. To address this issue, we propose an efficient land use mapping method that combines remote sensing imagery (RSI and mobile phone positioning data (MPPD for large areas. We implemented this method in two steps. First, a support vector machine was adopted to classify the RSI and MPPD. Then, the two classification results were fused using a decision fusion strategy to generate the land use map. The proposed method was applied to a case study of the central area of Beijing. The experimental results show that the proposed method improved classification accuracy compared with that achieved using MPPD alone, validating the efficacy of this new approach for identifying land use. Based on the land use map and MPPD data, activity density in key zones during daytime and nighttime was analyzed to illustrate the volume and variation of people working and living across different regions.

  5. Towards Equitable and Sustainable Urban Space: Introduction to Special Issue on “Urban Land and Sustainable Development”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yehua Dennis Wei

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The unprecedented wave of global urbanization has exerted increased pressure on urban land and made land-use sustainability an urgent concern. This Special Issue examines patterns, structures, and dynamics of urban land use from the economic, social, and, to a lesser extent, environmental standpoints, in light of the goal of equitable and sustainable development. This introduction discusses the background and design of the Special Issue and highlights the contribution of the selected papers.

  6. Impacts of urbanization on nitrogen cycling and aerosol, surface and groundwater transport in semi-arid regions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lohse, K. A.; Gallo, E.; Carlson, M.; Riha, K. M.; Brooks, P. D.; McIntosh, J. C.; Sorooshian, A.; Michalski, G. M.; Meixner, T.

    2011-12-01

    Semi-arid regions are experiencing disproportionate increases in human population and land transformation worldwide, taxing limited water resources and altering nitrogen (N) biogeochemistry. How the redistribution of water and N by urbanization affects semi-arid ecosystems and downstream water quality (e.g. drinking water) is unclear. Understanding these interactions and their feedbacks will be critical for developing science-based management strategies to sustain these limited resources. This is especially true in the US where some of the fastest growing urban areas are in semi-arid ecosystems, where N and water cycles are accelerated, and intimately coupled, and where runoff from urban ecosystems is actively managed to augment a limited water supply to the growing human population. Here we synthesize several ongoing studies from the Tucson Basin in Arizona and examine how increasing urban land cover is altering rainfall-runoff relationships, groundwater recharge, water quality, and long range transport of atmospheric N. Studies across 5 catchments varying in impervious land cover showed that only the least impervious catchment responded to antecedent moisture conditions while hydrologic responses were not statistically related to antecedent rainfall conditions at more impervious sites. Regression models indicated that rainfall depth, imperviousness, and their combined effect control discharge and runoff ratios (p channel characteristics and infrastructure controlled runoff chemistry. Groundwater studies showed nonpoint source contamination of CFCs and associated nitrate in areas of rapid recharge along ephemeral channels. Aerosol measurements indicate that both long-range transport of N and N emissions from Tucson are being transported and deposited at high elevation in areas that recharge regional groundwater. Combined, our findings suggest that urbanization in semi-arid regions results in tradeoffs in the redistribution of water and N that have important

  7. Scenario Analysis on Climate Change Impacts of Urban Land Expansion under Different Urbanization Patterns: A Case Study of Wuhan Metropolitan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xinli Ke

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Urban land expansion plays an important role in climate change. It is significant to select a reasonable urban expansion pattern to mitigate the impact of urban land expansion on the regional climate in the rapid urbanization process. In this paper, taking Wuhan metropolitan as the case study area, and three urbanization patterns scenarios are designed to simulate spatial patterns of urban land expansion in the future using the Partitioned and Asynchronous Cellular Automata Model. Then, simulation results of land use are adjusted and inputted into WRF (Weather Research and Forecast model to simulate regional climate change. The results show that: (1 warming effect is strongest under centralized urbanization while it is on the opposite under decentralized scenario; (2 the warming effect is stronger and wider in centralized urbanization scenario than in decentralized urbanization scenario; (3 the impact trends of urban land use expansion on precipitation are basically the same under different scenarios; (4 and spatial distribution of rainfall was more concentrated under centralized urbanization scenario, and there is a rainfall center of wider scope, greater intensity. Accordingly, it can be concluded that decentralized urbanization is a reasonable urbanization pattern to mitigate climate change in rapid urbanization period.

  8. Impact of Land-Use and Land-Cover Change on urban air quality in representative cities of China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, L.; Wei, J.; Duan, D. H.; Guo, Y. M.; Yang, D. X.; Jia, C.; Mi, X. T.

    2016-05-01

    The atmospheric particulate pollution in China is getting worse. Land-Use and Land-Cover Change (LUCC) is a key factor that affects atmospheric particulate pollution. Understanding the response of particulate pollution to LUCC is necessary for environmental protection. Eight representative cities in China, Qingdao, Jinan, Zhengzhou, Xi'an, Lanzhou, Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Urumqi were selected to analyze the relationship between particulate pollution and LUCC. The MODIS (MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) aerosol product (MOD04) was used to estimate atmospheric particulate pollution for nearly 10 years, from 2001 to 2010. Six land-use types, water, woodland, grassland, cultivated land, urban, and unused land, were obtained from the MODIS land cover product (MOD12), where the LUCC of each category was estimated. The response of particulate pollution to LUCC was analyzed from the above mentioned two types of data. Moreover, the impacts of time-lag and urban type changes on particulate pollution were also considered. Analysis results showed that due to natural factors, or human activities such as urban sprawl or deforestation, etc., the response of particulate pollution to LUCC shows obvious differences in different areas. The correlation between particulate pollution and LUCC is lower in coastal areas but higher in inland areas. The dominant factor affecting urban air quality in LUCC changes from ocean, to woodland, to urban land, and eventually into grassland or unused land when moving from the coast to inland China.

  9. Land Subdivision in Peri-Urban Areas of Sub-Saharan African Cities ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    USER

    The review of literature on urban land subdivision provides us with useful ... The second section is the methodology detailing the literature review approach ... problem of shortages of urban land, and to increase access to land for the ..... gradual integration of the informal sector into political decision-making process and.

  10. Impacts of land use and land cover on surface and air temperature in urban landscapes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crum, S.; Jenerette, D.

    2015-12-01

    Accelerating urbanization affects regional climate as the result of changing land cover and land use (LCLU). Urban land cover composition may provide valuable insight into relationships among urbanization, air, and land-surface temperature (Ta and LST, respectively). Climate may alter these relationships, where hotter climates experience larger LULC effects. To address these hypotheses we examined links between Ta, LST, LCLU, and vegetation across an urban coastal to desert climate gradient in southern California, USA. Using surface temperature radiometers, continuously measuring LST on standardized asphalt, concrete, and turf grass surfaces across the climate gradient, we found a 7.2°C and 4.6°C temperature decrease from asphalt to vegetated cover in the coast and desert, respectively. There is 131% more temporal variation in asphalt than turf grass surfaces, but 37% less temporal variation in concrete than turf grass. For concrete and turf grass surfaces, temporal variation in temperature increased from coast to desert. Using ground-based thermal imagery, measuring LST for 24 h sequences over citrus orchard and industrial use locations, we found a 14.5°C temperature decrease from industrial to orchard land use types (38.4°C and 23.9°C, respectively). Additionally, industrial land use types have 209% more spatial variation than orchard (CV=0.20 and 0.09, respectively). Using a network of 300 Ta (iButton) sensors mounted in city street trees throughout the region and hyperspectral imagery data we found urban vegetation greenness, measured using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), was negatively correlated to Ta at night across the climate gradient. Contrasting previous findings, the closest coupling between NDVI and Ta is at the coast from 0000 h to 0800 h (highest r2 = 0.6, P urbanized regions of southern California, USA decrease Ta and LST and spatial variation in LST, while built surfaces and land uses have the opposite effect. Furthermore

  11. Urban land acquisition and social justice in Ethiopia

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Keywords: access to land, land lease, social justice, tenure security, urban land policy. I. INTRODUCTION ... As Mattew Robinson put it correctly, social justice embraces virtues including “share of common humanity .... But such tenure security will not, by its own, reduce poverty and bring about sustainable development.10.

  12. The Public Urban Transport and The Tourism Marketing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhcină Silvia

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available A distinct activity within the transport services supply, the urban public transport is both a consequence and a cause of urban development. Through its functions, the urban public transport service allows the movement to and from various places of interest within an area not only of local residents, but also of different non-residents. In addition to this, if that locality is also a tourist destination, the urban public transport service gives tourists the possibility to travel to the various points of tourist attractions. In this paper we aim to present a few aspects related to the importance of the urban public transport service in increasing the attractiveness of the urban localities regarded as tourist attractions.

  13. The managed clearing: An overlooked land-cover type in urbanizing regions?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madden, Marguerite; Gray, Josh; Meentemeyer, Ross K.

    2018-01-01

    Urban ecosystem assessments increasingly rely on widely available map products, such as the U.S. Geological Service (USGS) National Land Cover Database (NLCD), and datasets that use generic classification schemes to detect and model large-scale impacts of land-cover change. However, utilizing existing map products or schemes without identifying relevant urban class types such as semi-natural, yet managed land areas that account for differences in ecological functions due to their pervious surfaces may severely constrain assessments. To address this gap, we introduce the managed clearings land-cover type–semi-natural, vegetated land surfaces with varying degrees of management practices–for urbanizing landscapes. We explore the extent to which managed clearings are common and spatially distributed in three rapidly urbanizing areas of the Charlanta megaregion, USA. We visually interpreted and mapped fine-scale land cover with special attention to managed clearings using 2012 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) images within 150 randomly selected 1-km2 blocks in the cities of Atlanta, Charlotte, and Raleigh, and compared our maps with National Land Cover Database (NLCD) data. We estimated the abundance of managed clearings relative to other land use and land cover types, and the proportion of land-cover types in the NLCD that are similar to managed clearings. Our study reveals that managed clearings are the most common land cover type in these cities, covering 28% of the total sampled land area– 6.2% higher than the total area of impervious surfaces. Managed clearings, when combined with forest cover, constitutes 69% of pervious surfaces in the sampled region. We observed variability in area estimates of managed clearings between the NAIP-derived and NLCD data. This suggests using high-resolution remote sensing imagery (e.g., NAIP) instead of modifying NLCD data for improved representation of spatial heterogeneity and

  14. Urban Growth in a Fragmented Landscape: Estimating the Relationship between Landscape Pattern and Urban Land Use Change in Germany, 2000-2006

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, R.

    2013-12-01

    One of the highest priorities in the conservation and management of biodiversity, natural resources and other vital ecosystem services is the assessment of the mechanisms that drive urban land use change. Using key landscape indicators, this study addresses why urban land increased 6 percent overall in Germany from 2000-2006. Building on regional science and economic geography research, I develop a model of landscape change that integrates remotely sensed and other geospatial data, and socioeconomic data in a spatial autoregressive model to explain the variance in urban land use change observed in German kreise (counties) over the past decade. The results reveal three key landscape mechanisms that drive urban land use change across Germany, aligning with those observed in US studies: (1) the level of fragmentation, (2) the share of designated protected areas, and (3) the share of prime soil. First, as fragmentation of once continuous habitats in the landscape increases, extensive urban growth follows. Second, designated protected areas have the perverse effect of hastening urbanization in surrounding areas. Third, greater shares of prime, productive soil experienced less urban land take over the 6 year period, an effect that is stronger in the former East Germany, where the agricultural sector remains large. The results suggest that policy makers concentrate their conservation efforts on preexisting fragmented land with high shares of protected areas in Germany to effectively stem urban land take. Given that comparative studies of land use change are vital for the scientific community to grasp the wider global process of urbanization and coincident ecological impacts, the methodology employed here is easily exportable to land cover and land use research programs in other fields and geographic areas. Key words: Urban land use change, Ecosystem services, Landscape fragmentation, Remote sensing, Spatial regression models, GermanyOLS and Spatial Autoregressive Model

  15. Urban Growth and Land-Use Structure in Two Mediterranean Regions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luca Salvati

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The present study develops an Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA with the aim to assess changes over time in the distribution of selected uses of land in two Mediterranean urban regions (Rome and Athens with different morphology and economic functions. The study uses global and local Moran’s indexes of spatial autocorrelation to describe the land-use structure observed in the two cities in mid-1970s and late-2000s, and debates on the divergent contribution of compact growth and scattered urban expansion to changes in land use. The analysis identifies fringe landscapes as a key target for urban containment policies in sprawling cities.

  16. Procedural modeling of urban layout: population, land use, and road network

    OpenAIRE

    Lyu, X.; Han, Q.; de Vries, B.

    2017-01-01

    This paper introduces an urban simulation system generating urban layouts with population, road network and land use layers. The desired urban spatial structure is obtained by generating a population map based on population density models. The road network is generated at two spatial levels corresponding to the road hierarchy. The land use allocation is based on the What If? allocation model. The expected results are urban layouts suitable for academic scenario analysis.

  17. Assessment Framework and Decision—Support System for Consolidating Urban-Rural Construction Land in Coastal China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fangfang Cai

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Urbanization transforms urban-rural landscape and profoundly affects ecological processes. To maintain a sustainable urbanization, two important issues of land-use need to be quantified: the comprehensive variation of urban-rural construction land and the specific models for consolidating these lands. The purpose of this study is to develop a framework to assess the change of urban-rural construction land and build a decision-support system for consolidating these lands. Four sub-layers were first built in the assessment framework, including the characteristic layer, the coordination layer, the potential layer and the urgency layer. Each layer encompassed specific indices for evaluating the change of urban-rural construction land in different aspects. The entropy method was then applied to the data resources from Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper images, statistical data and overall land-use and land consolidation planning of Nantong city in coastal China to allocate weightings to the indices in each sub-layer. Finally, the decision-support system was built based on the assessment results and the degree of importance for consolidating urban and rural construction land, respectively. The results of our study show an overall investigation and quantitative description of the change of urban-rural construction land and provide an effective framework for land consolidation and land use management.

  18. Lifestyle as an Influential Factor to Urban Mobility Transport: a Case Study of Semarang City, Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ismiyati, I.; Hermawan, F.

    2018-02-01

    Most of urban spatial structures in developing countries apparently face a typical phenomenon, as well as in Indonesia. The development of the urban spatial structure has the effects, namely to create polycentric pattern (sprawl). Moreover, communication technology believes that the factors of distance and density are highly considered in the organization of the urban structure. In other words, a distance problem is overcome by communication technology, in terms of interaction among people; in running their activities, mobility or distance is not a problem at all. Urban structure as path which is dependent is unable to intervene for an optimum form of urban structure because of dynamic of development objectives. In facts, lifestyle of inhabitant particularly concerning residential and vehicle ownership influences the mobility transport on the tremendous changes in developing countries. On the contrary, this research points out that mobility transport contributes to transportation problems as it becomes increasingly inefficient. Therefore, a sporadic traffic jam and increasing carbon emission issues have risen on the urban phenomenon. It is important to investigate the lifestyle, in terms of residential choice and vehicle ownership to reshape the urban spatial structure. The research aims to draw the urban spatial growth which extends to the phenomenon process toward polycentric pattern and inefficient transport mobility patterns triggering transportation problems in the context of Indonesia. The results confirm that lifestyle regarding residential choices to suburban area and vehicle ownership preference are unable to create the efficient mobility transport, either by cost, density consequences or vehicle ownership as orientation. This research recommends the local authority from multi-disciplinary sector, in particular public policy making to issue permission for authority of land use; residential area and transport agencies for reconciliation with regard to life

  19. Eco-Efficiency Indicators for Urban Transport

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patrick Moriarty

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses on urban passenger transport eco-efficiency, which can be defined as the production of maximum benefits to society while minimising environmental impacts from urban transport’s inputs of energy and materials. Researchers have intensively studied transport’s varied environmental impacts, particularly through Life Cycle Assessment; this paper argues that primary transport energy per capita is presently the best measure of impact. Although transport’s societal benefits have generally been regarded as self-evident, access to out-of-home activities, not passenger-km, should be considered as the fundamental useful output of an urban transport system, since transport is a derived demand. We argue that access levels are roughly similar in all high-income OECD cities, so that these cities can be ranked on transport eco-efficiency simply on the basis of per capita primary transport energy.

  20. Land Use and Land Cover Change, Urban Heat Island Phenomenon, and Health Implications: A Remote Sensing Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lo, C. P.; Quattrochi, Dale A.

    2003-01-01

    Land use and land cover maps of Atlanta Metropolitan Area in Georgia were produced from Landsat MSS and TM images for 1973,1979,1983,1987,1992, and 1997, spanning a period of 25 years. Dramatic changes in land use and land cover have occurred with loss of forest and cropland to urban use. In particular, low-density urban use, which includes largely residential use, has increased by over 119% between 1973 and 1997. These land use and land cover changes have drastically altered the land surface characteristics. An analysis of Landsat images revealed an increase in surface temperature and a decline in NDVI from 1973 to 1997. These changes have forced the development of a significant urban heat island effect and an increase in ground level ozone production to such an extent, that Atlanta has violated EPA's ozone level standard in recent years. The urban heat island initiated precipitation events that were identified between 1996 and 2000 tended to occur near high-density urban areas but outside the I-285 loop that traverses around the Central Business District, i.e. not in the inner city area, but some in close proximity to the highways. The health implications were investigated by comparing the spatial patterns of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions, the two ingredients that form ozone by reacting with sunlight, with those of rates of cardiovascular and chronic lower respiratory diseases. A clear core-periphery pattern was revealed for both VOC and NOx emissions, but the spatial pattern was more random in the cases of rates of cardiovascular and chronic lower respiratory diseases. Clearly, factors other than ozone pollution were involved in explaining the rates of these diseases. Further research is therefore needed to understand the health geography and its relationship to land use and land cover change as well as urban heat island effect. This paper illustrates the usefulness of a remote sensing approach for this purpose.

  1. Strategies for Sustainable Urban Development and Urban-Rural Linkages

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nilsson, Kjell; Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick; Aalbers, Carmen

    2014-01-01

    , identified how land use conflicts and the pressure towards peri- urban areas can be strategically managed in different development and regulatory contexts. To summarise, the following strategies were identified as important steps towards more sustainable urban-rural futures: (i) better coordination...... of transport, land use and open space planning; (ii) urban containment and densification – development a green compact city; (iii) preservation of blue and green infrastructure; and (iv) preservation of agricultural land and the promotion of local production. The need also remains to strengthen governance...... at the regional level while at the pan-European level there is clearly a need for more policy attention to be given to urban-rural linkages....

  2. Conceptual bases of land managment planning for urban land use in conditions of decentralization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.M. Tretyak

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The place and role of the plans of the land-economic system as a tool of land managment planning of urban land use development in the conditions of decentralization of power in replacement of general plans as not a market type of documentation is substantiated

  3. Urban Land Allocation Model of Territorial Expansion by Urban Planners and Housing Developers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carolina Cantergiani

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Agent-based models have recently been proposed as potential tools to support urban planning due to their capacity to simulate complex behaviors. The complexity of the urban development process arises from strong interactions between various components driven by different agents. AMEBA (agent-based model for the evolution of urban areas is a prototype of an exploratory, spatial, agent-based model that considers the main agents involved in the urban development process (urban planners, developers, and the population. The prototype consists of three submodels (one for each agent that have been developed independently and present the same structure. However, the first two are based on a land use allocation technique, and the last one, as well as their integration, on an agent-based model approach. This paper describes the conceptualization and performance of the submodels that represent urban planners and developers, who are the agents responsible for officially launching expansion and defining the spatial allocation of urban land. The prototype was tested in the Corredor del Henares (an urban–industrial area in the Region of Madrid, Spain, but is sufficiently flexible to be adapted to other study areas and generate different future urban growth contexts. The results demonstrate that this combination of agents can be used to explore various policy-relevant research questions, including urban system interactions in adverse political and socioeconomic scenarios.

  4. Data Mining Relationships Among Urban Socioeconomic, Land Cover, and Remotely Sensed Ecological Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mennis, J.; Wessman, C.; Golubiewski, N.

    2003-12-01

    This research investigates the relationships among socioeconomic character, land cover, and ecological function in a rapidly urbanizing region, the Front Range of Colorado. We use novel spatial geographic information systems- (GIS-) based data integration and data mining techniques to integrate and analyze diverse spatial data sets. These data include elevation data, transportation data, land cover data derived from aerial photography, block group-level U.S. Census data, and vegetation greenness (NDVI) data derived from Landsat imagery. These data are used to derive a variety of U.S. block group-level variables indicating demographic, geographic, ecological, and land cover characteristics. We employ spatial association rule mining, decision tree induction, and spatial on-line analytical processing (OLAP), in addition to more conventional multivariate statistical techniques, to investigate relationships among these variables.

  5. Impacts of Urban Transportation Mode Split on CO2 Emissions in Jinan, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kebin He

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available As the world’s largest developing country, China currently is undergoing rapid urbanization and motorization, which will result in far-reaching impacts on energy and the environment. According to estimates, energy use and carbon emissions in the transportation sector will comprise roughly 30% of total emissions by 2030. Since the late 1990s, transportation-related issues such as energy, consumption, and carbon emissions have become a policy focus in China. To date, most research and policies have centered on vehicle technologies that promote vehicle efficiency and reduced emissions. Limited research exists on the control of greenhouse gases through mode shifts in urban transportation—in particular, through the promotion of public transit. The purpose of this study is to establish a methodology to analyze carbon emissions from the urban transportation sector at the Chinese city level. By using Jinan, the capital of China’s Shandong Province, as an example, we have developed an analytical model to simulate energy consumption and carbon emissions based on the number of trips, the transportation mode split, and the trip distance. This model has enabled us to assess the impacts of the transportation mode split on energy consumption and carbon emissions. Furthermore, this paper reviews a set of methods for data collection, estimation, and processing for situations where statistical data are scarce in China. This paper also describes the simulation of three transportation system development scenarios. The results of this study illustrate that if no policy intervention is implemented for the transportation mode split (the business-as-usual (BAU case, then emissions from Chinese urban transportation systems will quadruple by 2030. However, a dense, mixed land-use pattern, as well as transportation policies that encourage public transportation, would result in the elimination of 1.93 million tons of carbon emissions—approximately 50% of the BAU

  6. Measuring Land Change in Coastal Zone around a Rapidly Urbanized Bay

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Faming Huang

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Urban development is a major cause for eco-degradation in many coastal regions. Understanding urbanization dynamics and underlying driving factors is crucial for urban planning and management. Land-use dynamic degree indices and intensity analysis were used to measure land changes occurred in 1990, 2002, 2009, and 2017 in the coastal zone around Quanzhou bay, which is a rapidly urbanized bay in Southeast China. The comprehensive land-use dynamic degree and interval level intensity analysis both revealed that land change was accelerating across the three time intervals in a three-kilometer-wide zone along the coastal line (zone A, while land change was fastest during the second time interval 2002–2009 in a separate terrestrial area within coastal zone (zone B. Driven by urbanization, built-up gains and cropland losses were active for all time intervals in both zones. Mudflat losses were active except in the first time interval in zone A due to the intensive sea reclamation. The gain of mangrove was active while the loss of mangrove is dormant for all three intervals in zone A. Transition level analysis further revealed the similarities and differences in processes within patterns of land changes for both zones. The transition from cropland to built-up was systematically targeted and stationary while the transition from woodland to built-up was systematically avoiding transition in both zones. Built-up tended to target aquaculture for the second and third time intervals in zone A but avoid Aquaculture for all intervals in zone B. Land change in zone A was more significant than that in zone B during the second and third time intervals at three-level intensity. The application of intensity analysis can enhance our understanding of the patterns and processes in land changes and suitable land development plans in the Quanzhou bay area. This type of investigation is useful to provide information for developing sound land use policy to achieve urban

  7. Measuring Land Change in Coastal Zone around a Rapidly Urbanized Bay.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Faming; Huang, Boqiang; Huang, Jinliang; Li, Shenghui

    2018-05-23

    Urban development is a major cause for eco-degradation in many coastal regions. Understanding urbanization dynamics and underlying driving factors is crucial for urban planning and management. Land-use dynamic degree indices and intensity analysis were used to measure land changes occurred in 1990, 2002, 2009, and 2017 in the coastal zone around Quanzhou bay, which is a rapidly urbanized bay in Southeast China. The comprehensive land-use dynamic degree and interval level intensity analysis both revealed that land change was accelerating across the three time intervals in a three-kilometer-wide zone along the coastal line (zone A), while land change was fastest during the second time interval 2002⁻2009 in a separate terrestrial area within coastal zone (zone B). Driven by urbanization, built-up gains and cropland losses were active for all time intervals in both zones. Mudflat losses were active except in the first time interval in zone A due to the intensive sea reclamation. The gain of mangrove was active while the loss of mangrove is dormant for all three intervals in zone A. Transition level analysis further revealed the similarities and differences in processes within patterns of land changes for both zones. The transition from cropland to built-up was systematically targeted and stationary while the transition from woodland to built-up was systematically avoiding transition in both zones. Built-up tended to target aquaculture for the second and third time intervals in zone A but avoid Aquaculture for all intervals in zone B. Land change in zone A was more significant than that in zone B during the second and third time intervals at three-level intensity. The application of intensity analysis can enhance our understanding of the patterns and processes in land changes and suitable land development plans in the Quanzhou bay area. This type of investigation is useful to provide information for developing sound land use policy to achieve urban sustainability in

  8. The urban land debate in the global South : New avenues for research

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Steel, Griet|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/304349828; van Noorloos, Femke|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/342952706; Klaufus, Christien

    2017-01-01

    The global ‘land grab’ debate is going urban and needs a specific conceptual framework to analyze the diverse modalities through which land commodification and speculation are transforming cities across the globe. This article identifies new avenues for research on urban land issues by drawing on an

  9. The urban land debate in the global South : New avenues for research

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Steel, G.; van Noorloos, F.; Klaufus, C.

    The global ‘land grab’ debate is going urban and needs a specific conceptual framework to analyze the diverse modalities through which land commodification and speculation are transforming cities across the globe. This article identifies new avenues for research on urban land issues by drawing on an

  10. THE PROBLEM OF URBAN LAND MASS VALUATION OBJECTIVENESS AND WAYS OF SOLVING IT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    DRAPIKOVSKYI O. I.

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Raising of problem. Implementation of prudent investment, urban planning and fiscal policy is possible only if there is knowledge of the real value of land in the entire city, which is obtained by the mass appraisal of urban land. The implementation of this important social function puts strict requirements for urban land mass valuation results objectiveness and comparability, stated in the international sectoral standards and regulations. Purpose. The aim of the article is to determine the basic requirements to urban land mass valuation results objectiveness maintenance and to analyse the compliance of the normative monetary valuation with these requirements. Conclusion. The problem of urban land mass valuation objectiveness can be considered through the prism of the ontological, epistemological and logical aspects, compliance with which allows the anticipation of the expected improvement of this valuation methodological apparatus efficiency.

  11. A spatially distributed model for assessment of the effects of changing land use and climate on urban stream quality: Development of a Spatially Distributed Urban Water Quality Model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sun, Ning [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle WA USA; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Yearsley, John [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle WA USA; Baptiste, Marisa [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle WA USA; Cao, Qian [Department of Geography, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA USA; Lettenmaier, Dennis P. [Department of Geography, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA USA; Nijssen, Bart [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle WA USA

    2016-08-22

    While the effects of land use change in urban areas have been widely examined, the combined effects of climate and land use change on the quality of urban and urbanizing streams have received much less attention. We describe a modeling framework that is applicable to the evaluation of potential changes in urban water quality and associated hydrologic changes in response to ongoing climate and landscape alteration. The grid-based spatially distributed model, DHSVM-WQ, is an outgrowth of the Distributed Hydrology-Soil-Vegetation Model (DHSVM) that incorporates modules for assessing hydrology and water quality in urbanized watersheds at a high spatial and temporal resolution. DHSVM-WQ simulates surface runoff quality and in-stream processes that control the transport of nonpoint-source (NPS) pollutants into urban streams. We configure DHSVM-WQ for three partially urbanized catchments in the Puget Sound region to evaluate the water quality responses to current conditions and projected changes in climate and/or land use over the next century. Here we focus on total suspended solids (TSS) and total phosphorus (TP) from nonpoint sources (runoff), as well as stream temperature. The projection of future land use is characterized by a combination of densification in existing urban or partially urban areas, and expansion of the urban footprint. The climate change scenarios consist of individual and concurrent changes in temperature and precipitation. Future precipitation is projected to increase in winter and decrease in summer, while future temperature is projected to increase throughout the year. Our results show that urbanization has a much greater effect than climate change on both the magnitude and seasonal variability of streamflow, TSS and TP loads largely due to substantially increased streamflow, and particularly winter flow peaks. Water temperature is more sensitive to climate warming scenarios than to urbanization and precipitation changes. Future urbanization and

  12. Effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems along an agriculture-to-urban land-use gradient, Milwaukee to Green Bay, Wisconsin, 2003-2004

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richards, Kevin D.; Scudder, Barbara C.; Fitzpatrick, Faith A.; Steuer, Jeffery J.; Bell, Amanda H.; Peppler, Marie C.; Stewart, Jana S.; Harris, Mitchell A.

    2010-01-01

    In 2003 and 2004, 30 streams near Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin, were part of a national study by the U.S. Geological Survey to assess urbanization effects on physical, chemical, and biological characteristics along an agriculture-to-urban land-use gradient. A geographic information system was used to characterize natural landscape features that define the environmental setting and the degree of urbanization within each stream watershed. A combination of land cover, socioeconomic, and infrastructure variables were integrated into a multi-metric urban intensity index, scaled from 0 to 100, and assigned to each stream site to identify a gradient of urbanization within relatively homogeneous environmental settings. The 35 variables used to develop the final urban intensity index characterized the degree of urbanization and included road infrastructure (road area and road traffic index), 100-meter riparian land cover (percentage of impervious surface, shrubland, and agriculture), watershed land cover (percentage of impervious surface, developed/urban land, shrubland, and agriculture), and 26 socioeconomic variables (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). Characteristics examined as part of this study included: habitat, hydrology, stream temperature, water chemistry (chloride, sulfate, nutrients, dissolved and particulate organic and inorganic carbon, pesticides, and suspended sediment), benthic algae, benthic invertebrates, and fish. Semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) were used to assess the potential for bioconcentration of hydrophobic organic contaminants (specifically polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and organochlorine and pyrethroid insecticides) in biological membranes, such as the gills of fish. Physical habitat measurements reflective of channel enlargement, including bankfull channel size and bank erosion, increased with increasing urbanization within the watershed. In this study, percentage of riffles and streambed substrate size were

  13. Land cover mapping and change detection in urban watersheds using QuickBird high spatial resolution satellite imagery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hester, David Barry

    The objective of this research was to develop methods for urban land cover analysis using QuickBird high spatial resolution satellite imagery. Such imagery has emerged as a rich commercially available remote sensing data source and has enjoyed high-profile broadcast news media and Internet applications, but methods of quantitative analysis have not been thoroughly explored. The research described here consists of three studies focused on the use of pan-sharpened 61-cm spatial resolution QuickBird imagery, the spatial resolution of which is the highest of any commercial satellite. In the first study, a per-pixel land cover classification method is developed for use with this imagery. This method utilizes a per-pixel classification approach to generate an accurate six-category high spatial resolution land cover map of a developing suburban area. The primary objective of the second study was to develop an accurate land cover change detection method for use with QuickBird land cover products. This work presents an efficient fuzzy framework for transforming map uncertainty into accurate and meaningful high spatial resolution land cover change analysis. The third study described here is an urban planning application of the high spatial resolution QuickBird-based land cover product developed in the first study. This work both meaningfully connects this exciting new data source to urban watershed management and makes an important empirical contribution to the study of suburban watersheds. Its analysis of residential roads and driveways as well as retail parking lots sheds valuable light on the impact of transportation-related land use on the suburban landscape. Broadly, these studies provide new methods for using state-of-the-art remote sensing data to inform land cover analysis and urban planning. These methods are widely adaptable and produce land cover products that are both meaningful and accurate. As additional high spatial resolution satellites are launched and the

  14. Essays on land and labor in urbanizing China

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wu, Yan

    2017-01-01

    In this dissertation I address emerging land and labor issues associated with the rapid urbanization in China over the past decades, including the negative effects of the real estate booms on manufacturing development, land conflicts, and gender inequality among migrants. The thesis consists of

  15. Changing man-land interrelations in China's farming area under urbanization and its implications for food security.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Long, Hualou; Ge, Dazhuan; Zhang, Yingnan; Tu, Shuangshuang; Qu, Yi; Ma, Li

    2018-03-01

    The Huang-Huai-Hai Plain (HHH) is typical of China's farming area, and was predicted as one of the fastest growing areas of urbanization in the world. Since the turn of the new millennium, construction land and farmland transitions in this region driven by rapid urbanization have resulted in dramatic loss of farmland, which triggered a serious threat to regional even national food security. In this paper, the coupling relationships between per capita construction land transition (PCCT) and per capita farmland transition (PCFT) in the HHH and their implications for regional food security are analyzed. During 2000-2015, the farmland decreased by 8.59%, 72.25% of which were occupied by construction land. There are two major coupling types between PCCT and PCFT, one is the double increasing of per capita construction land area (PCCA) and per capita farmland area (PCFA); another is the increasing of PCCA and the decreasing of PCFA. The fluctuant increasing of PCCT and decreasing of PCFT coexisted and presented symmetrical coupling characteristics in space. Physical, location, transportation and socio-economic factors play significantly different roles in driving PCCT and PCFT. The implications for ensuring food security involve promoting the reclamation and redevelopment of inefficient and unused urban-rural construction land, reducing inefficient occupation of farmland resources, developing appropriate scale management of agriculture, and establishing a better social security system to smoothly settle down the floating rural population in the city. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Inter-dependence not Over-dependence: Reducing Urban Transport Energy Dependence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Saunders, Michael James; Rodrigues da Silva, Antonio Nelson

    2007-07-01

    A major issue of concern in today's world is urban transport energy dependence and energy supply security. In an energy inter-dependent world, energy over-dependence brings risks to urban transport systems. Many urban areas are over-dependent on finite petroleum resources for transport. New technology and the development and integration of renewable resources into transport energy systems may reduce some of the current transport energy dependence of urban areas. However, the most effective means of reducing energy dependence is to first design urban areas for this condition. An urban policy framework is proposed that requires transport energy dependence to be measured and controlled in the urban development process. A new tool has been created for this purpose, the Transport Energy Specification (TES), which measures transport energy dependence of urban areas. This creates the possibility for cities to regulate urban development with respect to energy dependence. Trial assessments were performed in Germany, New Zealand and Brazil; initial analysis by transport and government professionals shows promise of this tool being included into urban policy. The TES combined with a regulatory framework has the potential to significantly reduce transport energy consumption and dependence in urban areas in the future. (auth)

  17. Actors and processes behind urban fringe development: Mechanism to guide urban land management. Study on Dhaka, Bangladesh

    OpenAIRE

    Masum, Fahria

    2009-01-01

    This thesis has attempted to analyze and resolve urban fringe problems in Dhaka by incorporating different roles and interests of actors in land development processes. The research has revealed that these different actors have different interests, norms and ideologies which are playing an active role in guiding or regulating urban land development process. This situation is deploying existing rules and regulations in form of politics and affecting urban fringe management negatively. The resea...

  18. A new framework for modeling urban land expansion in peri-urban area by combining multi-source datasets and data assimilation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Z.; Xiao, R.; Li, X.

    2015-12-01

    Peri-urban area is a new type region under the impacts of both rural Industrialization and the radiation of metropolitan during rapid urbanization. Due to its complex natural and social characteristics and unique development patterns, many problems such as environmental pollution and land use waste emerged, which became an urgent issue to be addressed. Study area in this paper covers three typical peri-urban districts (Pudong, Fengxian and Jinshan), which around the Shanghai inner city. By coupling cellular automata and multi-agent system model as the basic tools, this research focus on modelling the urban land expansion and driving mechanism in peri-urban area. The big data is aslo combined with the Bayesian maximum entropy method (BME) for spatiotemporal prediction of multi-source data, which expand the dataset of urban expansion models. Data assimilation method is used to optimize the parameters of the coupling model and minimize the uncertainty of observations, improving the precision of future simulation in peri-urban area. By setting quantitative parameters, the coupling model can effectively improve the simulation of the process of urban land expansion under different policies and management schemes, in order to provide scientificimplications for new urbanization strategy. In this research, we precise the urban land expansion simulation and prediction for peri-urban area, expand the scopes and selections of data acquisition measurements and methods, develop the new applications of the data assimilation method in geographical science, provide a new idea for understanding the inherent rules of urban land expansion, and give theoretical and practical support for the peri-urban area in urban planning and decision making.

  19. Achieving a Sustainable Urban Form through Land Use Optimisation: Insights from Bekasi City’s Land-Use Plan (2010–2030

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rahmadya Trias Handayanto

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Cities worldwide have been trying to achieve a sustainable urban form to handle their rapid urban growth. Many sustainable urban forms have been studied and two of them, the compact city and the eco city, were chosen in this study as urban form foundations. Based on these forms, four sustainable city criteria (compactness, compatibility, dependency, and suitability were considered as necessary functions for land use optimisation. This study presents a land use optimisation as a method for achieving a sustainable urban form. Three optimisation methods (particle swarm optimisation, genetic algorithms, and a local search method were combined into a single hybrid optimisation method for land use in Bekasi city, Indonesia. It was also used for examining Bekasi city’s land-use-plan (2010–2030 after optimising current (2015 and future land use (2030. After current land use optimisation, the score of sustainable city criteria increased significantly. Three important centres of land use (commercial, industrial, and residential were also created through clustering the results. These centres were slightly different from centres of the city plan zones. Additional land uses in 2030 were predicted using a nonlinear autoregressive neural network with external input. Three scenarios were used for allocating these additional land uses including sustainable development, government policy, and business-as-usual. Future land use allocation in 2030 found that the sustainable development scenario showed better performance compared to government policy and business-as-usual scenarios.

  20. Analysis and Modeling of Urban Land Cover Change in Setúbal and Sesimbra, Portugal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yikalo H. Araya

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available The expansion of cities entails the abandonment of forest and agricultural lands, and these lands’ conversion into urban areas, which results in substantial impacts on ecosystems. Monitoring these changes and planning urban development can be successfully achieved using multitemporal remotely sensed data, spatial metrics, and modeling. In this paper, urban land use change analysis and modeling was carried out for the Concelhos of Setúbal and Sesimbra in Portugal. An existing land cover map for the year 1990, together with two derived land cover maps from multispectral satellite images for the years 2000 and 2006, were utilized using an object-oriented classification approach. Classification accuracy assessment revealed satisfactory results that fulfilled minimum standard accuracy levels. Urban land use dynamics, in terms of both patterns and quantities, were studied using selected landscape metrics and the Shannon Entropy index. Results show that urban areas increased by 91.11% between 1990 and 2006. In contrast, the change was only 6.34% between 2000 and 2006. The entropy value was 0.73 for both municipalities in 1990, indicating a high rate of urban sprawl in the area. In 2006, this value, for both Sesimbra and Setúbal, reached almost 0.90. This is demonstrative of a tendency toward intensive urban sprawl. Urban land use change for the year 2020 was modeled using a Cellular Automata based approach. The predictive power of the model was successfully validated using Kappa variations. Projected land cover changes show a growing tendency in urban land use, which might threaten areas that are currently reserved for natural parks and agricultural lands.

  1. Land Cover Classification in a Complex Urban-Rural Landscape with Quickbird Imagery

    OpenAIRE

    Moran, Emilio Federico.

    2010-01-01

    High spatial resolution images have been increasingly used for urban land use/cover classification, but the high spectral variation within the same land cover, the spectral confusion among different land covers, and the shadow problem often lead to poor classification performance based on the traditional per-pixel spectral-based classification methods. This paper explores approaches to improve urban land cover classification with Quickbird imagery. Traditional per-pixel spectral-based supervi...

  2. The Public Value of Urban Vacant Land: Social Responses and Ecological Value

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gunwoo Kim

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available This study reviews scholarly papers and case studies on urban vacant land to gain a stronger understanding of its public value in terms of the ecological and social benefits it can bring. This literature review offers a conceptual overview of the potential benefits of vacant land with the goal of addressing gaps in knowledge about vacant land and to provide suggestions to planners and designers on how vacant properties can be integrated with other green infrastructure in cities. There are many opportunities to redevelop vacant land to enhance its ecological and social value, and many design professionals and scholars are becoming interested in finding new ways to exploit this potential, especially with regard to planning and design. A better appreciation of the public value of urban vacant land is vital for any effort to identify alternative strategies to optimize the way these spaces are utilized for both short-term and long-term uses to support urban regeneration and renewal. This study will help planners and designers to understand and plan for urban vacant land, leading to better utilization of these spaces and opening up alternative creative approaches to envisioning space and landscape design in our urban environments.

  3. Urban transportation: Perspectives on mobility and choice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sincoff, M. Z. (Editor); Dajani, J. S. (Editor); Arnold, G. R.; Bird, J. W.; Brooks, C. M. (Editor); Cobb, W. E.; Cross, J. E.; Darby, L. F.; Erb, N. H.; Ficht, J. C.

    1974-01-01

    A study of urban transportation systems are presented characterized by intensive scrutiny of many ideas, philosophies, and academic perspectives. This report is intended to communicate some dimensions of the urban transportation problem to the general public.

  4. URBAN STRUGGLES IN CURITIBA METROPOLIS: POPULAR HOUSING, LAND OCCUPATIONS AND RESISTANCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Danilo Volochko

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The forms of exploitation and expropriation in the city imply the emergence of land and buildings occupations in peripheral and central areas. In Curitiba, slums, neighborhoods without infrastructure, popular housing, vacant land sites and buildings make part of multiple processes and temporalities that emerge of the city which is mythically taken as urban planning model. The research seeks to analyze organized land occupations in order to understand its links with the reproduction of the metropolis, revealing the scale of the place, of everyday life, of sociability in these occupations, their socio-political organization strategies and resistance, revealing urban struggles as an amalgam between local particularities and global processes, placing the debate in the realization of the right to the city. Key-words: urban struggles, production of space, land occupations, spatial justice.

  5. Current and historical land use influence soil-based ecosystem services in an urban landscape.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziter, Carly; Turner, Monica G

    2018-04-01

    Urban landscapes are increasingly recognized as providing important ecosystem services (ES) to their occupants. Yet, urban ES assessments often ignore the complex spatial heterogeneity and land-use history of cities. Soil-based services may be particularly susceptible to land-use legacy effects. We studied indicators of three soil-based ES, carbon storage, water quality regulation, and runoff regulation, in a historically agricultural urban landscape and asked (1) How do ES indicators vary with contemporary land cover and time since development? (2) Do ES indicators vary primarily among land-cover classes, within land-cover classes, or within sites? (3) What is the relative contribution of urban land-cover classes to potential citywide ES provision? We measured biophysical indicators (soil carbon [C], available phosphorus [P], and saturated hydraulic conductivity [K s ]) in 100 sites across five land-cover classes, spanning an ~125-year gradient of time since development within each land-cover class. Potential for ES provision was substantial in urban green spaces, including developed land. Runoff regulation services (high K s ) were highest in forests; water quality regulation (low P) was highest in open spaces and grasslands; and open spaces and developed land (e.g., residential yards) had the highest C storage. In developed land covers, both C and P increased with time since development, indicating effects of historical land-use on contemporary ES and trade-offs between two important ES. Among-site differences accounted for a high proportion of variance in soil properties in forests, grasslands, and open space, while residential areas had high within-site variability, underscoring the leverage city residents have to improve urban ES provision. Developed land covers contributed most ES supply at the citywide scale, even after accounting for potential impacts of impervious surfaces. Considering the full mosaic of urban green space and its history is needed to

  6. Sensing Urban Land-Use Patterns by Integrating Google Tensorflow and Scene-Classification Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Y.; Liang, H.; Li, X.; Zhang, J.; He, J.

    2017-09-01

    With the rapid progress of China's urbanization, research on the automatic detection of land-use patterns in Chinese cities is of substantial importance. Deep learning is an effective method to extract image features. To take advantage of the deep-learning method in detecting urban land-use patterns, we applied a transfer-learning-based remote-sensing image approach to extract and classify features. Using the Google Tensorflow framework, a powerful convolution neural network (CNN) library was created. First, the transferred model was previously trained on ImageNet, one of the largest object-image data sets, to fully develop the model's ability to generate feature vectors of standard remote-sensing land-cover data sets (UC Merced and WHU-SIRI). Then, a random-forest-based classifier was constructed and trained on these generated vectors to classify the actual urban land-use pattern on the scale of traffic analysis zones (TAZs). To avoid the multi-scale effect of remote-sensing imagery, a large random patch (LRP) method was used. The proposed method could efficiently obtain acceptable accuracy (OA = 0.794, Kappa = 0.737) for the study area. In addition, the results show that the proposed method can effectively overcome the multi-scale effect that occurs in urban land-use classification at the irregular land-parcel level. The proposed method can help planners monitor dynamic urban land use and evaluate the impact of urban-planning schemes.

  7. Towards Rural Land Use: Challenges for Oversizing Urban Perimeters in Shrinking Towns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sá, João; Virtudes, Ana

    2017-12-01

    This article, based on the literature review, aims to study the challenges of the urban dispersion and oversizing of urban perimeters, in the cases where the towns are shrinking or spreading to the rural land-use. It is focused on the case of Portugal where during the last decades there was an escaping to the big cities alongside to the sea (Atlantic and Mediterranean) shore. In the Interior part of the country, which means near to the border with Spain, several towns are shrinking, despite their huge urban perimeters, proposed by the municipal master plans, since the middle of the nineties. Consequently, these urban perimeters are nowadays oversizing, with empty buildings and non-urbanized areas. At the same time, the social patterns of occupation of this territory have changed significantly, moving from a society with signs of rurality to an urban realm, understood not only in territorial terms but also regarding the current lifestyle. This deep changing has occurred not only in urbanistic terms but also in the economic, cultural and social organizations of the country, under a movement that corresponds to a decline of the small urban settlements in rural areas, far away from the cosmopolitan strip of land nearby the sea, in between the capital city, Lisbon and the second one Oporto. These transformations were not driven by any significant public policy for land-use actions. On the contrary, the production of urban areas, supporting the new model of economic and social development was largely left to the initiative of economic and social private agents and land owners. These agents were the leading responsible for the new urban developments and housing. In this sense, this research aims to present some strategies for the short time period regarding the devolution of urban areas to rural land use. In this sense, the next steps of spatial planning policies, under the role of local authorities (the 308 municipalities including Madeira and Azores islands, plus the

  8. Urban land use in Natura 2000 surrounding areas in Vilnius Region, Lithuania.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pereira, Paulo; Misiūnė, Ieva; Depellegrin, Daniel

    2015-04-01

    Urban development is one of the major causes of land degradation and pressure on protected areas. (Hansen and DeFries, 2007; Salvati and Sabbi, 2011). The urban areas in the fringe of the protected areas are a source of pollutants considered a negative disturbance to the ecosystems services and biodiversity within the protected areas. The distance between urban and protected areas is decreasing and in the future it is estimated that 88% of the world protected areas will be affected by urban growth (McDonald et al., 2008). The surrounding or buffer areas, are lands adjacent to the Natura 2000 territories, which aim to reduce the human influence within the protected areas. Presently there is no common definition of buffer area it is not clear among stakeholders (Van Dasselaar, 2013). The objective of this work is to identify the urban land use in the Natura 2000 areas in Vilnius region, Lithuania. Data from Natura 2000 areas and urban land use (Corine Land Cover 2006) in Vilnius region were collected in the European Environmental Agency website (http://www.eea.europa.eu/). In the surroundings of each Natura 2000 site, we identified the urban land use at the distances of 500, 1000 and 1500 m. The Natura 2000 sites and the urban areas occupied a total of 13.2% and 3.4% of Vilnius region, respectively. However, the urban areas are very dispersed in the territory, especially in the surroundings of Vilnius, which since the end of the XX century is growing (Pereira et al., 2014). This can represent a major threat to Natura 2000 areas ecosystem services quality and biodiversity. Overall, urban areas occupied approximately 50 km2, in the buffer area of 500 m, 95 km2 in buffer area of 1000 m and 131 km2 in the buffer area of 1500 km2. This shows that Natura 2000 surrounding areas in Vilnius region are subjected to a high urban pressure. This is especially evident in the Vilnius city and is a consequence of the uncontrolled urban development. The lack of a clear legislation

  9. ZONAL IMPACT ANALYSIS OF A STRATEGIC PLANNING APPROACH FOR LAND DEVELOPMENT CONTROLS

    OpenAIRE

    LIMAPORNWANITCH, Karin; HOKAO, Kazunori; TEKNOMO, Kardi; FUKUDA, Atsushi

    2004-01-01

    Due to rapid urban developments in developing cities, the integration of land-use and transportation planning is very necessary. However, up-to-date land-use and transportation interaction planning is still difficult, because of rapid urbanization and complex relationships. The lack of human resources, budget, and necessary data are some of the hindrances. The planners in Bangkok have tried to utilize Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) in harmonizing land developments and transportation improvem...

  10. City Expansion and Agricultural Land Loss within the Peri-Urban ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    1 Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Ibadan, Oyo .... physical development as a result of interaction between urban and rural land uses. ..... This research adopted a descriptive survey and a case study approach. ...... Environment Research Network (PERN) Cyber seminar, Urban Expansion: The ...

  11. Research on centrality of urban transport network nodes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Kui; Fu, Xiufen

    2017-05-01

    Based on the actual data of urban transport in Guangzhou, 19,150 bus stations in Guangzhou (as of 2014) are selected as nodes. Based on the theory of complex network, the network model of Guangzhou urban transport is constructed. By analyzing the degree centrality index, betweenness centrality index and closeness centrality index of nodes in the network, the level of centrality of each node in the network is studied. From a different point of view to determine the hub node of Guangzhou urban transport network, corresponding to the city's key sites and major transfer sites. The reliability of the network is determined by the stability of some key nodes (transport hub station). The research of network node centralization can provide a theoretical basis for the rational allocation of urban transport network sites and public transport system planning.

  12. Land cover change impact on urban flood modeling (case study: Upper Citarum watershed)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siregar, R. I.

    2018-03-01

    The upper Citarum River watershed utilizes remote sensing technology in Geographic Information System to provide information on land coverage by interpretation of objects in the image. Rivers that pass through urban areas will cause flooding problems causing disadvantages, and it disrupts community activities in the urban area. Increased development in a city is related to an increase in the number of population growth that added by increasing quality and quantity of life necessities. Improved urban lifestyle changes have an impact on land cover. The impact in over time will be difficult to control. This study aims to analyze the condition of flooding in urban areas caused by upper Citarum watershed land-use change in 2001 with the land cover change in 2010. This modeling analyzes with the help of HEC-RAS to describe flooded inundation urban areas. Land cover change in upper Citarum watershed is not very significant; it based on the results of data processing of land cover has the difference of area that changed is not enormous. Land cover changes for the floods increased dramatically to a flow coefficient for 2001 is 0.65 and in 2010 at 0.69. In 2001, the inundation area about 105,468 hectares and it were about 92,289 hectares in 2010.

  13. Resilience with Mixed Agricultural and Urban Land Uses in Tokyo, Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giles Bruno Sioen

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Urban agriculture can enhance the resilience of neighborhoods by providing fresh food in times of natural disasters; however, there is little empirical evidence to support this. Therefore, this study proposes a methodology to identify patterns of agricultural production in urban areas by quantifying self-sufficiency rates in vegetable weight and key nutrients. A spatial grid cell analysis using a geographic information system (GIS identifies the current and potential self-sufficiency of each land use pattern in Tokyo. In a total of 1479 grid cells, the dominant land use and locations of 49,263 agricultural plots led to the categorization of six distinguishable land use patterns. The results showed that Tokyo has a fruit and vegetable self-sufficiency of 4.27% and a potential of 11.73%. The nutritional self-sufficiency of selected nutrients was the highest in vitamin K (6.54%, followed by vitamin C (3.84% and vitamin A (1.92%. Peri-urban areas showed the highest resilience in relation to aggregated risks and population density because of the mixture in agricultural and urban land uses.

  14. [Spatial tendency of urban land use in new Yinzhou Town of Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province of East China].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Wen-Wei; Guo, Hui-Hui; Mei, Yan-Xia

    2012-03-01

    By adopting gradient analysis combining with the analysis of urban land use degree, this paper studied the spatial layout characteristics of residential and industrial lands in new Yinzhou Town, and explored the location characters of various urban land use by selecting public green land, public facilities, and road as the location advantage factors. Gradient analysis could effectively connect with the spatial layout of urban land use, and quantitatively depict the spatial character of urban land use. In the new town, there was a new urban spatial center mostly within the radius of 2 km, namely, the urban core area had obvious location advantage in the cross-shaft direction urban development. On the south of Yinzhou Avenue, the urban hinterland would be constructed soon. In the future land use of the new town, the focus would be the reasonable vicissitude of industrial land after the adjustment of industrial structure, the high-efficient intensive use of the commercial land restricted by the compulsive condition of urban core area, and the agricultural land protection in the southeastern urban-rural fringe.

  15. Urban Environmental Education Project, Curriculum Module III: Urban Transportation - Where Are We Going?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, Ellen

    Included in this module are five activities dealing with modes of transportation in the urban environment. The activities include: (1) a discussion of transportation considerations in urban areas; (2) discussion of bikeways and their desirability in the urban environment; (3) the bikeway and the environment; (4) designing a bikeway; and (5)…

  16. Evaluation of alternative public transportation systems in Izmit urban transportation via axiomatic design method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gülşen AKMAN

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available In the world and in our country, most of urban transportation is performed by public transportation. Public transportation is a system which provides transportation easiness and opportunity to people, not to vehicles. Therefore, giving priority to public transportation system is necessary in organizing urban transportation. In this study, in order to reduce traffic intensity and to facilitate passenger transportation in Izmit urban transportation, It is tried to determine appropriate public transportation system. For this, firstly, alternatives which could be used for public transportation were determined. These alternatives are metro, metrobus, tram, light rail system and monorail. Afterwards, the variables affecting decision making about public transportation were determined. These variables are cost, transportation line features, vehicle characteristics, sensitivity to environment and customer satisfaction. Lastly, most appropriate public transportation system is proposed by using the axiomatic design method. As a result, light trail system and metrobus are determined as the most appropriate alternatives for Izmit public transportation system.Keywords: Urban transportation, Multi criteria decision making, Axiomatic design

  17. Urban freight transportation : challenges, failures and successes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kant, G.; Quak, H.; Peeters, R.; van Woensel, T.; Zijm, H.; Klumpp, M.; Clausen, U.; ten Hompel, M.

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, we present the challenges, failures and successes on urban freight transportation. We first identify the various involved stakeholders with their interests. Then we evaluate a large number of urban freight transport initiatives and identify lessons learned, which are distinguished in

  18. Consolidation and coordination in urban freight transport

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Heeswijk, W.J.A.

    2017-01-01

    Due to growing urbanization, fragmentation of freight flows, and increasingly strict delivery conditions, cities around the world have to deal with a vastly increasing number of freight transport flows. Carriers are unable to efficiently bundle these flows, resulting in inefficient urban transport.

  19. Urban freight transportation : Challenges, failure, and successes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kant, Goos; Quak, H.; Peeters, Rene; Woensel van, T.; Zijm, H.; Klumpp, M.; Clausen, U.; Ten Hompel, M.

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, we present the challenges, failures and successes on urban freight transportation. We first identify the various involved stakeholders with their interests. Then we evaluate a large number of urban freight transport initiatives and identify lessons learned, which are distinguished in

  20. Assessing Urban Forest Structure, Ecosystem Services, and Economic Benefits on Vacant Land

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gunwoo Kim

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available An urban forest assessment is essential for developing a baseline from which to measure changes and trends. The most precise way to assess urban forests is to measure and record every tree on a site, but although this may work well for relatively small populations (e.g., street trees, small parks, it is prohibitively expensive for large tree populations. Thus, random sampling offers a cost-effective way to assess urban forest structure and the associated ecosystem services for large-scale assessments. The methodology applied to assess ecosystem services in this study can also be used to assess the ecosystem services provided by vacant land in other urban contexts and improve urban forest policies, planning, and the management of vacant land. The study’s findings support the inclusion of trees on vacant land and contribute to a new vision of vacant land as a valuable ecological resource by demonstrating how green infrastructure can be used to enhance ecosystem health and promote a better quality of life for city residents.

  1. SENSING URBAN LAND-USE PATTERNS BY INTEGRATING GOOGLE TENSORFLOW AND SCENE-CLASSIFICATION MODELS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. Yao

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available With the rapid progress of China’s urbanization, research on the automatic detection of land-use patterns in Chinese cities is of substantial importance. Deep learning is an effective method to extract image features. To take advantage of the deep-learning method in detecting urban land-use patterns, we applied a transfer-learning-based remote-sensing image approach to extract and classify features. Using the Google Tensorflow framework, a powerful convolution neural network (CNN library was created. First, the transferred model was previously trained on ImageNet, one of the largest object-image data sets, to fully develop the model’s ability to generate feature vectors of standard remote-sensing land-cover data sets (UC Merced and WHU-SIRI. Then, a random-forest-based classifier was constructed and trained on these generated vectors to classify the actual urban land-use pattern on the scale of traffic analysis zones (TAZs. To avoid the multi-scale effect of remote-sensing imagery, a large random patch (LRP method was used. The proposed method could efficiently obtain acceptable accuracy (OA = 0.794, Kappa = 0.737 for the study area. In addition, the results show that the proposed method can effectively overcome the multi-scale effect that occurs in urban land-use classification at the irregular land-parcel level. The proposed method can help planners monitor dynamic urban land use and evaluate the impact of urban-planning schemes.

  2. Forecasting transportation impacts upon land use

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wendt, P F [ed.

    1976-01-01

    Chapter titles include: introduction and overview; national and regional econometric models; growth and change in the Georgia regional economies; a Delphi approach to land use forecasting; land suitability and land use analysis; the interaction of transportation and land use; and, summary and conclusions. Lists of tables and figures are also included. (JGB)

  3. Trans-European transport networks influence on the regional development and urban systems: Serbian experience

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maksin-Mićić Marija

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available The trans-European transport network has different effects at macro regional mezzo-regional and micro-regional level, and its effectiveness rises with the lower regional levels. Possible approaches to the trans-European transport network impact and effect survey and policy options have been pointed out. The importance of increased accessibility and mobility for regional expansion and for a more balanced and polycentric system of city networks has been underlined. Changes in the spatial organization utilization and structure of cities, as well as in social benefits and losses subsequent to impacts of trans-European transport corridor "X" section Belgrade-Niš have been analyzed. The new trans-European or major transport infrastructure does not per se create regional and urban system network development, although it can affect the conditions for the processes that create growth and development. The effects can be increased by co-ordination of measures of regional, spatial and urban policy, land use transport, environmental and other policies. The necessary measure is the introduction of spatial impact assessment as sartorial policy instrument for the large transport infrastructure plans and projects.

  4. Land Administration System structured Land rent residuals and China’s urban sprawl – A Case Study of Dashi, Guangzhou

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liu Xuan

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Urban sprawl has been at the centre of current debate on urban structure. Compared to the rich literature on urban sprawl in Western cities, relatively little is known about the physical consequence and the causes of urban sprawl in China. In China, for peasant collective-owned land (COL, land use right cannot be sold, transferred or leased for non-agricultural construction’. COL could be developed until it is acquired and leased out by the government. Through the process of land acquisition, the peasants could only get the compensation for 30 years' average of annual agricultural production value in addition to compensation for attachments, crops and vegetables which sometimes could hardly support the life of peasants who lost their land. To compensation for the peasants’ loss, the government would leave 10-15% of the acquired land to peasant collectives as Collectively Owned Economic Development Land (COEDL, allowing it used for industrial or commercial purpose. However, development of COEDL manifested to have low development density, quality and output. With a property rights approach, this research evaluates the development process of COEDL in Guangzhou. It has been revealed that high cost to obtain the permit of land use change (nongzhuanyong zhibiao, and to provide infrastructure and public facilities reduce the incentives of peasants to use COEDL legally and more efficiently. Furthermore, as COEDL is forbidden to transfer or mortgage, the financing ability of peasant collectives is thus impaired severely, allowing them only low investment on development. Use of COEDL thus contributes to urban sprawl in China.

  5. Urban transportation projects conceptualised:

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pineda, Andres Felipe Valderrama

    is straightforward: transportation projects transform cities. The paradoxical reality thus is that a problem that has been traditionally conceptualized in technical terms (transportation engineering, transportation economics, planning theory, traffic engineering, urban planning, etc.), has tremendous consequences...... operation when discussing transportation projects in big cities. The tradition of Science and Technology Studies might have provided some clues. In the following paper we discuss the most prominent aspects of some theories in STS in order to understand and conceptualize the cases of Bogotá and Copenhagen...

  6. Export Mechanisms of Persistent Toxic Substances (PTSs) in Urban Land Uses during Rainfall-Runoff Events: Experimental and Modeling Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Y.; Luo, X.; Lin, Z.

    2016-12-01

    The urban environment has a variety of Persistent Toxic Substances (PTS), such as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and mercury. Soil in pervious lands and dust deposited on impervious surfaces are two major sinks of PTSs in urbanized areas, which could contribute significant nonpoint source loadings of PTSs to adjacent waterbodies during rainfall-runoff events and therefore jeopardize aquatic ecosystems. However, PTSs have been much less understood regarding their export mechanisms in urban land uses, and efforts to model nonpoint source pollution processes of PTSs have been rare. We designed and performed in-lab rainfall-runoff simulation experiments to investigate transport of PAHs and mercury by runoff from urban soils. Organic petrology analysis (OPA) techniques were introduced to analyze the soil and sediment compositions. Our study revealed the limitation of the classic enrichment theory which attributes enrichment of pollutants in eroded sediment solely to the sediment's particle size distribution and adopts simple relationships between enrichment ratio and sediment flux. We found that carbonaceous materials (CMs) in soil are the direct and major sorbents for PAHs and mercury, and highly different in content, mobility and adsorption capacity for the PTSs. Anthropogenic CMs like black carbon components largely control the transport of soil PAHs, while humic substances have a dominant influence on the transport of soil mercury. A model was further developed to estimate the enrichment ratio of PAHs, which innovatively applies the fugacity concept.We also conducted field studies on export of PAHs by runoff from urban roads. A variable time-step model was developed to simulate the continuous cycles of PAH buildup and washoff on urban roads. The dependence of the pollution level on antecedent weather conditions was investigated and embodied in the model. The applicability of this approach and its value to environmental management was demonstrated by a case

  7. 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.

  8. Universal scaling of the distribution of land in urban areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  9. Determinants of Urban Expansion and Agricultural Land Conversion in 25 EU Countries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ustaoglu, Eda; Williams, Brendan

    2017-10-01

    Agricultural land conversion is resulting from ongoing complex interaction between the physical environment, policy settings and socio-economic factors. Case studies of the determinants of agricultural land conversion potentially contribute to the analysis of the main causes of land-use change. This can assist authorities and policy makers in understanding the relative importance of a wide range of factors on urban expansion and associated agricultural land-use change. This paper explores the determinants of agricultural land conversion to urban uses in the studied 25 European Union countries between 2000 and 2006. European-level as well as region-specific land-use changes are studied. The research is using the spatial data adapted from European Corine Land Cover maps of 2000 and 2006 and utilised other European sources regarding socio-economic, natural, geological, climate, and policy-related data. The differences in urbanisation processes observed in different regions in Europe emphasise the regional variations of urban conversion process of agricultural land use. This study identifies a combination of socio-economic drivers, policy-related factors, nature and location-based factors as key influences on agricultural land conversion processes in Europe. Specifically we found that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidies were influential in curbing urbanisation and reducing agricultural land consumption.

  10. Determinants of Urban Expansion and Agricultural Land Conversion in 25 EU Countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ustaoglu, Eda; Williams, Brendan

    2017-10-01

    Agricultural land conversion is resulting from ongoing complex interaction between the physical environment, policy settings and socio-economic factors. Case studies of the determinants of agricultural land conversion potentially contribute to the analysis of the main causes of land-use change. This can assist authorities and policy makers in understanding the relative importance of a wide range of factors on urban expansion and associated agricultural land-use change. This paper explores the determinants of agricultural land conversion to urban uses in the studied 25 European Union countries between 2000 and 2006. European-level as well as region-specific land-use changes are studied. The research is using the spatial data adapted from European Corine Land Cover maps of 2000 and 2006 and utilised other European sources regarding socio-economic, natural, geological, climate, and policy-related data. The differences in urbanisation processes observed in different regions in Europe emphasise the regional variations of urban conversion process of agricultural land use. This study identifies a combination of socio-economic drivers, policy-related factors, nature and location-based factors as key influences on agricultural land conversion processes in Europe. Specifically we found that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidies were influential in curbing urbanisation and reducing agricultural land consumption.

  11. Greenhouse Gas Implications of Peri-Urban Land Use Change in a Developed City under Four Future Climate Scenarios

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alison Rothwell

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Present decisions about urbanization of peri-urban (PU areas may contribute to the capacity of cities to mitigate future climate change. Comprehensive mitigative responses to PU development should require integration of urban form and food production to realise potential trade-offs. Despite this, few studies examine greenhouse gas (GHG implications of future urban development combined with impacts on PU food production. In this paper, four future scenarios, at 2050 and 2100 time horizons, were developed to evaluate the potential GHG emissions implications of feeding and housing a growing urban population in Sydney, Australia. The scenarios were thematically downscaled from the four relative concentration pathways. Central to the scenarios were differences in population, technology, energy, housing form, transportation, temperature, food production and land use change (LUC. A life cycle assessment approach was used within the scenarios to evaluate differences in GHG impacts. Differences in GHG emissions between scenarios at the 2100 time horizon, per area of PU land transformed, approximated 0.7 Mt CO2-e per year. Per additional resident this equated to 0.7 to 6.1 t CO2-e per year. Indirect LUC has the potential to be significant. Interventions such as carbon capture and storage technology, renewables and urban form markedly reduced emissions. However, incorporating cross-sectoral energy saving measures within urban planning at the regional scale requires a paradigmatic shift.

  12. Global Land Transport Infrastructure Requirements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2013-06-01

    Over the next four decades, global passenger and freight travel is expected to double over 2010 levels. In order to accommodate this growth, it is expected that the world will need to add nearly 25 million paved road lane-kilometres and 335 000 rail track kilometres. In addition, it is expected that between 45 000 square kilometres and 77 000 square kilometres of new parking spaces will be added to accommodate vehicle stock growth. These land transport infrastructure additions, when combined with operations, maintenance and repairs, are expected to cost as much as USD 45 trillion by 2050. This publication reports on the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) analysis of infrastructure requirements to support projected road and rail travel through 2050, using the IEA Mobility Model. It considers land transport infrastructure additions to support travel growth to 2050. It also considers potential savings if countries pursue “avoid and shift” policies: in this scenario, cumulative global land transport infrastructure spending could decrease as much as USD 20 trillion by 2050 over baseline projections.

  13. EVALUATION OF LAND USE/LAND COVER DATASETS FOR URBAN WATERSHED MODELING

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    S.J. BURIAN; M.J. BROWN; T.N. MCPHERSON

    2001-01-01

    Land use/land cover (LULC) data are a vital component for nonpoint source pollution modeling. Most watershed hydrology and pollutant loading models use, in some capacity, LULC information to generate runoff and pollutant loading estimates. Simple equation methods predict runoff and pollutant loads using runoff coefficients or pollutant export coefficients that are often correlated to LULC type. Complex models use input variables and parameters to represent watershed characteristics and pollutant buildup and washoff rates as a function of LULC type. Whether using simple or complex models an accurate LULC dataset with an appropriate spatial resolution and level of detail is paramount for reliable predictions. The study presented in this paper compared and evaluated several LULC dataset sources for application in urban environmental modeling. The commonly used USGS LULC datasets have coarser spatial resolution and lower levels of classification than other LULC datasets. In addition, the USGS datasets do not accurately represent the land use in areas that have undergone significant land use change during the past two decades. We performed a watershed modeling analysis of three urban catchments in Los Angeles, California, USA to investigate the relative difference in average annual runoff volumes and total suspended solids (TSS) loads when using the USGS LULC dataset versus using a more detailed and current LULC dataset. When the two LULC datasets were aggregated to the same land use categories, the relative differences in predicted average annual runoff volumes and TSS loads from the three catchments were 8 to 14% and 13 to 40%, respectively. The relative differences did not have a predictable relationship with catchment size

  14. Land Accessibility Factors in Urban Housing Provision in Nigeria Cities : Case of Lagos

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gbadegesin, J.T.; van der Heijden, H.M.H.; Boelhouwer, P.J.

    2016-01-01

    The housing need of the burgeoning population, economic development and increasing urbanization have intensified the significance of land accessibility as an avenue towards improving housing provision in Nigerian urban centres. Literature in housing provision in Nigeria identified land accessibility

  15. Sustainable urban transport indicators: tool for evaluating transport sustainability in the mega cities of Pakistan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Imran, M.

    2005-01-01

    Urban Transport is an important sector to accomplish the goal of sustainable development in Pakistan. This is important because of the high growth of the transport sector's energy consumption, road crashes and greenhouse gas emissions. This becomes significant in the Pakistani cities where motor vehicle fleet is growing at two to three times the rate of population. Transport Policies has resulted high growth of urban road traffic, increasing air and noise pollution throughout the country. This situation raised the question how to achieve sustainable urban transport in the mega cities of Pakistan? Development of sustainable urban transport indicators will provide an opportunity to analyze current transport policies to assess Pakistan progress towards or away from sustainability. Medium Term Development Framework (2005-10) has selected to analyze against establish sustainable urban transport indicators for Pakistan. On the basis of analysis, it has found that MWF has tried to address transport problem in a piecemeal manner, rather than adopting a holistic approach. Implementing MTDF policies on transport is not fully matched with a long term commitment to achieving sustainable development in Pakistan. (author)

  16. Assessment of transport performance index for urban transport development strategies — Incorporating residents' preferences

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ambarwati, Lasmini, E-mail: L.Ambarwati@tudelft.nl [Department of Transport and Planning, TU Delft (Netherlands); Department of Civil Engineering, Brawijaya University (Indonesia); Verhaeghe, Robert, E-mail: R.Verhaeghe@tudelft.nl [Department of Transport and Planning, TU Delft (Netherlands); Arem, Bart van, E-mail: B.vanArem@tudelft.nl [Department of Transport and Planning, TU Delft (Netherlands); Pel, Adam J., E-mail: A.J.Pel@tudelft.nl [Department of Transport and Planning, TU Delft (Netherlands)

    2017-03-15

    The performance of urban transport depends on a variety of factors related to metropolitan structure; in particular, the patterns of commuting, roads and public transport (PT) systems. To evaluate urban transport planning efforts, there is a need for a metric expressing the aggregate performance of the city's transport systems which should relate to residents' preferences. The existing metrics have typically focused on a measure to express the proximity of job locations to residences. A Transport Performance Index (TPI) is proposed in which the total cost of transportation system (operational and environmental costs) is divided by willingness to pay (WTP) for transport plus the willingness to accept (WTA) the environmental effects on residents. Transport operational as well as the environmental costs are derived from a simulation of all transport systems, to particular designs of spatial development. Willingness to pay for transport and willingness to accept the environmental effects are derived from surveys among residents. Simulations were modelled of Surabaya's spatial structure and public transport expansion. The results indicate that the current TPI is high, which will double by 2030. With a hypothetical polycentric city structure and adjusted job housing balance, a lower index occurs because of the improvements in urban transport performance. A low index means that the residents obtain much benefit from the alternative proposed. This illustrates the importance of residents' preferences in urban spatial planning in order to achieve efficient urban transport. Applying the index suggests that city authorities should provide fair and equitable public transport systems for suburban residents in the effort to control the phenomenon of urban sprawl. This index is certainly a good tool and prospective benchmark for measuring sustainability in relation to urban development.

  17. Assessment of transport performance index for urban transport development strategies — Incorporating residents' preferences

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ambarwati, Lasmini; Verhaeghe, Robert; Arem, Bart van; Pel, Adam J.

    2017-01-01

    The performance of urban transport depends on a variety of factors related to metropolitan structure; in particular, the patterns of commuting, roads and public transport (PT) systems. To evaluate urban transport planning efforts, there is a need for a metric expressing the aggregate performance of the city's transport systems which should relate to residents' preferences. The existing metrics have typically focused on a measure to express the proximity of job locations to residences. A Transport Performance Index (TPI) is proposed in which the total cost of transportation system (operational and environmental costs) is divided by willingness to pay (WTP) for transport plus the willingness to accept (WTA) the environmental effects on residents. Transport operational as well as the environmental costs are derived from a simulation of all transport systems, to particular designs of spatial development. Willingness to pay for transport and willingness to accept the environmental effects are derived from surveys among residents. Simulations were modelled of Surabaya's spatial structure and public transport expansion. The results indicate that the current TPI is high, which will double by 2030. With a hypothetical polycentric city structure and adjusted job housing balance, a lower index occurs because of the improvements in urban transport performance. A low index means that the residents obtain much benefit from the alternative proposed. This illustrates the importance of residents' preferences in urban spatial planning in order to achieve efficient urban transport. Applying the index suggests that city authorities should provide fair and equitable public transport systems for suburban residents in the effort to control the phenomenon of urban sprawl. This index is certainly a good tool and prospective benchmark for measuring sustainability in relation to urban development.

  18. Strategies for Sustainable Urban Development and Urban-Rural Linkages

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nilsson, Kjell; Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick; Aalbers, Carmen

    2014-01-01

    of transport, land use and open space planning; (ii) urban containment and densification – development a green compact city; (iii) preservation of blue and green infrastructure; and (iv) preservation of agricultural land and the promotion of local production. The need also remains to strengthen governance......An important driving force behind urban expansion is the growth of the urban population. But for Europe, this is not a sufficient explanation. The major trend is that European cities have become much less compact. Since the mid-1950s European cities have expanded on average by 78%, whereas...... the population has grown by only 33%. In the PLUREL project - an integrated project within the EU’s 6th Research Framework Programme - more than 100 researchers from 15 countries analysed the impacts of urban land consumption at a pan-European level and, through six European and one Chinese case studies...

  19. Procedural modeling of urban layout: population, land use, and road network

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lyu, X.; Han, Q.; de Vries, B.

    2017-01-01

    This paper introduces an urban simulation system generating urban layouts with population, road network and land use layers. The desired urban spatial structure is obtained by generating a population map based on population density models. The road network is generated at two spatial levels

  20. Simulating Transport and Land Use Interdependencies for Strategic Urban Planning—An Agent Based Modelling Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nam Huynh

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Agent based modelling has been widely accepted as a promising tool for urban planning purposes thanks to its capability to provide sophisticated insights into the social behaviours and the interdependencies that characterise urban systems. In this paper, we report on an agent based model, called TransMob, which explicitly simulates the mutual dynamics between demographic evolution, transport demands, housing needs and the eventual change in the average satisfaction of the residents of an urban area. The ability to reproduce such dynamics is a unique feature that has not been found in many of the like agent based models in the literature. TransMob, is constituted by six major modules: synthetic population, perceived liveability, travel diary assignment, traffic micro-simulator, residential location choice, and travel mode choice. TransMob is used to simulate the dynamics of a metropolitan area in South East of Sydney, Australia, in 2006 and 2011, with demographic evolution. The results are favourably compared against survey data for the area in 2011, therefore validating the capability of TransMob to reproduce the observed complexity of an urban area. We also report on the application of TransMob to simulate various hypothetical scenarios of urban planning policies. We conclude with discussions on current limitations of TransMob, which serve as suggestions for future developments.

  1. Assessment of sustainable urban transport development based on entropy and unascertained measure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yancang; Yang, Jing; Shi, Huawang; Li, Yijie

    2017-01-01

    To find a more effective method for the assessment of sustainable urban transport development, the comprehensive assessment model of sustainable urban transport development was established based on the unascertained measure. On the basis of considering the factors influencing urban transport development, the comprehensive assessment indexes were selected, including urban economical development, transport demand, environment quality and energy consumption, and the assessment system of sustainable urban transport development was proposed. In view of different influencing factors of urban transport development, the index weight was calculated through the entropy weight coefficient method. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted according to the actual condition. Then, the grade was obtained by using the credible degree recognition criterion from which the urban transport development level can be determined. Finally, a comprehensive assessment method for urban transport development was introduced. The application practice showed that the method can be used reasonably and effectively for the comprehensive assessment of urban transport development.

  2. An Empirical Study on Transit-Oriented Low-Carbon Urban Land Use Planning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dou, Yi; Luo, Xiao; Dong, Liang

    2016-01-01

    Low-carbon urban development is a hot spot of global concerns for fighting against climate change for China, transportation sector has a significant contribution to urban CO2 emissions, while the emissions are still increasing. Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) strategies provide a novel approach...... for urban planners to facilitate the urban carbon mitigation from transportation sector in long-term. While TOD strategies are emerging cases, they are merely qualitatively discussed in China, lacking practical indicators and quantitative verification for supporting the real urban plan...... population and transportation accessibility with Geographic Weighted Regression model. Results highlight that TOD can effectively improve the transportation network with higher accessibility and lower urban carbon emissions. The outcomes of this study provide critical insights to the recent practice...

  3. Urban Mass Transportation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mervine, K. E.

    This bibliography is part of a series of Environmental Resource Packets prepared under a grant from EXXON Education Foundation. The most authoritative and accessible references in the urban transportation field are reviewed. The authors, publisher, point of view, level, and summary are given for each reference. The references are categorized…

  4. A Comparison of Advanced Regression Algorithms for Quantifying Urban Land Cover

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akpona Okujeni

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Quantitative methods for mapping sub-pixel land cover fractions are gaining increasing attention, particularly with regard to upcoming hyperspectral satellite missions. We evaluated five advanced regression algorithms combined with synthetically mixed training data for quantifying urban land cover from HyMap data at 3.6 and 9 m spatial resolution. Methods included support vector regression (SVR, kernel ridge regression (KRR, artificial neural networks (NN, random forest regression (RFR and partial least squares regression (PLSR. Our experiments demonstrate that both kernel methods SVR and KRR yield high accuracies for mapping complex urban surface types, i.e., rooftops, pavements, grass- and tree-covered areas. SVR and KRR models proved to be stable with regard to the spatial and spectral differences between both images and effectively utilized the higher complexity of the synthetic training mixtures for improving estimates for coarser resolution data. Observed deficiencies mainly relate to known problems arising from spectral similarities or shadowing. The remaining regressors either revealed erratic (NN or limited (RFR and PLSR performances when comprehensively mapping urban land cover. Our findings suggest that the combination of kernel-based regression methods, such as SVR and KRR, with synthetically mixed training data is well suited for quantifying urban land cover from imaging spectrometer data at multiple scales.

  5. Urban transport energy consumption: Belgrade case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jovanović Miomir M.

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available More than half of the global population now lives in towns and cities. At the same time, transport has become the highest single energy-consuming human activity. Hence, one of the major topics today is the reduction of urban transport demand and of energy consumption in cities. In this article we focused on the whole package of instruments that can reduce energy consumption and transport demand in Belgrade, a city that is currently at a major crossroad. Belgrade can prevent a dramatic increase in energy consumption and CO2 emissions (and mitigate the negative local environmental effects of traffic congestion, traffic accidents and air pollution, only if it: 1 implements a more decisive strategy to limit private vehicles use while its level of car passenger km (PKT is still relatively low; 2 does not try to solve its transport problems only by trying to build urban road infrastructure (bridges and ring roads; and 3 if it continues to provide priority movement for buses (a dominant form of public transport, while 4 at the same time developing urban rail systems (metro or LRT with exclusive tracks, immune to the traffic congestion on urban streets. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 37010

  6. PROBLEMS OF CLASSIFICATION AND FORMATION LAND OF AVIATION TRANSPORT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Novakovska I. O.

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Independent Ukraine had 50 permanently operating airports in 1991. Nowdays there are currently only 20 operating airports in Ukraine, 2/3 of which require reconstruction and substantial technical re-equipment. Without proper investment, Ukraine is able to lose its status as a transit state, as it is unable to recover its transport infrastructure independently. In connection with this, the international experience of the development of airports, particularly in the Baltic States, Georgia, Norway, Poland, deserves special attention. There are the involvement of foreign companies in the management and reconstruction of airports, especially for the development of tourism and recreation, the coordination of the network of airports with the creation of funds for the development of air routes, the implementation of integrated airport development programs, reducing the base of aviation fees due to the growth of non-aviation revenue, increasing competition in the air transport market through the successful functioning of not only national carriers, but also low-cost carriers. The land-resource potential of different types of transport is the basis of development of the transport system of the country, and also the spatial base. Regulation of land use are conducted depend on the main purpose of the land. A feature of aviation land use transport is the concentration on a small area of land of a significant number of objects and structures of various functional purposes, which provide the work of aviation transport, and require appropriate planning of the territories of airfields and airports. Proceeding from the fact that the airfield belongs to strategic objects, and the airport terminal is considered the object of investment, the separation of land of aviation transport by ownership (state, communal, private and types of use (concession, rent, superficiencies, servitude are rather complex and extremely important task of land management of the respective

  7. Economic crisis and its influences on the interaction between land use and transport in Madrid Region

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Y.

    2016-07-01

    The road transport system is closely linked to the land-use system. The road system connects territories at all spatial scale, on the other hand, passengers and freight travel behavior are strongly influenced both by land-use and the road transport system. Hence, research in the field of the interactions between land-use and the road transport system is still less, particular the influence of the economic crisis. This paper aims to find out if the statistical analysis of land use and mobility can help to answer the question of what happens during economic crisis on both land use and transport system, and unveiling key spatial relationships between them. The methodology for the analysis was developed accordingly with the data and resources available. First, an exploratory data analysis (EDA) is performed in order to identify the land use and mobility pattern during the last decade. This analysis focuses on six aspects, which are distribution of population and dwellings, employment and jobs, GDP, motorization and modal split. The second aspect consists on crossing the spatial patterns of the different aspects in order to find some explanatory relationships that indicate the presence of the key characteristics. The analysis is based on the case of Madrid Region. The land-use and transport data presented in this analysis are from 2004 to 2014, which are collected from the national statistical institute, the regional government database and two urban mobility surveys of Madrid. Through the exploration analysis, we find that there is close relationship between the land-use system and travel behavior in Madrid Region. With an increasing of new dwellings constructed in the outer periphery of Madrid Region, it leads longer trips distance and more travel cost particularly by car mode. Moreover, during the economic crisis, we also find the motorization level of Madrid keeps the same, as a result of the decreasing GDP and relatively decreasing. (Author)

  8. Urban Land Development for Industrial and Commercial Use: A Case Study of Beijing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chuanzhun Sun

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Since the 20th century, urbanization has been the main characteristic of global land development. If we can reveal and understand the characteristics and underlying mechanisms of urban development, we can then identify a sustainable development pattern for cities. In this paper, we primarily focus on the determinants of two main types of land use in urban development, industrial and commercial, in an empirical study of Beijing. We use a spatial data analysis method to seek and model major determinants of industrial and commercial land growth in the period of 2000–2010 in Beijing. A spatial logistic regression model is used to explore the impact of spatial independent variables on these two types of land use. The study shows that: (1 newly-added industrial land during 2000–2010 received significant contributions from the number of local enterprises engaged in services in 2010, the use of land for agriculture and construction in the neighborhood in 2000 and planning orders; (2 factors contributing to land transferred for commercial use included the number of enterprises, construction land in the neighborhood and accessibility improvement.

  9. Urban risks of truck transport of radioactive material

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mills, G.S.; Neuhauser, K.S.

    1998-01-01

    Truck transport of radioactive material (RAM), e.g., spent nuclear fuel (SNF), normally maximizes use of Interstate highways, which are safer and more efficient for truck transport in general. In the estimation of transportation risks, population bordering a route is a direct factor in determining consequences and an indirect factor in determining exposure times, accident probabilities and severities, and other parameters. Proposals to transport RAM may draw intense resistance from stakeholders based on concern for population concentrations along urban segments but the length of a route segment is also a determinative factor in estimating the transport risks. To quantify the relative importance of these two factors, a potential route for transport of SNF (strict use of Interstate highways) was selected and compared with a modified version that bypassed urban areas. The RADTRAN 4 code for transportation risk assessment, which was developed at Sandia National Laboratories, was used in the present study to assess the relative risks of SNF transportation for alternative routes. The results suggest that emphasis on Interstate highways minimizes total route and urban segment risks

  10. The Urban Intensive Land-use Evaluation in Xi’an, Based on Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Ru; Kang, Zhiyuan

    2018-01-01

    The intensive land-use is the basis of urban “stock optimization”, and scientific and reasonable evaluation is the important content of the land-intensive utilization. In this paper, through the survey of Xi’an urban land-use condition, we construct the suitable evaluation index system of Xi’an’ intensive land-use, by using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation (FCE) of combination. And through the analysis of the influencing factors of land-intensive utilization, we provide a reference for the future development direction.

  11. Urbanization Process and Variation of Energy Budget of Land Surfaces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ciro Gardi

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available Urban areas are increasing at a rate much higher than human population growth in many part of the world; actually more than 73 towns in the world are larger than 1000 km2. The European Environmental Agency indicates an urban area average growth rate, over the last 20 years, of 20%. The urbanization process, and the consequent soil sealing, determines not only the losses of the ecological functions of the soil, but also a variation of the energy budget of land surfaces, that affect the microclimatic conditions (heat islands. The alteration of the energy budget are determined by the variations of albedo and roughness of surfaces, but especially by the net losses of evapotranspirating areas. In the present research we have assessed the variation of Parma territory energy budget, induced by the change in land use over the last 122 years. The urban area increase between 1881 and 2003 was 535%.

  12. Essays on land and labor in urbanizing China

    OpenAIRE

    Wu, Yan

    2017-01-01

    In this dissertation I address emerging land and labor issues associated with the rapid urbanization in China over the past decades, including the negative effects of the real estate booms on manufacturing development, land conflicts, and gender inequality among migrants. The thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter 1 offers an introductory discussion on the overarching objective and specific questions of the whole research. Chapter 2 focuses on the effects of housing price appreciation on fi...

  13. How Did Urban Land Expand in China between 1992 and 2015? A Multi-Scale Landscape Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Min; He, Chunyang; Liu, Zhifeng; Dou, Yinyin

    2016-01-01

    Effective and timely quantification of the spatiotemporal pattern of urban expansion in China is important for the assessment of its environmental effects. However, the dynamics of the most recent urban expansions in China since 2012 have not yet been adequately explained due to a lack of current information. In this paper, our objective was to quantify spatiotemporal patterns of urban expansion in China between 1992 and 2015. First, we extracted information on urban expansion in China between 1992 and 2015 by integrating nighttime light data, vegetation index data, and land surface temperature data. Then we analyzed the spatiotemporal patterns of urban expansion at the national and regional scales, as well as at that of urban agglomerations. We found that China experienced a rapid and large-scale process of urban expansion between 1992 and 2015, with urban land increasing from 1.22 × 104 km2 to 7.29 × 104 km2, increasing in size nearly fivefold and with an average annual growth rate of 8.10%, almost 2.5 times as rapid as the global average. We also found that urban land in China expanded mainly by occupying 3.31 × 104 km2 of cropland, which comprised 54.67% of the total area of expanded urban land. Among the three modes of growth—infilling, edge expansion, and leapfrog—edge expansion was the main cause of cropland loss. Cropland loss resulting from edge expansion of urban land totalled 2.51 × 104 km2, accounting for over 75% of total cropland loss. We suggest that effective future management with respect to edge expansion of urban land is needed to protect cropland in China. PMID:27144589

  14. How Did Urban Land Expand in China between 1992 and 2015? A Multi-Scale Landscape Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Min; He, Chunyang; Liu, Zhifeng; Dou, Yinyin

    2016-01-01

    Effective and timely quantification of the spatiotemporal pattern of urban expansion in China is important for the assessment of its environmental effects. However, the dynamics of the most recent urban expansions in China since 2012 have not yet been adequately explained due to a lack of current information. In this paper, our objective was to quantify spatiotemporal patterns of urban expansion in China between 1992 and 2015. First, we extracted information on urban expansion in China between 1992 and 2015 by integrating nighttime light data, vegetation index data, and land surface temperature data. Then we analyzed the spatiotemporal patterns of urban expansion at the national and regional scales, as well as at that of urban agglomerations. We found that China experienced a rapid and large-scale process of urban expansion between 1992 and 2015, with urban land increasing from 1.22 × 104 km2 to 7.29 × 104 km2, increasing in size nearly fivefold and with an average annual growth rate of 8.10%, almost 2.5 times as rapid as the global average. We also found that urban land in China expanded mainly by occupying 3.31 × 104 km2 of cropland, which comprised 54.67% of the total area of expanded urban land. Among the three modes of growth-infilling, edge expansion, and leapfrog-edge expansion was the main cause of cropland loss. Cropland loss resulting from edge expansion of urban land totalled 2.51 × 104 km2, accounting for over 75% of total cropland loss. We suggest that effective future management with respect to edge expansion of urban land is needed to protect cropland in China.

  15. THE CORRELATION ANALYSIS OF SUBSIDENCE MONITORING BY D-INSAR AND THE CHANGE OF URBAN CONSTRUCTION LAND

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. J. Yang

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The change of urban construction land affect the subsidence directly or indirectly, the method of D-InSAR has centimeter level or even millimeter accuracy that can provide a reliable and accurate data for the research of correlation analysis of subsidence monitoring by D-InSAR and the change of urban construction land. This article takes Guiyang, Nanning city as example, using 3m level TerraSAR data to construct the Subsidence model by interferometric measurement, then compared with the Chinese national land use change remote sensing survey database at the same measure time to have a correlation analysis GIS research between subsidence and the change of urban construction land. The results shows that the integral correlation coefficient achieved 0.78 between subsidence and the change of urban construction land, the major construction area and the high density construction area are with severe land subsidence. In addition, the correlation coefficient increased from the main city to the suburbs, indicates that some of the main city causes permanent settlement and is difficult to recover. It also shows that some area subsidence caused by long-term mining or other natural factors has no strong correlation with the change of urban construction land, therefore, the results of D-InSAR subsidence monitoring have a reaction on urban construction planning, guiding urban planning to high stability, low settlement area.

  16. Effects of urban land-use on largescale stonerollers in the Mobile River Basin, Birmingham, AL

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iwanowicz, Deborah; Black, M.C.; Blazer, Vicki; Zappia, H.; Bryant, Wade L.

    2016-01-01

    During the spring and fall of 2001 and the spring of 2002 a study was conducted to evaluate the health of the largescale stoneroller (Campostoma oligolepis) populations in streams along an urban land-use gradient. Sites were selected from a pool of naturally similar sub-basins (eco-region, basin size, and geology) of the Mobile River basin (MRB), using an index of urban intensity derived from infrastructure, socioeconomic, and land-use data. This urban land-use gradient (ULUG) is a multimetric indicator of urban intensity, ranging from 0 (background) to 100 (intense urbanization). Campostoma sp. have been used previously as indicators of stream health and are common species found in all sites within the MRB. Endpoints used to determine the effects of urban land-use on the largescale stoneroller included total glutathione, histology, hepatic apoptosis, condition factor and external lesions. Liver glutathione levels were positively associated with increasing urban land-use (r2 = 0.94). Histopathological examination determined that some abnormalities and lesions were correlated with the ULUG and generally increased in prevalence or severity with increasing urbanization. Liver macrophage aggregates were positively correlated to the ULUG. The occurrence of nucleosomal ladders (indicating apoptotic cell death) did not correspond with urban intensity in a linear fashion. Apoptosis, as well as prevalence and severity of a myxozoan parasite, appeared to have a hormetic dose–response relationship. The majority of the biomarkers suggested fish health was compromised in areas where the ULUG ≥ 36.

  17. Effects of urban land-use on largescale stonerollers in the Mobile River Basin, Birmingham, AL.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iwanowicz, D; Black, M C; Blazer, V S; Zappia, H; Bryant, W

    2016-04-01

    During the spring and fall of 2001 and the spring of 2002 a study was conducted to evaluate the health of the largescale stoneroller (Campostoma oligolepis) populations in streams along an urban land-use gradient. Sites were selected from a pool of naturally similar sub-basins (eco-region, basin size, and geology) of the Mobile River basin (MRB), using an index of urban intensity derived from infrastructure, socioeconomic, and land-use data. This urban land-use gradient (ULUG) is a multimetric indicator of urban intensity, ranging from 0 (background) to 100 (intense urbanization). Campostoma sp. have been used previously as indicators of stream health and are common species found in all sites within the MRB. Endpoints used to determine the effects of urban land-use on the largescale stoneroller included total glutathione, histology, hepatic apoptosis, condition factor and external lesions. Liver glutathione levels were positively associated with increasing urban land-use (r(2) = 0.94). Histopathological examination determined that some abnormalities and lesions were correlated with the ULUG and generally increased in prevalence or severity with increasing urbanization. Liver macrophage aggregates were positively correlated to the ULUG. The occurrence of nucleosomal ladders (indicating apoptotic cell death) did not correspond with urban intensity in a linear fashion. Apoptosis, as well as prevalence and severity of a myxozoan parasite, appeared to have a hormetic dose-response relationship. The majority of the biomarkers suggested fish health was compromised in areas where the ULUG ≥ 36.

  18. ZONAL IMPACT ANALYSIS OF A STRATEGIC PLANNING APPROACH FOR LAND DEVELOPMENT CONTROLS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karin LIMAPORNWANITCH

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available Due to rapid urban developments in developing cities, the integration of land-use and transportation planning is very necessary. However, up-to-date land-use and transportation interaction planning is still difficult, because of rapid urbanization and complex relationships. The lack of human resources, budget, and necessary data are some of the hindrances. The planners in Bangkok have tried to utilize Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA in harmonizing land developments and transportation improvements, but without a complete land-use comprehensive plan, the TIA cannot effectively manage urbanization. This paper intends to propose a Zonal Impact Analysis (ZIA framework as a strategic planning tool to balance travel demands of land developments and performance of transportation systems over urban areas. First, the land-use planning situation in Bangkok is explained, afterwards the framework is described. The framework is applied into Bangkapi areas as a case study. Both single and simultaneous development cases are considered. It was found that more comprehensive development alternatives were established. The most suitable zone for a single project is Zone 179, as the advantages of location in the center of radial networks, so full accessibility can be provided. Without any network improvements in Zone 179, the simultaneous developments should be implemented in Zone 168 and 173, as high capacities of the expressway are available. The results give a better understanding on the characteristics of land-use and transportation planning in Bangkapi. Finally, it was emphasized that the ZIA framework is a strategic planning alternative to increase the capabilities of growth management for sustainable developments.

  19. Urban Transportation Systems in Bogotá and Copenhagen

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pineda, Andres Felipe Valderrama; Jørgensen, Ulrik

    2008-01-01

    In this paper we explore the socio-technical dynamics of developing new urban transport systems. Based on the analysis of empirical material from the study of the Transmilenio in Bogotá and the Metro in Copenhagen, we propose that the design, construction and operation of urban transport systems...

  20. Coastal Urbanization and Land Planning in Southern France

    OpenAIRE

    Robert , Samuel; Prévost , Aurélie; Fox , Dennis; Trémélo , Marie-Laure; Pasqualini , Vanina

    2015-01-01

    International audience; Urban sprawl is one of the main pressures affecting coastal areas in the Mediterranean. To assist spatial planning and coastal management policies, the study of urbanization and the characterization of the evolution of built-up areas along the coast are essential prerequisites. In this perspective, the production of land use data sets at a large-scale is necessary. They allow spatio-temporal analysis and, simultaneously, may be used to assess the efficiency of city pla...

  1. Variations of Soil Lead in Different Land Uses Along the Urbanization Gradient in the Beijing Metropolitan Area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qizheng Mao

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Understanding the spatial pattern of soil lead (Pb levels is essential to protecting human health. Most previous studies have examined soil Pb distributions by either urbanization gradient or land-use type. Few studies, however, have examined both factors together. It remains unclear whether the impacts of land use on soil Pb levels are consistent along the urbanization gradient. To fill this gap, we investigated variations in soil Pb level under different land-use types along the urbanization gradient in Beijing, China. We classified the degree of urbanization as the urban core, transitional zone, or suburban area and the land-use type as industrial area, roadside, residential area, institutional area, road greenbelt, park, or forest. Our results showed that the range of soil Pb levels in Beijing is <1 mg/kg–292 mg/kg, with a mean of 22 mg/kg. Along the urbanization gradient, the mean soil Pb level increased from the suburban area to the urban core. Land-use types have an impact on soil Pb levels, however, when the degree of urbanization is considered, the impact from land use on soil Pb level was only significant in the transitional zone. Parks and road greenbelts were found to have lower soil Pb, primarily due to soil restoration. Roadside and residential areas were found to have higher soil Pb because of traffic emissions, leaded paint, and previous industrial contamination. In the urban core and suburban area, the soil Pb level showed no significant differences among various land-use types. Given the results of soil Pb in various land-use types, we suggest that future studies consider the urbanization gradient in which different land-use samples are located.

  2. Monitoring and Modeling of Spatiotemporal Urban Expansion and Land-Use/Land-Cover Change Using Integrated Markov Chain Cellular Automata Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bhagawat Rimal

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Spatial–temporal analysis of land-use/land-cover (LULC change as well as the monitoring and modeling of urban expansion are essential for the planning and management of urban environments. Such environments reflect the economic conditions and quality of life of the individual country. Urbanization is generally influenced by national laws, plans and policies and by power, politics and poor governance in many less-developed countries. Remote sensing tools play a vital role in monitoring LULC change and measuring the rate of urbanization at both the local and global levels. The current study evaluated the LULC changes and urban expansion of Jhapa district of Nepal. The spatial–temporal dynamics of LULC were identified using six time-series atmospherically-corrected surface reflectance Landsat images from 1989 to 2016. A hybrid cellular automata Markov chain (CA–Markov model was used to simulate future urbanization by 2026 and 2036. The analysis shows that the urban area has increased markedly and is expected to continue to grow rapidly in the future, whereas the area for agriculture has decreased. Meanwhile, forest and shrub areas have remained almost constant. Seasonal rainfall and flooding routinely cause predictable transformation of sand, water bodies and cultivated land from one type to another. The results suggest that the use of Landsat time-series archive images and the CA–Markov model are the best options for long-term spatiotemporal analysis and achieving an acceptable level of prediction accuracy. Furthermore, understanding the relationship between the spatiotemporal dynamics of urbanization and LULC change and simulating future landscape change is essential, as they are closely interlinked. These scientific findings of past, present and future land-cover scenarios of the study area will assist planners/decision-makers to formulate sustainable urban development and environmental protection plans and will remain a scientific asset

  3. Integrating Building Energy Efficiency with Land Use and Transportation Planning in Jinan, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicolae Duduta

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available With the rapid growth occurring in the urban regions of China, it is critical to address issues of sustainability through practices that engender holistic energy efficient solutions. In this paper, we present results from a collaborative design project carried out with planning officials from the city of Jinan (population 3.4 million, for the Luokou district, a 3.1 km2 (1.2 mi2 area to the north of the CBD that is expected to house 100,000–130,000 people by 2020. By integrating sustainable building design, land use, urban design, and transportation, our proposal identified opportunities for improving energy efficiency that might have been overlooked by considering buildings and transportation separately. Mixed land uses and walkable neighborhoods were proposed along with highly differentiated street designs, intended to carry different traffic loads and prioritize diverse travel modes. Street widths and building heights were adjusted to maximize the potential for passive solar heating and daylight use within buildings. The district’s environmental performance, analyzed using building energy evaluation and traffic micro simulation models, showed that the design would reduce energy loads by over 25% compared to business as usual. While the proposal complied with national and local policies, and had far better energy performance than conventional designs, the proposal ultimately was not accepted by local officials because initial costs to the developers were higher than for conventional designs.

  4. Access to serviced land for the urban poor: the regularization paradox in Mexico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alfonso Iracheta Cenecorta

    2000-01-01

    Full Text Available The insufficient supply of serviced land at affordable prices for the urban poor and the need for regularization of the consequent illegal occupations in urban areas are two of the most important issues on the Latin American land policy agenda. Taking a structural/integrated view on the functioning of the urban land market in Latin America, this paper discusses the nexus between the formal and the informal land markets. It thus exposes the perverse feedback effects that curative regularization policies may have on the process by which irregularity is produced in the first place. The paper suggests that a more effective approach to the provision of serviced land for the poor cannot be resolved within the prevailing (curative regularization programs. These programs should have the capacity to mobilize the resources that do exist into a comprehensive program that links regularization with fiscal policy, including the exploration of value capture mechanisms.

  5. Urbanization, land tenure security and vector-borne Chagas disease

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levy, Michael Z.; Barbu, Corentin M.; Castillo-Neyra, Ricardo; Quispe-Machaca, Victor R.; Ancca-Juarez, Jenny; Escalante-Mejia, Patricia; Borrini-Mayori, Katty; Niemierko, Malwina; Mabud, Tarub S.; Behrman, Jere R.; Naquira-Velarde, Cesar

    2014-01-01

    Modern cities represent one of the fastest growing ecosystems on the planet. Urbanization occurs in stages; each stage characterized by a distinct habitat that may be more or less susceptible to the establishment of disease vector populations and the transmission of vector-borne pathogens. We performed longitudinal entomological and epidemiological surveys in households along a 1900 × 125 m transect of Arequipa, Peru, a major city of nearly one million inhabitants, in which the transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi, the aetiological agent of Chagas disease, by the insect vector Triatoma infestans, is an ongoing problem. The transect spans a cline of urban development from established communities to land invasions. We find that the vector is tracking the development of the city, and the parasite, in turn, is tracking the dispersal of the vector. New urbanizations are free of vector infestation for decades. T. cruzi transmission is very recent and concentrated in more established communities. The increase in land tenure security during the course of urbanization, if not accompanied by reasonable and enforceable zoning codes, initiates an influx of construction materials, people and animals that creates fertile conditions for epidemics of some vector-borne diseases. PMID:24990681

  6. women's access to emerging urban land in the sissala east district

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    User

    The evidence shows that though women do access and hold urban land rights through purchase, they ..... More married women own land than unmarried women. ... satisfied with her” (UNCHS-Habitat, 2001). ... nerative jobs as shown in Fig.

  7. Properties Analysis on Travel Intensity of Land Use Patterns

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lishan Sun

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Quantization of the relationship between travel intensity and land use patterns is still a critical problem in urban transportation planning. Achieved researches on land use patterns are restricted to macrodata such as population and area, which failed to provide detail travel information for transportation planners. There is still problem on how to reflect the relationship between transport and land use accurately. This paper presents a study that is reflective of such an effort. A data extraction method is developed to get the travel origin and destination (OD between traffic zones based on the mobile data of 100,000 residents in Beijing. Then Point of Interests (POIs data in typical traffic zones was analyzed combined with construction area investigation. Based on the analysis of travel OD and POI data, the average travel intensity of each land use pattern is quantified. Research results could provide a quantitative basis for the optimization of urban transportation planning.

  8. Agricultural land for urban development : The process of land conversion in Central Vietnam

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Phuc, Nguyen Quang; Westen, A. C M van; Zoomers, Annelies

    Since the 1990s, Vietnam's progressive integration into the global market economy has triggered major economic and social transformations. In spatial terms, these are marked by a massive conversion of agricultural land for industrial and urban development. While this process has attracted

  9. Agricultural land for urban development: The process of land conversion in Central Vietnam

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nguyen, C.P.; Westen, A.C.M. van; Zoomers, A.

    2014-01-01

    Since the 1990s, Vietnam’s progressive integration into the global market economy has triggered major economic and social transformations. In spatial terms, these are marked by a massive conversion of agricultural land for industrial and urban development. While this process has attracted

  10. Nitrogen sources, transport and processing in peri-urban floodplains

    OpenAIRE

    Gooddy, D.C.; Macdonald, D.M.J.; Lapworth, D.J.; Bennett, S.A.; Griffiths, K.J.

    2014-01-01

    Peri-urban floodplains are an important interface between developed land and the aquatic environment and may act as a source or sink for contaminants moving from urban areas towards surface water courses. With increasing pressure from urban development the functioning of floodplains is coming under greater scrutiny. A number of peri-urban sites have been found to be populated with legacy landfills which could potentially cause pollution of adjacent river bodies. Here, a peri-urban floodplain ...

  11. Data integration for urban transport planning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Huang, Zhendong

    2003-01-01

    Urban transport planning aims at balancing conflicting challenges by promoting more efficient transport systems while reducing negative impacts. The availability of better and more reliable data has not only stimulated new planning methodologies, but also created challenges for efficient data

  12. Atmospheric carbon exchange associated with vegetation and soils in urban and suburban land uses

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rowntree, R.A. [Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, Berkeley, CA (United States)

    1993-12-31

    In studies of the global C cycle prior to the 1980s, urban ecosystems were largely ignored, in part because them were inadequate measures of phytomass and soil carbon for the various land uses associated with cities. In the last decade, progress has been made in gathering urban vegetation data and recently, estimates of urban land use carbon storage and fluxes have been attempted. Demographic trends in many countries suggest that urban areas are growing. Thus it is important to discover the appropriate concepts and methods for understanding greenhouse gas fluxes from urban-related vegetation and soils.

  13. Urban Land Cover Mapping Accuracy Assessment - A Cost-benefit Analysis Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, T.

    2012-12-01

    One of the most important components in urban land cover mapping is mapping accuracy assessment. Many statistical models have been developed to help design simple schemes based on both accuracy and confidence levels. It is intuitive that an increased number of samples increases the accuracy as well as the cost of an assessment. Understanding cost and sampling size is crucial in implementing efficient and effective of field data collection. Few studies have included a cost calculation component as part of the assessment. In this study, a cost-benefit sampling analysis model was created by combining sample size design and sampling cost calculation. The sampling cost included transportation cost, field data collection cost, and laboratory data analysis cost. Simple Random Sampling (SRS) and Modified Systematic Sampling (MSS) methods were used to design sample locations and to extract land cover data in ArcGIS. High resolution land cover data layers of Denver, CO and Sacramento, CA, street networks, and parcel GIS data layers were used in this study to test and verify the model. The relationship between the cost and accuracy was used to determine the effectiveness of each sample method. The results of this study can be applied to other environmental studies that require spatial sampling.

  14. Sustainable urban development and the multi-level transition perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Næss, Petter; Vogel, Nina

    2012-01-01

    This article discusses some challenges and possible adaptations of transition theory as a framework for analyzing the prospects for environmentally more sustainable development of urban land use and transport infrastructure. Rather than depending first and foremost on niche innovations......, a transition toward sustainable urban development is a matter of changing the composition of existing multisegmented land use and transportation regimes. Those well-experienced forms of built environment and transport infrastructure that are in line with sustainability objectives should be strengthened while...... those that are not should be actively constrained and reduced. Urban development in a Danish provincial city is used as a case to illustrate some of the points made in the theoretical part of the article. Due to the wide gap between present conditions and those required to realize a sustainable urban...

  15. Land Use Dynamics of the Fast-Growing Shanghai Metropolis, China (1979–2008 and its Implications for Land Use and Urban Planning Policy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei-Chun Ma

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Through the integrated approach of remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS techniques, four Landsat TM/ETM+ imagery acquired during 1979 and 2008 were used to quantitatively characterize the patterns of land use and land cover change (LULC and urban sprawl in the fast-growing Shanghai Metropolis, China. Results showed that, the urban/built-up area grew on average by 4,242.06 ha yr−1. Bare land grew by 1,594.66 ha yr−1 on average. In contrast, cropland decreased by 3,286.26 ha yr−1 on average, followed by forest and shrub, water, and tidal land, which decreased by 1,331.33 ha yr−1, 903.43 ha yr−1, and 315.72 ha yr−1 on average, respectively. As a result, during 1979 and 2008 approximately 83.83% of the newly urban/built-up land was converted from cropland (67.35%, forest and shrub (9.12%, water (4.80%, and tidal land (2.19%. Another significant change was the continuous increase in regular residents, which played a very important role in contributing to local population growth and increase in urban/built-up land. This can be explained with this city’s huge demand for investment and qualified labor since the latest industrial transformation. Moreover, with a decrease in cropland, the proportion of population engaged in farming decreased 13.84%. Therefore, significant socio-economic transformation occurred, and this would lead to new demand for land resources. However, due to very scarce land resources and overload of population in Shanghai, the drive to achieve economic goals at the loss of cropland, water, and the other lands is not sustainable. Future urban planning policy aiming at ensuring a win-win balance between sustainable land use and economic growth is urgently needed.

  16. Can Strategic Spatial Planning Contribute to Land Degradation Reduction in Urban Regions? State of the Art and Future Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eduardo Oliveira

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Land degradation is becoming a serious environmental issue threatening fertile agricultural soils and other natural resources. There are many driving forces behind land degradation. The expansion of artificial surfaces due to various economic activities, such as housing, industry, and transport infrastructure, known as soil sealing, constitutes one of the most intensive forms of land degradation in urban regions. Measures to halt and reverse land degradation require both strong land-use management policies, as well as effective spatial planning mechanisms. In this regard, strategic spatial planning has been increasingly practised in many urban regions worldwide, as a means to achieve sustainable land-use patterns and to guide the location of development and physical infrastructures. It is reasonable, therefore, to expect that strategic spatial planning can counteract the outlined undesired land degradation effects, specifically those resulting from soil sealing. In this paper, we review strategic spatial planning literature published between 1992 and 2017. The focus is on the phenomena causing land degradation that are addressed by strategic spatial planning literature, as well as on the mechanisms describing the role of strategic spatial planning in land degradation reduction. Results show that sustainable development and environmental concerns have become core objectives of strategic planning in recent years, yet references to the drivers of land degradation are rare. The mechanisms that exist are mainly intended to address environmental issues in general, and are not aimed at reducing particular forms of land degradation. The paper concludes by sketching future research directions, intended to support strategic spatial planning and land-use policymaking related to coping with the global phenomenon of land degradation.

  17. Combined effects of compact cevelopment, transportation investments, and road user pricing on vehicle miles traveled in urbanized areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ewing, Reid; Hamidi, Shima; Gallivan, Frank; Nelson, Arthur C.; Grace, James B.

    2014-01-01

    Vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is the primary determinant of traffic congestion, vehicle crashes, greenhouse gas emissions, and other effects of transportation. Two previous studies have sought to explain VMT levels in urbanized areas. This study updates and expands on previous work with more recent data, additional metrics, and structural equation modeling (SEM) to explain VMT levels in 315 urbanized areas. According to SEM, population, income, and gasoline prices are primary exogenous drivers of VMT. Development density is a primary endogenous driver. Urbanized areas with more freeway capacity are significantly less dense and have significantly higher VMT per capita. Areas with more transit service coverage and service frequency have higher development densities and per capita transit use, which leads to lower VMT per capita. The indirect effect of transit on VMT through land use, the so-called land use multiplier, is more than three times greater than the direct effect through transit ridership.

  18. Analysis of Land-Use Emergy Indicators Based on Urban Metabolism: A Case Study for Beijing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qing Huang

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The correlation of urban metabolism and changes in land use is an important issue in urban ecology, but recent research lacks consideration of the mechanisms and interactions between them. In this research, we did an emergy analysis of the flows of materials, energy, and capital within the socioeconomic system of Beijing. We calculated emergy-based evaluation indices of urban metabolism and land use change, to analyze the relationship between urban metabolism and land use by correlation analysis and regression analysis. Results indicate that the socio-economic activities on built-up land depend on local, non-renewable resource exploitation and external resource inputs. The emergy utilization efficiency of farmland has consistently decreased, but there remains significant utilization potential there. Urban development in Beijing relies on production activities on built-up land, which is subjected to great environmental pressure during extraction of material resources. To keep the economy developing effectively, we suggest that Beijing should commit to development of a circular economy, and change the land-use concept to “Smart Growth”. In this paper, we efficaciously solve the problem of conflicting measurement units, and avoid the disadvantages of subjective assignment. Consequently, this work provides not only a more scientific way to study land problems, but also provides a reliable reference for ecological construction and economic development in Beijing.

  19. Performativity and the project: enacting urban transport security in Europe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hoijtink, M.

    2015-01-01

    In April 2011, a large consortium of European rail and security suppliers, transport operators and research organisations launched the Secured Urban Transportation - European Demonstration (SECUR-ED) project with the objective of providing public transport operators with the means to enhance urban

  20. Fit-for-purpose land administration : lessons from urban and rural Ethopia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bennett, R.M.; Alemie, B.K.

    2016-01-01

    Lessons for designing fit-for-purpose land administration and land management activities, where the stated purposes are poverty alleviation, food security, and good governance, are provided. Contemporary developments from urban and rural Ethiopia provide the empirical basis: data is synthesised from

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

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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.

  2. Cities as selective land predators? A lesson on urban growth, deregulated planning and sprawl containment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colantoni, Andrea; Grigoriadis, Efstathios; Sateriano, Adele; Venanzoni, Giuseppe; Salvati, Luca

    2016-03-01

    The present study investigates changes in the use of land caused by the expansion of an informal city in the Mediterranean region (Athens, Greece) and it proposes a simplified methodology to assess selective land take at the scale of municipalities. The amount of land take over twenty years (1987-2007) for cropland, sparsely vegetated areas and natural land was compared with the surface area of the respective class at the beginning of the study period (1987). Indicators of selective land take by class were correlated with socioeconomic indicators at the scale of municipalities to verify the influence of the local context and the impact of urban planning on land take processes. Evidence indicates that urban expansion into fringe land consumes primarily cropland and sparse vegetation in the case of the Athens' metropolitan region. Cropland and sparse vegetation were consumed proportionally more than the respective availability in 16 municipalities out of 60. Agricultural land take was positively correlated with population density and growth rate, rate of participation to the job market and road density. Sparse vegetation land take was observed in municipalities with predominance of high density settlements. As a result of second-home expansion in coastal municipalities, natural land was converted to urban use in proportion to the availability in the landscape. Urban planning seems to have a limited impact on selective land take. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Urban Transportation Planning Short Course: Evaluation of Alternative Transportation Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Federal Highway Administration (DOT), Washington, DC.

    This urban transportation pamphlet delves into the roles of policy groups and technical staffs in evaluating alternative transportation plans, evaluation criteria, systems to evaluate, and evaluation procedures. The introduction admits the importance of subjective, but informed, judgment as an effective tool in weighing alternative transportation…

  4. Stakeholder perception about urban sprawl impacts in land degradation in Lithuania. The importance of profession and education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pereira, Paulo; Misiune, Ieva; Mierauskas, Pranas; Depellegrin, Daniel

    2016-04-01

    Stakeholders have an important impact on land use planning. Their visions and culture, shape and influence the decision makers and the legislation (Schwilch et al., 2009; Fleskens and Stringer, 2014; Pereira et al., 2016; Subiros et al., 2016). Nowadays, urban sprawl is one the causes of land degradation, causing important, environmental, social and economic problems. This expansion to rural areas is caused mainly by lifestyle changes, cultural views, increase of mobility, house price in city centers, poor air quality, noise, small apartments, unsafe environments, lack of green areas, competition among municipalities, development of transport network and social problems. Urban sprawl is currently an important problem in Lithuania, especially in Vilnius. Vilnius residents are concerned about the impacts of urban sprawl in environmental, social and economic aspects. Nevertheless, this depends very much on the age of and the occupation of the residents (Pereira et al., 2014). However, very little information is available about the vision of stakeholders regarding this position. The objective of this work is to study the stakeholder's perception about urban sprawl impacts on land degradation in Lithuania. A total of 86 stakeholders from different institutions were interviewed and asked to rate from 1 to 5 according to the importance of the question (1=very low; 2=low; 3=medium; 4=high and 5=very high). The questions carried out were. Does urban sprawl have impacts on a) consumption of land and soil, b) loss of soil permeability, c) loss of soil biodiversity, d) loss of best agricultural land, e) increase in the use of water and fertilizers in less productive areas, f) increase in soil erosion in remote areas, and g) loss of natural habitats. These variables were analyzed according to the gender, age, place of residence (urban/countryside), Profession, field of studies, study level and if the participant was a member of a NGO. A general regression was carried out in

  5. Land cover controls on summer discharge and runoff solution chemistry of semi-arid urban catchments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallo, Erika L.; Brooks, Paul D.; Lohse, Kathleen A.; McLain, Jean E. T.

    2013-04-01

    SummaryRecharge of urban runoff to groundwater as a stormwater management practice has gained importance in semi-arid regions where water resources are scarce and urban centers are growing. Despite this trend, the importance of land cover in controlling semi-arid catchment runoff quantity and quality remains unclear. Here we address the question: How do land cover characteristics control the amount and quality of storm runoff in semi-arid urban catchments? We monitored summertime runoff quantity and quality from five catchments dominated by distinct urban land uses: low, medium, and high density residential, mixed use, and commercial. Increasing urban land cover increased runoff duration and the likelihood that a rainfall event would result in runoff, but did not increase the time to peak discharge of episodic runoff. The effect of urban land cover on hydrologic responses was tightly coupled to the magnitude of rainfall. At distinct rainfall thresholds, roads, percent impervious cover and the stormwater drainage network controlled runoff frequency, runoff depth and runoff ratios. Contrary to initial expectations, runoff quality did not vary in repose to impervious cover or land use. We identified four major mechanisms controlling runoff quality: (1) variable solute sourcing due to land use heterogeneity and above ground catchment connectivity; (2) the spatial extent of pervious and biogeochemically active areas; (3) the efficiency of overland flow and runoff mobilization; and (4) solute flushing and dilution. Our study highlights the importance of the stormwater drainage systems characteristics in controlling urban runoff quantity and quality; and suggests that enhanced wetting and in-stream processes may control solute sourcing and retention. Finally, we suggest that the characteristics of the stormwater drainage system should be integrated into stormwater management approaches.

  6. Landscaping practices, land use patterns and stormwater quantity and quality in urban watersheds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miles, B.; Band, L. E.

    2011-12-01

    Increasing quantity and decreasing quality of urban stormwater threatens biodiversity in local streams and reservoirs, jeopardizes water supplies, and ultimately contributes to estuarine eutrophication. To estimate the effects that present and alternative landscaping practices and land use patterns may have on urban stormwater quantity and quality, simulations of existing land use/land cover using the Regional Hydro-Ecologic Simulation System (RHESSys), a process-based surface hydrology and biogeochemistry model, were developed for watersheds in Baltimore, MD (as part of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) NSF Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site) and Durham, NC (as part of the NSF Urban Long-Term Research Area (ULTRA) program). The influence of land use patterns and landscaping practices on nutrient export in urban watersheds has been explored as part of the BES; this work has focused on improving our understanding of how residential landscaping practices (i.e. lawn fertilization rates) vary across land use and socioeconomic gradients. Elsewhere, others have explored the political ecology of residential landscaping practices - seeking to understand the economic, political, and cultural influences on the practice of high-input residential turf-grass management. Going forward, my research will synthesize and extend this prior work. Rather than pre-supposing predominant residential land use patterns and landscaping practices (i.e. lower-density periphery development incorporating high-input turf landscapes) alternate land use and landscaping scenarios (e.g. higher-density/transit-oriented development, rain gardens, vegetable gardens, native plant/xeriscaping) will be developed through interviews/focus groups with stakeholders (citizens, public officials, developers, non-profits). These scenarios will then be applied to the RHESSys models already developed for catchments in Baltimore and Durham. The modeled scenario results will be used to identify alternate land

  7. Implication of relationship between natural impacts and land use/land cover (LULC) changes of urban area in Mongolia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gantumur, Byambakhuu; Wu, Falin; Zhao, Yan; Vandansambuu, Battsengel; Dalaibaatar, Enkhjargal; Itiritiphan, Fareda; Shaimurat, Dauryenbyek

    2017-10-01

    Urban growth can profoundly alter the urban landscape structure, ecosystem processes, and local climates. Timely and accurate information on the status and trends of urban ecosystems is critical to develop strategies for sustainable development and to improve the urban residential environment and living quality. Ulaanbaatar city was urbanized very rapidly caused by herders and farmers, many of them migrating from rural places, have played a big role in this urban expansion (sprawl). Today, 1.3 million residents for about 40% of total population are living in the Ulaanbaatar region. Those human activities influenced stronger to green environments. Therefore, the aim of this study is determined to change detection of land use/land cover (LULC) and estimating their areas for the trend of future by remote sensing and statistical methods. The implications of analysis were provided by change detection methods of LULC, remote sensing spectral indices including normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized difference water index (NDWI) and normalized difference built-up index (NDBI). In addition, it can relate to urban heat island (UHI) provided by Land surface temperature (LST) with local climate issues. Statistical methods for image processing used to define relations between those spectral indices and change detection images and regression analysis for time series trend in future. Remote sensing data are used by Landsat (TM/ETM+/OLI) satellite images over the period between 1990 and 2016 by 5 years. The advantages of this study are very useful remote sensing approaches with statistical analysis and important to detecting changes of LULC. The experimental results show that the LULC changes can image on the present and after few years and determined relations between impacts of environmental conditions.

  8. The research into development of passanger transport by land

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Butkevičius

    2004-10-01

    Full Text Available This is the first scientific work in Lithuania carrying out a complex research into passenger transport by land, covering all problematic issues related to the field such as development, market planning, organization, management, competition, contractual relations, financing, development of transport technologies, implementation of new transport technologies elaborating the theoretical base for the development of passenger transport. The research shows the analysis of the movement of passenger transport volumes and determines the regularity of these changes. The forecast of passenger transport by land is based on a multiple analysis. The work determines the perspective markets of rail and road transport as well as elaborates the principles of the improvement of road and rail transport interaction.The author originates the principles of the development of passenger transport technologies and the principles of the implementation of advanced technologies. The author also founds the principles of planning, organization and management of land transport as well as the principles of security of equal conditions of competition and contractual relations between customers and haulers.

  9. Siting Urban Agriculture as a Green Infrastructure Strategy for Land Use Planning in Austin, TX

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charles M. Rogers

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Green infrastructure refers to a type of land use design that mimics the natural water cycle by using the infiltration capacities of vegetation, soils, and other natural processes to mitigate stormwater runoff. As a multifunctional landscape, urban agriculture should be seen as a highly beneficial tool for urban planning not only because of its ability to function as a green stormwater management strategy, but also due to the multiple social and environmental benefits it provides. In 2012, the city of Austin adopted a major planning approach titled the “Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan” (IACP outlining the city’s vision for future growth and land use up to 2039. The plan explicitly addresses the adoption of green infrastructure as a target for future land use with urban agriculture as a central component. Addressing this area of land use planning will require tools that can locate suitable areas within the city ideal for the development of green infrastructure. In this study, a process was developed to create a spatially explicit method of siting urban agriculture as a green infrastructure tool in hydrologically sensitive areas, or areas prone to runoff, in east Austin. The method uses geospatial software to spatially analyze open access datasets that include land use, a digital elevation model, and prime farmland soils. Through this method a spatial relationship can be made between areas of high surface runoff and where the priority placement of urban farms should be sited as a useful component of green infrastructure. Planners or geospatial analysts could use such information, along with other significant factors and community input, to aid decision makers in the placement of urban agriculture. This spatially explicit approach for siting potential urban farms, will support the integration of urban agriculture as part of the land use planning of Austin.

  10. Space-based monitoring of land-use/land-cover in the Upper Rio Grande Basin: An opportunity for understanding urbanization trends in a water-scarce transboundary river basin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mubako, S. T.; Hargrove, W. L.; Heyman, J. M.; Reyes, C. S.

    2016-12-01

    Urbanization is an area of growing interest in assessing the impact of human activities on water resources in arid regions. Remote sensing techniques provide an opportunity to analyze land cover change over time, and are useful in monitoring areas undergoing rapid urban growth. This case study for the water-scarce Upper Rio Grande River Basin uses a supervised classification algorithm to quantify the rate and evaluate the pattern of urban sprawl. A focus is made on the fast growing El-Paso-Juarez metropolitan area on the US-Mexico border and the City of Las Cruces in New Mexico, areas where environmental challenges and loss of agricultural and native land to urban development are major concerns. Preliminary results show that the land cover is dominantly native with some significant agriculture along the Rio Grande River valley. Urban development across the whole study area expanded from just under 3 percent in 1990, to more than 11 percent in 2015. The urban expansion is occurring mainly around the major urban areas of El Paso, Ciudad Juarez, and Las Cruces, although there is visible growth of smaller urban settlements scattered along the Rio Grande River valley during the same analysis period. The proportion of native land cover fluctuates slightly depending on how much land is under crops each analysis year, but there is a decreasing agricultural land cover trend suggesting that land from this sector is being lost to urban development. This analysis can be useful in planning to protect the environment, preparing for growth in infrastructure such as schools, increased traffic demands, and monitoring availability of resources such as groundwater as the urban population grows.

  11. Incorporating Open Source Data for Bayesian Classification of Urban Land Use From VHR Stereo Images

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Li, Mengmeng; De Beurs, Kirsten M.; Stein, Alfred; Bijker, Wietske

    2017-01-01

    This study investigates the incorporation of open source data into a Bayesian classification of urban land use from very high resolution (VHR) stereo satellite images. The adopted classification framework starts from urban land cover classification, proceeds to building-type characterization, and

  12. Tree Productivity Enhanced with Conversion from Forest to Urban Land Covers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Briber, Brittain M; Hutyra, Lucy R; Reinmann, Andrew B; Raciti, Steve M; Dearborn, Victoria K; Holden, Christopher E; Dunn, Allison L

    2015-01-01

    Urban areas are expanding, changing the structure and productivity of landscapes. While some urban areas have been shown to hold substantial biomass, the productivity of these systems is largely unknown. We assessed how conversion from forest to urban land uses affected both biomass structure and productivity across eastern Massachusetts. We found that urban land uses held less than half the biomass of adjacent forest expanses with a plot level mean biomass density of 33.5 ± 8.0 Mg C ha(-1). As the intensity of urban development increased, the canopy cover, stem density, and biomass decreased. Analysis of Quercus rubra tree cores showed that tree-level basal area increment nearly doubled following development, increasing from 17.1 ± 3.0 to 35.8 ± 4.7 cm(2) yr(-1). Scaling the observed stem densities and growth rates within developed areas suggests an aboveground biomass growth rate of 1.8 ± 0.4 Mg C ha(-1) yr(-1), a growth rate comparable to nearby, intact forests. The contrasting high growth rates and lower biomass pools within urban areas suggest a highly dynamic ecosystem with rapid turnover. As global urban extent continues to grow, cities consider climate mitigation options, and as the verification of net greenhouse gas emissions emerges as critical for policy, quantifying the role of urban vegetation in regional-to-global carbon budgets will become ever more important.

  13. Research on assessment methods for urban public transport development in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zou, Linghong; Dai, Hongna; Yao, Enjian; Jiang, Tian; Guo, Hongwei

    2014-01-01

    In recent years, with the rapid increase in urban population, the urban travel demands in Chinese cities have been increasing dramatically. As a result, developing comprehensive urban transport systems becomes an inevitable choice to meet the growing urban travel demands. In urban transport systems, public transport plays the leading role to promote sustainable urban development. This paper aims to establish an assessment index system for the development level of urban public transport consisting of a target layer, a criterion layer, and an index layer. Review on existing literature shows that methods used in evaluating urban public transport structure are dominantly qualitative. To overcome this shortcoming, fuzzy mathematics method is used for describing qualitative issues quantitatively, and AHP (analytic hierarchy process) is used to quantify expert's subjective judgment. The assessment model is established based on the fuzzy AHP. The weight of each index is determined through the AHP and the degree of membership of each index through the fuzzy assessment method to obtain the fuzzy synthetic assessment matrix. Finally, a case study is conducted to verify the rationality and practicability of the assessment system and the proposed assessment method.

  14. Land-Use Analysis and Simulated Effects of Land-Use Change and Aggregate Mining on Groundwater Flow in the South Platte River Valley, Brighton to Fort Lupton, Colorado

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnold, L.R.; Mladinich, C.S.; Langer, W.H.; Daniels, J.S.

    2010-01-01

    Land use in the South Platte River valley between the cities of Brighton and Fort Lupton, Colo., is undergoing change as urban areas expand, and the extent of aggregate mining in the Brighton-Fort Lupton area is increasing as the demand for aggregate grows in response to urban development. To improve understanding of land-use change and the potential effects of land-use change and aggregate mining on groundwater flow, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the cities of Brighton and Fort Lupton, analyzed socioeconomic and land-use trends and constructed a numerical groundwater flow model of the South Platte alluvial aquifer in the Brighton-Fort Lupton area. The numerical groundwater flow model was used to simulate (1) steady-state hydrologic effects of predicted land-use conditions in 2020 and 2040, (2) transient cumulative hydrologic effects of the potential extent of reclaimed aggregate pits in 2020 and 2040, (3) transient hydrologic effects of actively dewatered aggregate pits, and (4) effects of different hypothetical pit spacings and configurations on groundwater levels. The SLEUTH (Slope, Land cover, Exclusion, Urbanization, Transportation, and Hillshade) urban-growth modeling program was used to predict the extent of urban area in 2020 and 2040. Wetlands in the Brighton-Fort Lupton area were mapped as part of the study, and mapped wetland locations and areas of riparian herbaceous vegetation previously mapped by the Colorado Division of Wildlife were compared to simulation results to indicate areas where wetlands or riparian herbaceous vegetation might be affected by groundwater-level changes resulting from land-use change or aggregate mining. Analysis of land-use conditions in 1957, 1977, and 2000 indicated that the general distribution of irrigated land and non-irrigated land remained similar from 1957 to 2000, but both land uses decreased as urban area increased. Urban area increased about 165 percent from 1957 to 1977 and about 56 percent from

  15. Using Urban Landscape Trajectories to Develop a Multi-Temporal Land Cover Database to Support Ecological Modeling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marina Alberti

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Urbanization and the resulting changes in land cover have myriad impacts on ecological systems. Monitoring these changes across large spatial extents and long time spans requires synoptic remotely sensed data with an appropriate temporal sequence. We developed a multi-temporal land cover dataset for a six-county area surrounding the Seattle, Washington State, USA, metropolitan region. Land cover maps for 1986, 1991, 1995, 1999, and 2002 were developed from Landsat TM images through a combination of spectral unmixing, image segmentation, multi-season imagery, and supervised classification approaches to differentiate an initial nine land cover classes. We then used ancillary GIS layers and temporal information to define trajectories of land cover change through multiple updating and backdating rules and refined our land cover classification for each date into 14 classes. We compared the accuracy of the initial approach with the landscape trajectory modifications and determined that the use of landscape trajectory rules increased our ability to differentiate several classes including bare soil (separated into cleared for development, agriculture, and clearcut forest and three intensities of urban. Using the temporal dataset, we found that between 1986 and 2002, urban land cover increased from 8 to 18% of our study area, while lowland deciduous and mixed forests decreased from 21 to 14%, and grass and agriculture decreased from 11 to 8%. The intensity of urban land cover increased with 252 km2 in Heavy Urban in 1986 increasing to 629 km2 by 2002. The ecological systems that are present in this region were likely significantly altered by these changes in land cover. Our results suggest that multi-temporal (i.e., multiple years and multiple seasons within years Landsat data are an economical means to quantify land cover and land cover change across large and highly heterogeneous urbanizing landscapes. Our data, and similar temporal land cover change

  16. Quantitative assessment of urban transport development – a spatial approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Czech Artur

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Urban transport is considered the basis of properly functioning cities and their development. The main aim of the paper is to attempt the assessment of urban transport development in selected voivodeships (provinces as a crucial factor of macro logistics. The research also aimed to identify the underdeveloped areas of urban transport in Poland as the basis for the implementation of support policy. The source of information in the investigation process was data drawn from the Central Statistical Office in Poland for 2013–2016. In the scope of dealing with the research problem, chosen classical and order multivariate statistical measures were implemented into the research process. Next, the taxonomic measures for the years of interest served as the basis for the construction of the total (general synthetic measure applicable to the entire period. The main results and findings of the research indicate that the level of urban transport development is correlated with the whole transportation system which affects the socio-economic development of some regions of Poland. The research can lead to a better understanding of Polish urban transportation development in selected regions. Hence, the results can be helpful in the investment process and for shaping the right transportation policy to improve the use of financial resources.

  17. Thermal signatures of urban land cover types: High-resolution thermal infrared remote sensing of urban heat island in Huntsville, AL

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lo, Chor Pang

    1996-01-01

    The main objective of this research is to apply airborne high-resolution thermal infrared imagery for urban heat island studies, using Huntsville, AL, a medium-sized American city, as the study area. The occurrence of urban heat islands represents human-induced urban/rural contrast, which is caused by deforestation and the replacement of the land surface by non-evaporating and non-porous materials such as asphalt and concrete. The result is reduced evapotranspiration and more rapid runoff of rain water. The urban landscape forms a canopy acting as a transitional zone between the atmosphere and the land surface. The composition and structure of this canopy have a significant impact on the thermal behavior of the urban environment. Research on the trends of surface temperature at rapidly growing urban sites in the United States during the last 30 to 50 years suggests that significant urban heat island effects have caused the temperatures at these sites to rise by 1 to 2 C. Urban heat islands have caused changes in urban precipitation and temperature that are at least similar to, if not greater than, those predicted to develop over the next 100 years by global change models. Satellite remote sensing, particularly NOAA AVHRR thermal data, has been used in the study of urban heat islands. Because of the low spatial resolution (1.1 km at nadir) of the AVHRR data, these studies can only examine and map the phenomenon at the macro-level. The present research provides the rare opportunity to utilize 5-meter thermal infrared data acquired from an airplane to characterize more accurately the thermal responses of different land cover types in the urban landscape as input to urban heat island studies.

  18. EnviroAtlas - Paterson, NJ - Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data (2010)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Paterson, New Jersey EnviroAtlas Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) data comprises approximately 66 km2 around the city of Paterson. The land cover data were...

  19. Mapping land cover in urban residential landscapes using fine resolution imagery and object-oriented classification

    Science.gov (United States)

    A knowledge of different types of land cover in urban residential landscapes is important for building social and economic city-wide policies including landscape ordinances and water conservation programs. Urban landscapes are typically heterogeneous, so classification of land cover in these areas ...

  20. Urban form and energy use for transport. A Nordic experience

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Naess, P

    1995-02-10

    The main research problem addressed in this thesis is the possible influence of several urban form variables on the amount of transportation, on the modal split between different means of transport, and on energy use for transportation. This problem is elucidated through five empirical investigations covering different geographic levels in a Nordic context, from individual employees and households to commuting regions. A main feature of the study is the combination of socioeconomic and urban form variables in empirical investigations, employing techniques of multivariate analysis. The investigations of residential areas and job sites have been based on travel surveys, while the investigations where the units of analysis are towns or regions have been based on fuel sales. The socioeconomic data have been collected from official statistics and from questionnaires. It is found that urban form variables exert important influences on transportation energy use. Urban density affects energy use for transportation. A central location of residences as well as workplaces is favourable with respect to energy conservation on an intra-urban scale, but not in a wider geographical context, where decentralization into several dense, relatively self-contained local communities distributed over the region is the most energy-saving pattern of regional development. Urban form characteristics favourable for minimizing transport energy requirements also seem favourable for energy conservation in buildings. 160 refs., 39 figs., 46 tabs.

  1. Theme 10: greenhouse effect transport policies and urban organization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-07-01

    This document describes the reference framework of the theme 10 ''greenhouse effect, transport policies and urban organization'' which is a part of the urban transports interface. It presents the specific actions realized by the theme 10 for a future integration in theme 1, 5 and 8. (A.L.B.)

  2. Urban Sprawl and Transportation Externalities

    OpenAIRE

    Holcombe, Randall G.; Williams, DeEdgra W.

    2010-01-01

    One argument in support of minimizing urban sprawl is that sprawl creates transportation externalities. A problem with empirically examining the relationship between sprawl and transportation externalities is that sprawl is a difficult concept to quantify. This paper uses a measure of sprawl designed by Ewing, Pendall, and Chen (2002) to examine the relationship between sprawl and commute times, automobile ownership, miles driven, fatal auto accidents, air pollution, and highway expenditures....

  3. Urban Expansion: a Geo-Spatial Approach for Temporal Monitoring of Loss of Agricultural Land

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sumari, N. S.; Shao, Z.; Huang, M.; Sanga, C. A.; Van Genderen, J. L.

    2017-09-01

    This paper presents some preliminary results from research on monitoring the urban growth of Shenzhen in China. Agriculture is still the pillar of national economies in many countries including China. Thus, agriculture contributes to population growth. Population growth follows either exponential or logistic growth models. These models can be examined using a time-series of geospatial data, mainly historical earth observation imagery from satellites such as LANDSAT. Such multitemporal data may provide insights into settlement analysis as well as on population dynamics and hence, quantify the loss of agricultural land. In this study, LANDSAT data of ten dates, at approximately five yearly intervals from 1977 to 2017 were used. The remote sensing techniques used for analysis of data for 40 years were image selection, then followed by geometric and radiometric corrections and mosaicking. Also, classification, remote sensing image fusion, and change detection methods were used. This research extracted the information on the amount, direction, and speed of urbanization, and hence, the number of hectares of agricultural land lost due to urban expansion. Several specific elements were used in the descriptive model of landscape changes and population dynamics of the city of Shenzhen in China. These elements are: i) quantify the urban changes, from a small town (37.000 people in the early 1970's) to the megalopolis of around 20 million habitants today. ii) Examining the rate of urban extension on the loss of agricultural landscape and population growth. iii) The loss of food production was analysed against the economic growth in the region. iv) The aspects of loss of agricultural land, area of built-up urban land, and increase in population are studied quantitatively, by the temporal analysis of earth observation geospatial data. The experimental results from this study show that the proposed method is effective in determining loss of agricultural land in any city due to

  4. GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS OF URBAN LAND USE PATTERN ANALYSIS FOR HEMORRHAGIC FEVER RISK – A REVIEW

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. N. Izzah

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Human modification of the natural environment continues to create habitats in which vectors of a wide variety of human and animal pathogens (such as Plasmodium, Aedes aegypti, Arenavirus etc. thrive if unabated with an enormous potential to negatively affect public health. Typical examples of these modifications include impoundments, dams, irrigation systems, landfills and so on that provide enabled environment for the transmission of Hemorrhagic fever such as malaria, dengue, avian flu, Lassa fever etc. Furthermore, contemporary urban dwelling pattern appears to be associated with the prevalence of Hemorrhagic diseases in recent years. These observations are not peculiar to the developing world, as urban expansion also contributes significantly to mosquito and other vectors habitats. This habitats offer breeding ground to some vector virus populations. The key to disease control is developing an understanding of the contribution of human landscape modification to vector-borne pathogen transmission and how a balance may be achieved between human development, public health, and responsible urban land use. A comprehensive review of urban land use Pattern Analysis for Hemorrhagic fever risk has been conducted in this paper. The study found that most of the available literatures dwell more on the impact of urban land use on malaria and dengue fevers; however, studies are yet to be found discussing the implications of urban land use on the risk of Ebola, Lassa and other non-mosquito borne VHFs. A relational model for investigating the influence of urban land use change pattern on the risk of Hemorrhagic fever has been proposed in this study.

  5. Effects of Urbanization-Induced Cultivated Land Loss on Ecosystem Services in the North China Plain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Song

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Since the implementation of market oriented economic reform in 1978, China has been on the track of rapid urbanization. The unprecedented urbanization in China has resulted in substantial cultivated land loss and rapid expansion of urban areas. The cultivated land loss due to urbanization not only threatens food security in China, but has also led to ecological system degradation to which close attention should be paid. Therefore, we examined the effects of the conversion from cultivated to urban areas on the ecosystem service in the North China Plain on the basis of a net primary productivity based ecosystem service model (NESM and a buffer comparison method. Cultivated land loss due to urbanization in the North China Plain led to a total loss of ecosystem service value of 34.66% during the period 1988–2008. Urban expansion significantly decreased the ecosystem service function of water conservation (–124.03%, nutrient cycling (–31.91%, gas regulation (−7.18%, and organic production (–7.18%, while it improved the soil conservation function (2.40%. Land use change accounted for 57.40% of the changes in ecosystem service and had a major influence on the changes in nutrient cycling and water conservation. However, climate change mainly determined the changes in gas regulation, organic production, and soil conservation.

  6. Inventory and change detection of urban land cover in Illinois using Landsat Thematic Mapper data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cook, E.A.; Iverson, L.R.

    1991-01-01

    In order to provide information about urban forests and other vegetative land cover in Illinois cities, Landsat TM data from June 17, 1988, were classified for the Chicago metropolitan region and five urban areas of central Illinois. Ten land cover classes were identified, including three types of forestland, cropland, two grassland categories, two urban classes, water, and miscellaneous vegetation. The cities inventoried have a significantly higher proportion of forests and forested residential areas than the surrounding rural areas because of preservation measures and accruement of tree cover from landscaping. Short-term change in land cover for the Chicago region was also assessed by postclassification comparison of the 1988 data with similarly derived data from a June 3, 1985, TM scene. The largest single category of change in the six-county area was cropland to urban land use. A majority of cover loss was conversion of forested tracts to residential areas, and forest cover increase was negligible. 16 refs

  7. Tree Productivity Enhanced with Conversion from Forest to Urban Land Covers.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brittain M Briber

    Full Text Available Urban areas are expanding, changing the structure and productivity of landscapes. While some urban areas have been shown to hold substantial biomass, the productivity of these systems is largely unknown. We assessed how conversion from forest to urban land uses affected both biomass structure and productivity across eastern Massachusetts. We found that urban land uses held less than half the biomass of adjacent forest expanses with a plot level mean biomass density of 33.5 ± 8.0 Mg C ha(-1. As the intensity of urban development increased, the canopy cover, stem density, and biomass decreased. Analysis of Quercus rubra tree cores showed that tree-level basal area increment nearly doubled following development, increasing from 17.1 ± 3.0 to 35.8 ± 4.7 cm(2 yr(-1. Scaling the observed stem densities and growth rates within developed areas suggests an aboveground biomass growth rate of 1.8 ± 0.4 Mg C ha(-1 yr(-1, a growth rate comparable to nearby, intact forests. The contrasting high growth rates and lower biomass pools within urban areas suggest a highly dynamic ecosystem with rapid turnover. As global urban extent continues to grow, cities consider climate mitigation options, and as the verification of net greenhouse gas emissions emerges as critical for policy, quantifying the role of urban vegetation in regional-to-global carbon budgets will become ever more important.

  8. Quantifying and Analysing Neighbourhood Characteristics Supporting Urban Land-Use Modelling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Henning Sten

    2009-01-01

    Land-use modelling and spatial scenarios have gained increased attention as a means to meet the challenge of reducing uncertainty in the spatial planning and decision-making. Several organisations have developed software for land-use modelling. Many of the recent modelling efforts incorporate...... cellular automata (CA) to accomplish spatially explicit land-use change modelling. Spatial interaction between neighbour land-uses is an important component in urban cellular automata. Nevertheless, this component is calibrated through trial-and-error estimation. The aim of the current research project has...... been to quantify and analyse land-use neighbourhood characteristics and impart useful information for cell based land-use modelling. The results of our research is a major step forward, because we have estimated rules for neighbourhood interaction from really observed land-use changes at a yearly basis...

  9. New governance principles for sustainable urban transport

    OpenAIRE

    Camagni, R.; Capello, R.; Nijkamp, P.

    1996-01-01

    The paper positions the communications and transport in the centre of a rejuvenation policy for a sustainable urban habitat, taking for granted the success of urban govemance will depend on the professionality of local/regional policy-making govemed by sound principles from business practice in corporate organizations.

  10. Assessment of ecosystem services provided by urban trees: public lands within the Urban Growth Boundary of Corvallis, OR

    Science.gov (United States)

    Public lands within the Urban Growth Boundary of Corvallis, Oregon contain a diverse population of about 440,000 trees that include over 300 varieties and have an estimated tree cover of 31%. While often unrecognized, urban trees provide a variety of “ecosystem services” or dire...

  11. Enabling sustainable urban road transport in China: A policy and institutional perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Xiliang; Hu, Xiaojun

    2003-01-01

    The paper is an effort to investigate the approach to sustainable urban road transport in Chinese mega cities with an emphasis on policy and institutional perspectives. The study links the major ''unsustainabilities'' of China's urban road transport with those deficiencies in urban road transport planning and management and China's auto industry policy and gives some suggestions and recommendations for policy change and adjustment. The paper also provides some examples of successful experiences from foreign cities in urban road transport development from which Chinese cities can learn. (Author)

  12. Modelling animal waste pathogen transport from agricultural land to streams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pandey, Pramod K; Soupir, Michelle L; Ikenberry, Charles

    2014-01-01

    The transport of animal waste pathogens from crop land to streams can potentially elevate pathogen levels in stream water. Applying animal manure into crop land as fertilizers is a common practice in developing as well as in developed countries. Manure application into the crop land, however, can cause potential human health. To control pathogen levels in ambient water bodies such as streams, improving our understanding of pathogen transport at farm scale as well as at watershed scale is required. To understand the impacts of crop land receiving animal waste as fertilizers on stream's pathogen levels, here we investigate pathogen indicator transport at watershed scale. We exploited watershed scale hydrological model to estimate the transport of pathogens from the crop land to streams. Pathogen indicator levels (i.e., E. coli levels) in the stream water were predicted. With certain assumptions, model results are reasonable. This study can be used as guidelines for developing the models for calculating the impacts of crop land's animal manure on stream water

  13. Proposal of building a standard geodatabase for urban land use

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Husein Haifaa

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The digital technologies represented by digital processing programs, local data bases and satellite receivers system is a set of technologies made to organize the process of building descriptive field database, and conveying them to computers, in order to store, analyze and manifest data as well as upgrade and extract it in the form of digital maps, which represent an asset in any engineering and planning study. For a variety of types of mixed land uses and others land uses in the urban city, which cause great difficulty in how to build spatial Geodatabase in terms of frequency of the land use and overlap between land uses, the paper will find the proposed standard Geomatics techniques to get rid of these difficulties. The paper will tackle the engineering and survey methods which could reinforce manifestation of uses of logical database in urban areas. Lastly, the research concludes that relying on important field survey and digital references in preparing suggested criteria for field uses, in addition to the recommendations provided in this field for the post graduate and undergraduate students as well governmental specialized departments.

  14. Land development, land use, and urban sprawl in Puerto Rico integrating remote sensing and population census data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sebastian Martinuzzi; William A. Gould; Olga M. Ramos Gonzalez

    2007-01-01

    The island of Puerto Rico has both a high population density and a long history of ineffective land use planning. This study integrates geospatial technology and population census data to understand how people use and develop the lands. We define three new regions for Puerto Rico: Urban (16%), Densely Populated Rural (36%), and Sparsely Populated Rural (48%). Eleven...

  15. Enabling sustainable urban road transport in China: A policy and institutional perspective

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Xiliang; Hu, Xiaojun

    2003-07-01

    The paper is an effort to investigate the approach to sustainable urban road transport in Chinese mega cities with an emphasis on policy and institutional perspectives. The study links the major ''unsustainabilities'' of China's urban road transport with those deficiencies in urban road transport planning and management and China's auto industry policy and gives some suggestions and recommendations for policy change and adjustment. The paper also provides some examples of successful experiences from foreign cities in urban road transport development from which Chinese cities can learn. (Author)

  16. Urban development, and emerging relations of informal property and land based authority in Accra

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stacey, Paul Austin

    2018-01-01

    Rural–urban migration leads to ever increasing numbers of Africans living in informal settlements. In Accra's largest informal settlement, Old Fadama, residents by definition have no statutory rights to the land and their building activities undermine formal state law and state-recognized customary......, building and development in the settlement that involve a variety of local, national and global actors. Their actions show the contemporaneous making and unmaking of different relations of property and land-based control and authority in the densely populated urban site. Important features of urban...

  17. Criteria for evaluation and guidelines for land use planning in terms of sustainable urban development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irena Ostojić

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable spatial development is a generally accepted objective and principle in spatial planning. It is implemented mainly by regulations in the sectors for management of natural resources, but not comprehensively in implementing regulations for urban space management. One of the most important instruments of spatial planning at local level is land use, for which there is no comprehensive framework of implementing measures for achieving sustainable spatial objectives in urban areas. In accordance with the review and critical analysis of literature, there are four measures presented in the paper: protection of natural resources and reduction of environmental-climate risks, compact urban structure, mixed-use and accessibility of urban functions. The review and analysis have shown that the listed measures enable sustainable development of urban areas, but only if they are planned and implemented in accordance with supporting physical, social and economic elements of urban space. In the conclusion, indicators which can assess the level of sustainability in land use design are presented and guidelines for restructuring land use in existing settlement areas are described.

  18. Urban Expansion Occurred at the Expense of Agricultural Lands in the Tarai Region of Nepal from 1989 to 2016

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bhagawat Rimal

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Recent rapid urbanization in developing countries presents challenges for sustainable environmental planning and peri-urban cropland management. An improved understanding of the timing and pattern of urbanization is needed to determine how to better plan urbanization for the near future. Here, we describe the spatio-temporal patterns of urbanization and related land-use/land-cover (LULC changes in the Tarai region of Nepal, as well as discuss the factors underlying its rapid urban expansion. Analyses are based on regional time-series Landsat 5, 7 and 8 image classifications for six years between 1989 and 2016, representing the first long-term observations of their kind for Nepal. During this 27-year period, gains in urban cover and losses of cultivated lands occurred widely. Urban cover occupied 221.1 km2 in 1989 and increased 320% by 2016 to a total 930.22 km2. Cultivated land was the primary source of new urban cover. Of the new urban cover added since 1989, 93% was formerly cultivated. Urban expansion occurred at moderately exponential rates over consecutive observation periods, with nearly half of all urban expansion occurring during 2006–2011 (305 km2. The annual rate of urban growth during 1989–1996 averaged 3.3% but reached as high as 8.09% and 12.61% during 1996–2001 and 2011–2016, respectively. At the district level, the rate of urban growth and, by extension, agricultural loss, were weakly related to total population growth. Variability in this relationship suggests that concerted urban-growth management may reduce losses of agricultural lands relative to historic trends despite further population growth and urbanization. Urbanization and LULC change in the Tarai region are attributable to significant inter-regional migration in a context of poor urban planning and lax policies controlling the conversion and fragmentation of peri-urban cultivated lands. Urban expansion and farmland loss are expected to continue in the future.

  19. Urban Knowledge Arena

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karel Schmeidler

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available COST Action C20 – Urban Knowledge Arena is research programme supported by European Co-operation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research. It is co-ordinated by COST Office and European Science Foundation. The main objective of this Action is to explore and develop a European Arena for cross boundary, integrated knowledge and Know-how on complex urban problems, which is termed Urban Knowledge Arena. The COST Domain Transport and Urban Development aims at fostering international research networking activities of scientist and experts dealing with transport systems and infrastructures, spatial planning, urban land use and development, urban design, architecture and design and civil engineering issues. The focus is on multi and interdisciplinary approaches and the aim is to cover both basic and applied research activities and their changeovers that are relevant to policy and decision making processes. A significant concern is devoted to activities exploring new research needs and developments.

  20. Simulating and Predicting the Impacts of Light Rail Transit Systems on Urban Land Use by Using Cellular Automata: A Case Study of Dongguan, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jinyao Lin

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The emergence of Light Rail Transit systems (LRTs could exert considerable impacts on sustainable urban development. It is crucial to predict the potential land use changes since LRTs are being increasingly built throughout the world. While various land use and land cover change (LUCC models have been developed during the past two decades, the basic assumption for LUCC prediction is the continuation of present trends in land use development. It is therefore unreasonable to predict potential urban land use changes associated with LRTs simply based on earlier trends because the impacts of LRT investment may vary greatly over time. To tackle this challenge, our study aims to share the experiences from previous lines with newly planned lines. Dongguan, whose government decided to build LRTs around 2008, was selected as the study area. First, we assessed the impacts of this city’s first LRT (Line R2 on three urban land use types (i.e., industrial development, commercial and residential development, and rural development at different periods. The results indicate that Line R2 exerted a negative impact on industrial development and rural development, but a positive impact on commercial and residential development during the planning stage of this line. Second, such spatial impacts (the consequent land use changes during this stage were simulated by using artificial neural network cellular automata. More importantly, we further predicted the potential impacts of Line R1, which is assumed to be a newly planned line, based on the above calibrated model and a traditional method respectively. The comparisons between them demonstrate the effectiveness of our method, which can easily take advantage of the experiences from other LRTs. The proposed method is expected to provide technical support for sustainable urban and transportation planning.

  1. EnviroAtlas - Des Moines, IA - Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data (2010)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Des Moines, IA EnviroAtlas Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data were generated from the High Resolution Land Cover (HRLC) product created by the Iowa...

  2. Spatially differentiated trends in urbanization, agricultural land abandonment and reclamation, and woodland recovery in Northern China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Chao; Gao, Qiong; Wang, Xian; Yu, Mei

    2016-11-01

    Uncovering magnitude, trend, and spatial pattern of land cover/land use changes (LCLUC) is crucial for understanding mechanisms of LCLUC and assisting land use planning and conservation. China has been undergoing unprecedented economic growth, massive rural-to-urban migration, and large-scale policy-driven ecological restoration, and therefore encountering enormous LCLUC in recent decades. However, comprehensive understandings of spatiotemporal LCLUC dynamics and underlying mechanisms are still lacking. Based on classification of annual LCLU maps from MODIS satellite imagery, we proposed a land change detection method to capture significant land change hotspots over Northern China during 2001-2013, and further analyzed temporal trends and spatial patterns of LCLUC. We found rapid decline of agricultural land near urban was predominantly caused by urban expansion. The process was especially strong in North China Plain with 14,057 km2 of urban gain and -21,017 km2 of agricultural land loss. To offset the loss of agricultural land, Northeast China Plain and Xinjiang were reclaimed. Substantial recovery of forests (49,908 km2) and closed shrubland (60,854 km2) occurred in mountainous regions due to abandoned infertile farmland, secondary succession, and governmental conservation policies. The spatial patterns and trends of LCLUC in Northern China provide information to support effective environmental policies towards sustainable development.

  3. Assessing the homogenization of urban land management with an application to US residential lawn care

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polsky, Colin; Grove, J. Morgan; Knudson, Chris; Groffman, Peter M.; Bettez, Neil; Cavender-Bares, Jeannine; Hall, Sharon J.; Heffernan, James B.; Hobbie, Sarah E.; Larson, Kelli L.; Morse, Jennifer L.; Neill, Christopher; Nelson, Kristen C.; Ogden, Laura A.; O’Neil-Dunne, Jarlath; Pataki, Diane E.; Roy Chowdhury, Rinku; Steele, Meredith K.

    2014-01-01

    Changes in land use, land cover, and land management present some of the greatest potential global environmental challenges of the 21st century. Urbanization, one of the principal drivers of these transformations, is commonly thought to be generating land changes that are increasingly similar. An implication of this multiscale homogenization hypothesis is that the ecosystem structure and function and human behaviors associated with urbanization should be more similar in certain kinds of urbanized locations across biogeophysical gradients than across urbanization gradients in places with similar biogeophysical characteristics. This paper introduces an analytical framework for testing this hypothesis, and applies the framework to the case of residential lawn care. This set of land management behaviors are often assumed—not demonstrated—to exhibit homogeneity. Multivariate analyses are conducted on telephone survey responses from a geographically stratified random sample of homeowners (n = 9,480), equally distributed across six US metropolitan areas. Two behaviors are examined: lawn fertilizing and irrigating. Limited support for strong homogenization is found at two scales (i.e., multi- and single-city; 2 of 36 cases), but significant support is found for homogenization at only one scale (22 cases) or at neither scale (12 cases). These results suggest that US lawn care behaviors are more differentiated in practice than in theory. Thus, even if the biophysical outcomes of urbanization are homogenizing, managing the associated sustainability implications may require a multiscale, differentiated approach because the underlying social practices appear relatively varied. The analytical approach introduced here should also be productive for other facets of urban-ecological homogenization. PMID:24616515

  4. Vgi Based Urban Public Transport

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teymurian, F.; Alesheikh, A. A.; Alimohammadi, A.; Sadeghi-Niaraki, A.

    2013-09-01

    Recent advances in information technology have made geographic information system (GIS) a powerful and affordable tool for planning and decision making in various fields such as the public transportation. These technologies such as the social network (e.g. face-book, twitter), new technologies such as ubiquitous, mobile, Web 2.0, geo tagging and RFID can help to create better shapes and forms of the communication and geo-collaboration for public. By using these, user-generated content and spatial information can be easily and quickly produced and shared in a dynamic, interactive, multimedia and distributed environment. The concept of volunteered geographic information (VGI) has been introduced by the transaction from consultation to content interaction. VGI describes any type of content that has a geographic element and has been voluntarily collected. In other words, ordinary users; without a professional training, can participate in generating and using the spatial information. As a result, the gaps between the producers and users of GIS and spatial information, has been considerably reduced. Public transportation is one of the most important elements of the transportation system. Rapid growth of the cities has resulted in high increase of demand for the public transportation which created new challenges. Improvement of the desirability of public transportation can increase its efficiency, reduction of the environmental pollution (such as air and noise pollution), traffic problems, and fuel consumption. Hence, development of an urban public transportation system which is responsive to citizen's need and motivates them to use public transportation system is one of the most important objectives and issues that urban planners and designers are concerned about. One solution to achieve this, goal is to develop public transportation system by assistance from the system users. According to approach, users are considered as the valuable resources, because people who are

  5. Assessing the Effects of ‘Stand-alone’ Structuration of Land Administration System on Urban Land Delivery and Accessibility in Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akinbola Kazeem Bolayemi

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The efficiency and effectiveness of land administration system had been acknowledged to be premised on so many factors, arguably the chief of which, is the degree of mutuality, frictionlessness and bi-directionality in the interrelationship that exist amongst the various factors that are discharging arrays of tasks that these formal lands regulo-administrative machineries are saddled with. Undoubtedly, this simple conduct of affairs resultantly drives the formal lands delivery, hence it increases accessibility to urban lands by several categories of users in Nigeria, as thus the case globally. However, these interrelationships are absent among land administration and regulation systems in Nigeria. Hence, this study intends to assess the direct and possible indirect impacts that these interrelationships fallouts have on the formal delivery and accessibility of urban lands in Nigeria, Firstly, this was done by articulating the issues involved and calibrating them into constructs, then measuring them via the following score-cards, thus: myopism, non-ingenuity, disservice, eco-financial loss, distrust, trauma, anti-growth, death, market distortion and thriving informalisation focussing on the South Western Nigeria. Out of the total 586 individuals considered as the total population for the sample space, 120 individual qualified for the sample frame, upon which the structured questionnaires were distributed among land regulators, land administrators, independent land consultants and ultimate land users, essentially to have a fair and broad view of the issues inherent in this lands accessibility dilemma. 93 questionnaires were retrieved, out of which 87 questionnaires were valid, thus formed the basis upon which analyses were done, with emphasis on the 5 point Likert scale measurement usage, via both inferential and descriptive statistical tools. The results showed amongst other things, that unbridled relationship frictions had led to unwarranted role

  6. Evaluation of daily time spent in transportation and traffic-influenced microenvironments by urban Canadians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matz, Carlyn J; Stieb, David M; Egyed, Marika; Brion, Orly; Johnson, Markey

    2018-01-01

    Exposure to traffic and traffic-related air pollution is associated with a wide array of health effects. Time spent in a vehicle, in active transportation, along roadsides, and in close proximity to traffic can substantially contribute to daily exposure to air pollutants. For this study, we evaluated daily time spent in transportation and traffic-influenced microenvironments by urban Canadians using the Canadian Human Activity Pattern Survey (CHAPS) 2 results. Approximately 4-7% of daily time was spent in on- or near-road locations, mainly associated with being in a vehicle and smaller contributions from active transportation. Indoor microenvironments can be impacted by traffic emissions, especially when located near major roadways. Over 60% of the target population reported living within one block of a roadway with moderate to heavy traffic, which was variable with income level and city, and confirmed based on elevated NO 2 exposure estimated using land use regression. Furthermore, over 55% of the target population ≤ 18 years reported attending a school or daycare in close proximity to moderate to heavy traffic, and little variation was observed based on income or city. The results underline the importance of traffic emissions as a major source of exposure in Canadian urban centers, given the time spent in traffic-influenced microenvironments.

  7. Land cover in single-family housing areas and how it correlates with urban form

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Mette Boye; Jensen, Marina Bergen

    2015-01-01

    Land cover composition is a valuable indicator of the ecological performance of a city. Single-family housing areas constitute a substantial part of most cities and may as such play an important role for sustainable urban development. From aerial photos we performed detailed GIS-based mapping...... of land cover in three detached single-family housing areas in Denmark of different urban form but comparable housing densities (ranging from 10.0 to 11.3 houses per hectare). The findings were subjected to statistical analysis and landscape metrics. Land cover varied with urban form: A traditional...... spatial configuration with rectangular parcels contained significantly more vegetation and less impervious surfaces per parcel than newer Radburn-inspired configurations with more quadratic parcels. Correlation analysis showed size of paved access ways to be positively correlated with distance from road...

  8. Social sensing of urban land use based on analysis of Twitter users' mobility patterns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soliman, Aiman; Soltani, Kiumars; Yin, Junjun; Padmanabhan, Anand; Wang, Shaowen

    2017-01-01

    A number of recent studies showed that digital footprints around built environments, such as geo-located tweets, are promising data sources for characterizing urban land use. However, challenges for achieving this purpose exist due to the volume and unstructured nature of geo-located social media. Previous studies focused on analyzing Twitter data collectively resulting in coarse resolution maps of urban land use. We argue that the complex spatial structure of a large collection of tweets, when viewed through the lens of individual-level human mobility patterns, can be simplified to a series of key locations for each user, which could be used to characterize urban land use at a higher spatial resolution. Contingent issues that could affect our approach, such as Twitter users' biases and tendencies at locations where they tweet the most, were systematically investigated using 39 million geo-located Tweets and two independent datasets of the City of Chicago: 1) travel survey and 2) parcel-level land use map. Our results support that the majority of Twitter users show a preferential return, where their digital traces are clustered around a few key locations. However, we did not find a general relation among users between the ranks of locations for an individual-based on the density of tweets-and their land use types. On the contrary, temporal patterns of tweeting at key locations were found to be coherent among the majority of users and significantly associated with land use types of these locations. Furthermore, we used these temporal patterns to classify key locations into generic land use types with an overall classification accuracy of 0.78. The contribution of our research is twofold: a novel approach to resolving land use types at a higher resolution, and in-depth understanding of Twitter users' location-related and temporal biases, promising to benefit human mobility and urban studies in general.

  9. Social sensing of urban land use based on analysis of Twitter users’ mobility patterns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soltani, Kiumars; Yin, Junjun; Padmanabhan, Anand; Wang, Shaowen

    2017-01-01

    A number of recent studies showed that digital footprints around built environments, such as geo-located tweets, are promising data sources for characterizing urban land use. However, challenges for achieving this purpose exist due to the volume and unstructured nature of geo-located social media. Previous studies focused on analyzing Twitter data collectively resulting in coarse resolution maps of urban land use. We argue that the complex spatial structure of a large collection of tweets, when viewed through the lens of individual-level human mobility patterns, can be simplified to a series of key locations for each user, which could be used to characterize urban land use at a higher spatial resolution. Contingent issues that could affect our approach, such as Twitter users’ biases and tendencies at locations where they tweet the most, were systematically investigated using 39 million geo-located Tweets and two independent datasets of the City of Chicago: 1) travel survey and 2) parcel-level land use map. Our results support that the majority of Twitter users show a preferential return, where their digital traces are clustered around a few key locations. However, we did not find a general relation among users between the ranks of locations for an individual—based on the density of tweets—and their land use types. On the contrary, temporal patterns of tweeting at key locations were found to be coherent among the majority of users and significantly associated with land use types of these locations. Furthermore, we used these temporal patterns to classify key locations into generic land use types with an overall classification accuracy of 0.78. The contribution of our research is twofold: a novel approach to resolving land use types at a higher resolution, and in-depth understanding of Twitter users’ location-related and temporal biases, promising to benefit human mobility and urban studies in general. PMID:28723936

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  11. Land Cover Mapping Analysis and Urban Growth Modelling Using Remote Sensing Techniques in Greater Cairo Region—Egypt

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yasmine Megahed

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available This study modeled the urban growth in the Greater Cairo Region (GCR, one of the fastest growing mega cities in the world, using remote sensing data and ancillary data. Three land use land cover (LULC maps (1984, 2003 and 2014 were produced from satellite images by using Support Vector Machines (SVM. Then, land cover changes were detected by applying a high level mapping technique that combines binary maps (change/no-change and post classification comparison technique. The spatial and temporal urban growth patterns were analyzed using selected statistical metrics developed in the FRAGSTATS software. Major transitions to urban were modeled to predict the future scenarios for year 2025 using Land Change Modeler (LCM embedded in the IDRISI software. The model results, after validation, indicated that 14% of the vegetation and 4% of the desert in 2014 will be urbanized in 2025. The urban areas within a 5-km buffer around: the Great Pyramids, Islamic Cairo and Al-Baron Palace were calculated, highlighting an intense urbanization especially around the Pyramids; 28% in 2014 up to 40% in 2025. Knowing the current and estimated urbanization situation in GCR will help decision makers to adjust and develop new plans to achieve a sustainable development of urban areas and to protect the historical locations.

  12. The urban land use in the COSMO-CLM model: a comparison of three parameterizations for Berlin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kristina Trusilova

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The regional non-hydrostatic climate model COSMO-CLM is increasingly being used on fine spatial scales of 1–5 km. Such applications require a detailed differentiation between the parameterization for natural and urban land uses. Since 2010, three parameterizations for urban land use have been incorporated into COSMO-CLM. These parameterizations vary in their complexity, required city parameters and their computational cost. We perform model simulations with the COSMO-CLM coupled to these three parameterizations for urban land in the same model domain of Berlin on a 1-km grid and compare results with available temperature observations. While all models capture the urban heat island, they differ in spatial detail, magnitude and the diurnal variation.

  13. Access to Urban Land and its Role in Enhancing Business ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    EN_Stebek

    Project Services/Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Government of. Uganda. ..... This objective reality renders the subjective denial of market .... income distribution” thereby making it “difficult to achieve equity in access to.

  14. Book Review: Untitled: Securing Land Tenure in Urban and Rural ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Abstract. Book Title: Untitled: Securing Land Tenure in Urban and Rural South Africa. Book Authors: Hornby D, Kingwill R, Royston L & Cousins B (Eds.) (2017 University of KwaZulu-Natal Press) ISBN: 1869143507 ...

  15. Influence of urbanization-driven land use/cover change on climate: The case of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arsiso, Bisrat Kifle; Mengistu Tsidu, Gizaw; Stoffberg, Gerrit Hendrik; Tadesse, Tsegaye

    2018-06-01

    Land use change is the second most important anthropogenic influence on climate beside the emission of greenhouse gases. Urbanization is leading to significant land use changes in Africa since the continent is undergoing rapid urbanization and population growth in recent decades. Addis Ababa is one of these fast growing cities in the continent. Therefore, detection of land use change is very important to identify its impact on climate and sustainable land use management of the city. The study used Landsat images to generate land use/land cover change map for the city. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is used to detect the major changes of vegetation cover occurred between 1986 and 2011 as a result of land use and land cover change. Downscaled HadCM3 simulations under A2 and B2 emission scenarios is used to investigate future urban heat island (UHI) over the city of Addis Ababa. In the city, the analysis of Landsat images has shown that the built-up areas have increased by 121.88 km2 within the last 25 years. This finding is consistent with NDVI images taken over the same period that reveal a decline in vegetation cover. The impact of the urbanization-driven land use/cover change has resulted in notable nocturnal urban heat island (UHI) as revealed from an average increase in minimum temperature of 1.5 °C at the centre of the city relative to rural site over the 1960-2001 period. The mean of the 2006-2010 spatial minimum temperature anomaly with respect to the base period mean of 1981-2005 is consistent with the observed UHI. The temperature in the central areas (both commercial and residential sectors) of Addis Ababa is warmer than the surrounding areas. The thermal gradient increase from about 1.44 °C at the centre (Arada, Addis Ketema, Lideta and Kirkos) to 0.21 °C at the peripheral parts of the city (Gulele, Bole, Nefasilk-Lafto, Kolfe Keranio and east of Yeka sub-cities) transecting across the hot (high-density urban) to moderately warm to

  16. EnviroAtlas - Green Bay, WI - Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data (2010)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Green Bay, WI Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) dataset comprises 936 km2 around the city of Green Bay, surrounding towns, tribal lands and rural areas in...

  17. Modelling the effects of land use changes on the streamflow of a peri-urban catchment in central Portugal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hävermark, Saga; Santos Ferreira, Carla Sofia; Kalantari, Zahra; Di Baldassarre, Giuliano

    2016-04-01

    Many river basis around the world are rapidly changing together with societal development. Such developments may involve changes in land use, which in turn affect the surrounding environment in various ways. Since the start of industrialisation, the urban areas have extended worldwide. Urbanization can influence hydrological processes by decreasing evapotranspiration, infiltration and groundwater recharge as well as increasing runoff and overland flow. It is therefore of uttermost importance to understand the relationship between land use and hydrology. Although several studies have been investigating the impacts of urbanization on streamflow over the last decades, less is known on how urbanization affects hydrological processes in peri-urban areas, characterized by a complex mosaic of different land uses. This study aimed to model the impact of land use changes, specifically urbanization and commercial forest plantation, on the hydrological responses of the small Ribeira dos Covões peri-urban catchment (6,2 km2) located in central Portugal. The catchment has undergone rapid land use changes between 1958 and 2012 associated with the conversion of agricultural fields (cover area decreased from 48% to 4%) into woodland and urban areas, which increased from 44% to 56% and from 8% to 40%, respectively. For the study, the fully-distributed, physically-based modelling system MIKE SHE was used. The model was designed to examine both how past land use changes might have affected the streamflow and to investigate the impacts on hydrology of possible future scenarios, including a 50 %, 60 % and 70 % urban cover. To this end, a variety of data including daily rainfall since 1958 and forward, daily potential evapotranspiration from 2009 to 2013, monthly temperature averages from 1971 to 2013, land use for the years 1958, 1973, 1979, 1990, 1995, 2002, 2007 and 2012, streamflow from the hydrological years 2008 to 2013, catchment topography and soil types were used. The model

  18. Land use planning for sustainable development of peri-urban zones

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Živanović-Miljković Jelena

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Taking into consideration that growth of urban population has impacts on land use and that managing urban population change is one of the most important contemporary challenges, this paper deals with the sustainable development of peri-urban zones which represent important an environment where employment opportunities are developed and resources exploited (particularly agricultural resources and environment where important recreational and leisure activities could be pursued. Within the review of current concepts and planning practices, the concepts of multifunctional agriculture and multifunctional landscapes in peri-urban zones are pointed out, as well as EU Developing Periurban Projects. The paper particularly focuses on the current situation in Serbia, where there is no specific legal basis for the planning of peri-urban areas, although there are positive examples of strategies, regulations and planning documents which treat agriculture and greenery in peri-urban zones in a sustainable manner.

  19. QUALITY OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SERVICES IN URBAN AREA OF ORADEA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silaghi Simona

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Intensification of public transport in urban areas due to increased mobility at regional and national levels, discrepancies among urban areas with same population and lack of statistical data related to performance and quality of public transport services are the main determinants of this paper. A separation line must be drawn between quality of services and performance indicators of public transport system. Service quality is a multi subjective outcome of an array of intangible variables. Service quality can be approached from four directions: consumer, vehicle performance (including the human operator, specialized company in passenger transport, and the Government (local Councils. Availability, comfort and convenience are the two main indicators that must be evaluated by citizens as being with high grades for a good quality of urban transport services. The instrument used to gather data is the preference survey.

  20. Service reliability and urban public transport design

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van Oort, N.

    2011-01-01

    The last few decades have shown a substantial increase in personal mobility. Urban traffic and transport volumes have been increasing for years. However, the share of public transport in this mobility growth did not change much and still remains rather limited. To ensure the accessibility and

  1. Child- and youth-friendly land-use and transport planning guidelines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gilbert, R.; O' Brien, C. [Centre for Sustainable Transportation, Toronto, ON (Canada)

    2005-04-27

    Increased automobile use has been associated with rising obesity, reduced academic performance and compromised emotional development in children and youths. This paper proposed a range of guidelines focused on the needs of children and young people. It is intended for use by municipalities or other agencies in transport and land-use planning. Recommendations included the appointment of a staff or council member responsible for bringing a children's perspective to transport and land use planning issues; an identification of the travel needs of young people; an exploration of pedestrian routes used by children to ensure their safety and useability; and the arrangement of walking buses and other means of supervision for very young children. The construction of separate sidewalks for children and youth on heavy traffic roads was recommended, as well as separate bicycle paths and provisions at intersections. It was suggested that planners should ensure that destinations needed by children are within walking or cycling distance. It was also suggested that the transit system should be made safer and introduce or maintain low fares. It was observed that school funding formulas encourage the construction and use of large schools that are more likely to have traffic congestion, and that parents often pressure school boards for more buses so that children will not have to walk or cycle to school. Reductions in road traffic and the enforcement of speed limits in urban areas were recommended, as well as the use of low emission or electric vehicles. It was suggested that there is a lack of parental awareness regarding the short- and long-term health impacts of driving their children rather than supporting active transport. 90 refs., 2 tabs., 9 figs.

  2. Urban Expansion and Its Impact on the Land Use Pattern in Xishuangbanna since the Reform and Opening up of China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hui Cao

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Since the Chinese government carried out the reform and opening up policy, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture has experienced rapid urbanization and dramatic land use change. This research aims at analyzing urban expansion in Xishuangbanna and its impact on the land use pattern using combined methods, including radar graph, the gradient-direction method and landscape metrics. Seven land use maps from 1976 to 2015 were generated and analyzed, respectively. The results showed that urban and rubber expanded rapidly, while forest decreased during the last 40 years. The city proper, the county town of Menghai and the county town of Mengla showed the most significant and fastest urban expansion rates. In response to rapid urban expansion, land use types outside urban areas changed dramatically. In Jinghong and Mengla, urban areas were usually surrounded by paddy, shrub, rubber and forest in 1976, while most areas were dominated by rubber by 2015. With the development of Xishuangbanna, landscape diversity increased along urban-rural gradients, but decreased in some key urban areas. Urban expansion slightly reduced the connectivity of forest and increased agglomeration of rubber at the same time. Based on the analyses above, we moved forward to discuss the consequences of urban expansion, rubber plantations and land fragmentation.

  3. Toward a shared urban transport system passengers & Goods Cohabitation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Trentini

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents radical new urban transportation system concepts, potentially allowing changing the economic and environmental costs of passenger and freight transportation. The driver focuses on the concept of sharing, which means to make a joint use of transport resources, between passengers and goods flows. From a field observation of several existing solutions, an inductive reasoning enables us to move from a set of specific facts to establish an archetype for a radical new urban transportation system. Once the archetype defined, it is translated in real life through the example of the On Route proposal for London.The research frame of this paper is the ANR ( French National Research Agency C-Goods (City Goods Operation Optimization using Decision support System project. Started in February 2009 the project involves four partners, (The multi-disciplinary French engineer school EIGSI (Ecole d’Ingénieurs en Génie des Systèmes Industriels, the French university ENMP (Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris, the Poitiers Urban Community (CAP, and the consulting service Interface Transport, specialized in transport economy and will end on 2012.

  4. Macro-Level Modeling of Urban Transportation Safety: Case-Study of Mashhad (Iran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammadi Mehdi

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Transportation safety can be aimed at the planning stage in order to adopt safety management and evaluate the long-time policies. The main objective of this research was to make use of crash prediction models in urban transportation planning process. As such, it was attempted to gather data on the results of transportation master plan as well as Mashhad urban crash database. Two modelling method, generalized linear model with negative binomial distribution and geographically weighted regression, were considered as the methods used in this research. Trip variables, including trip by car, trip by bus, trip by bus services and trip by school services, were significant at 95%. The results indicated that both finalized models were competent in predicting urban crashes in Mashhad. Regarding to results urban transportation safety will be improved by changing the modal share for example from private car to bus. The application of the process presented in this study can improve the urban transportation safety management processes and lead to more accurate prediction in terms of crashes across urban traffic areas.

  5. Assessing land take by urban development and its impact on carbon storage: Findings from two case studies in Italy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sallustio, L. [Dipartimento di Bioscienze e Territorio (DiBT), Università del Molise, C. da Fonte Lappone, I-86090 Isernia (Italy); Quatrini, V. [Dipartimento per l' Innovazione nei sistemi Biologici, Agroalimentari e Forestali (DIBAF), Università della Tuscia, v. San Camillo de Lellis, I-01100 Viterbo (Italy); Geneletti, D., E-mail: davide.geneletti@unitn.it [Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, 38123 Trento (Italy); Corona, P., E-mail: piermaria.corona@entecra.it [Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l' analisi dell' economia agraria, Forestry Research Centre (CRA-SEL), Viale S. Margherita 80, 52100 Arezzo (Italy); Marchetti, M. [Dipartimento di Bioscienze e Territorio (DiBT), Università del Molise, C. da Fonte Lappone, I-86090 Isernia (Italy)

    2015-09-15

    Highlights: • We tested a new methodology for monitoring land take and its effects on C storage. • The ecological impact of urban growth derives from the previous land use. • C loss increases with the naturalness of the territory. • Different urban assets may imply different forms of land take containment. Land take due to urbanization triggers a series of negative environmental impacts with direct effects on quality of life for people living in cities. Changes in ecosystem services are associated with land take, among which is the immediate C loss due to land use conversion. Land use change monitoring represents the first step in quantifying land take and its drivers and impacts. To this end, we propose an innovative methodology for monitoring land take and its effects on ecosystem services (in particular, C loss) under multi-scale contexts. The devised approach was tested in two areas with similar sizes, but different land take levels during the time-span 1990–2008 in Central Italy (the Province of Rome and the Molise Region). The estimates of total coverage of built up areas were calculated using point sampling. The area of the urban patches including each sampling point classified as built up areas in the year 1990 and/or in the year 2008 is used to estimate total abundance and average area of built up areas. Biophysical and economic values for carbon loss associated with land take were calculated using InVEST. Although land take was 7–8 times higher in the Province of Rome (from 15.1% in 1990 to 20.4% in 2008) than in Molise region, our findings show that its relative impact on C storage is higher in the latter, where the urban growth consistently affects not only croplands but also semi-natural land uses such as grasslands and other wooded lands. The total C loss due to land take has been estimated in 1.6 million Mg C, corresponding to almost 355 million €. Finally, the paper discusses the main characteristics of urban growth and their

  6. Assessing land take by urban development and its impact on carbon storage: Findings from two case studies in Italy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sallustio, L.; Quatrini, V.; Geneletti, D.; Corona, P.; Marchetti, M.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • We tested a new methodology for monitoring land take and its effects on C storage. • The ecological impact of urban growth derives from the previous land use. • C loss increases with the naturalness of the territory. • Different urban assets may imply different forms of land take containment. Land take due to urbanization triggers a series of negative environmental impacts with direct effects on quality of life for people living in cities. Changes in ecosystem services are associated with land take, among which is the immediate C loss due to land use conversion. Land use change monitoring represents the first step in quantifying land take and its drivers and impacts. To this end, we propose an innovative methodology for monitoring land take and its effects on ecosystem services (in particular, C loss) under multi-scale contexts. The devised approach was tested in two areas with similar sizes, but different land take levels during the time-span 1990–2008 in Central Italy (the Province of Rome and the Molise Region). The estimates of total coverage of built up areas were calculated using point sampling. The area of the urban patches including each sampling point classified as built up areas in the year 1990 and/or in the year 2008 is used to estimate total abundance and average area of built up areas. Biophysical and economic values for carbon loss associated with land take were calculated using InVEST. Although land take was 7–8 times higher in the Province of Rome (from 15.1% in 1990 to 20.4% in 2008) than in Molise region, our findings show that its relative impact on C storage is higher in the latter, where the urban growth consistently affects not only croplands but also semi-natural land uses such as grasslands and other wooded lands. The total C loss due to land take has been estimated in 1.6 million Mg C, corresponding to almost 355 million €. Finally, the paper discusses the main characteristics of urban growth and their

  7. Woody Vegetation Composition and Structure in Peri-urban Chongming Island, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Min; Escobedo, Francisco J.; Wang, Ruijing; Zhou, Qiaolan; Lin, Wenpeng; Gao, Jun

    2013-05-01

    Chongming, the world's largest alluvial island, is located within the municipality of Shanghai, China. Recent projects have now linked peri-urban Chongming to Shanghai's urban core and as a result will soon undergo substantial changes from urbanization. We quantitatively analyzed the structure and composition of woody vegetation across subtropical, peri-urban Chongming as a basis for sustainable management of these rapidly urbanizing subtropical ecosystems elsewhere. We used 178 permanent, random plots to statistically and spatially analyze woody plant composition and tree structure across the 1,041 km2 of Chongming. A total of 2,251 woody plants were measured comprising 42 species in 37 genera. We statistically and geospatially analyzed field data according to land uses and modeled air pollution removal by trees. Average tree diameter at breast height, total height, and crown widths on transportation land uses were greater than other land uses. These same values were lowest on forest land use and greater tree cover was associated with areas of increased anthropogenic activity. Less than 20 % of the woody vegetation was exotic and a species richness index was significantly different between land uses due to legacy effects. Composition of agriculture and forest land uses were similar to residential and transportation. Tree cover across Chongming was also estimated to annually remove 1,400 tons of air pollutants. We propose that this integrated and quantitative method can be used in other subtropical, peri-urban areas in developing countries to establish baseline trends for future sustainability objectives and to monitor the effects of urbanization and climate change.

  8. Transport of radionuclides in urban environs: working draft assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    DuCharme, A.R.; Akins, R.E.; Daniel, S.L.; Ericson, D.M. Jr.; Finley, B.H.; Kaestner, P.C.; Sheldon, D.D.; Taylor, J.M.; Tierney, M.S.; Finley, N.N.

    1978-05-01

    Purpose of this study is to assess the environmental impacts from transportation of radioactive materials in urban environs. The impacts from accident-free transport, vehicular accidents during transport, and from other abnormal situations are analyzed. The approach is outlined including description of the models developed and the data bases employed to account for the special features of the urban environment. The operations and contributions of the task group formed to assist in this study are also discussed. The results obtained for the New York City study area are presented and explained.

  9. Transport of radionuclides in urban environs: working draft assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DuCharme, A.R.; Akins, R.E.; Daniel, S.L.; Ericson, D.M. Jr.; Finley, B.H.; Kaestner, P.C.; Sheldon, D.D.; Taylor, J.M.; Tierney, M.S.; Finley, N.N.

    1978-05-01

    Purpose of this study is to assess the environmental impacts from transportation of radioactive materials in urban environs. The impacts from accident-free transport, vehicular accidents during transport, and from other abnormal situations are analyzed. The approach is outlined including description of the models developed and the data bases employed to account for the special features of the urban environment. The operations and contributions of the task group formed to assist in this study are also discussed. The results obtained for the New York City study area are presented and explained

  10. Low Elevation Coastal Zone (LECZ) Urban-Rural Population and Land Area Estimates, Version 2

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Low Elevation Coastal Zone (LECZ) Urban-Rural Population and Land Area Estimates, Version 2 data set consists of country-level estimates of urban population,...

  11. Air quality and urban management in Europe

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alberti, M. [Stanford Univ. (United States). Center for Conservation Biology; Joffre, S. [Finnish Meteorological Inst., Helsinki (Finland)

    1995-12-31

    Important changes in the quality of urban air have occurred in Europe during the last 20 years. Urban air quality trends are clearly correlated to changes in production and consumption processes which have occurred in European cities during the last decades. However, the way these trends are linked with the changes in the urban structure is not yet fully appreciated. A set of indicators is proposed to examine the relationships between air quality, energy consumption and transportation trends. On this basis is argued that the current decentralization of the urban structure and specialization of land use are major driving forces in current urban air pollution. The range of actions and tools to improve urban air quality should include: (1) land use planning, (2) efficient urban management, and (3) measures directed to protecting the quality of the urban environment. (author)

  12. Air quality and urban management in Europe

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alberti, M [Stanford Univ. (United States). Center for Conservation Biology; Joffre, S [Finnish Meteorological Inst., Helsinki (Finland)

    1996-12-31

    Important changes in the quality of urban air have occurred in Europe during the last 20 years. Urban air quality trends are clearly correlated to changes in production and consumption processes which have occurred in European cities during the last decades. However, the way these trends are linked with the changes in the urban structure is not yet fully appreciated. A set of indicators is proposed to examine the relationships between air quality, energy consumption and transportation trends. On this basis is argued that the current decentralization of the urban structure and specialization of land use are major driving forces in current urban air pollution. The range of actions and tools to improve urban air quality should include: (1) land use planning, (2) efficient urban management, and (3) measures directed to protecting the quality of the urban environment. (author)

  13. Project ATLANTA (Atlanta Land use Analysis: Temperature and Air Quality): Use of Remote Sensing and Modeling to Analyze How Urban Land Use Change Affects Meteorology and Air Quality Through Time

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quattrochi, Dale A.; Luvall, Jeffrey C.; Estes, Maurice G., Jr.

    1999-01-01

    This paper presents an overview of Project ATLANTA (ATlanta Land use ANalysis: Temperature and Air-quality) which is an investigation that seeks to observe, measure, model, and analyze how the rapid growth of the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area since the early 1970's has impacted the region's climate and air quality. The primary objectives for this research effort are: (1) To investigate and model the relationships between land cover change in the Atlanta metropolitan, and the development of the urban heat island phenomenon through time; (2) To investigate and model the temporal relationships between Atlanta urban growth and land cover change on air quality; and (3) To model the overall effects of urban development on surface energy budget characteristics across the Atlanta urban landscape through time. Our key goal is to derive a better scientific understanding of how land cover changes associated with urbanization in the Atlanta area, principally in transforming forest lands to urban land covers through time, has, and will, effect local and regional climate, surface energy flux, and air quality characteristics. Allied with this goal is the prospect that the results from this research can be applied by urban planners, environmental managers and other decision-makers, for determining how urbanization has impacted the climate and overall environment of the Atlanta area. Multiscaled remote sensing data, particularly high resolution thermal infrared data, are integral to this study for the analysis of thermal energy fluxes across the Atlanta urban landscape.

  14. Estimating the Impact of Urban Expansion on Land Subsidence Using Time Series of DMSP Night-Time Light Satellite Imagery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiao, S.; Yu, J.; Wang, Y.; Zhu, L.; Zhou, Q.

    2018-04-01

    In recent decades, urbanization has resulted a massive increase in the amount of infrastructure especially large buildings in large cities worldwide. There has been a noticeable expansion of entire cities both horizontally and vertically. One of the common consequences of urban expansion is the increase of ground loads, which may trigger land subsidence and can be a potential threat of public safety. Monitoring trends of urban expansion and land subsidence using remote sensing technology is needed to ensure safety along with urban planning and development. The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Operational Line scan System (DMSP/OLS) Night-Time Light (NTL) images have been used to study urbanization at a regional scale, proving the capability of recognizing urban expansion patterns. In the current study, a normalized illuminated urban area dome volume (IUADV) based on inter-calibrated DMSP/OLS NTL images is shown as a practical approach for estimating urban expansion of Beijing at a single period in time and over subsequent years. To estimate the impact of urban expansion on land subsidence, IUADV was correlated with land subsidence rates obtained using the Stanford Method for Persistent Scatterers (StaMPS) approach within the Persistent Scatterers InSAR (PSInSAR) methodology. Moderate correlations are observed between the urban expansion based on the DMSP/OLS NTL images and land subsidence. The correlation coefficients between the urban expansion of each year and land subsidence tends to gradually decrease over time (Coefficient of determination R = 0.80 - 0.64 from year 2005 to year 2010), while the urban expansion of two sequential years exhibit an opposite trend (R = 0.29 - 0.57 from year 2005 to year 2010) except for the two sequential years between 2007 and 2008 (R = 0.14).

  15. Women and landed property in urban India: Negotiating closed doors and windows of opportunity

    OpenAIRE

    Baruah, Bipasha

    2010-01-01

    This paper examines land tenure in informal urban settlements in India from a gender perspective through field research conducted in Ahmedabad in collaboration with the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA). The author describes the formal and informal tenure arrangements that were in place in these settlements and analyses their implications for women. She proceeds to raise key issues that need consideration in developing a gender-equitable vision of urban land rights, tenure and reform. ...

  16. Performance Enhancement of Land Vehicle Positioning Using Multiple GPS Receivers in an Urban Area

    OpenAIRE

    Song, Jong-Hwa; Jee, Gyu-In

    2016-01-01

    The Global Positioning System (GPS) is the most widely used navigation system in land vehicle applications. In urban areas, the GPS suffers from insufficient signal strength, multipath propagation and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) errors, so it thus becomes difficult to obtain accurate and reliable position information. In this paper, an integration algorithm for multiple receivers is proposed to enhance the positioning performance of GPS for land vehicles in urban areas. The pseudoranges of multi...

  17. Environmental impacts of the transportation of radioactive materials in urban areas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Finley, N.C.; Taylor, J.M.; Daniel, S.L.; Ericson, D.M. Jr.

    1980-01-01

    Radioactive material transport in urban areas is investigated and the specific urban features which influence environmental impacts are addressed. These features include the geographic and demographic make-up, and vehicular population and transportation patterns in the area. Previous efforts have not identified a most important population exposure pathway or group. This assessment examines several pathways and a number of urban specific population groups to evaluate their relative significance. In addition, because different causative events contribute to the overall environmental impacts, this assessment addresses four of these: incident free transport, vehicular accidents, human errors, and sabotage or malevolent acts. Not only does radioactive material transport produce radiological and economic consequences but also it can have social impacts. The objective of this study is to examine both the quantitative environmental impacts of radioactive material transport in urban areas and the more subjective social effects of this process. The social impacts assessment was performed by Battelle Human Affairs Research Centers, Seattle, Washington and their conclusions are only summarized here

  18. Quantifying suspended sediment flux in a mixed-land-use urbanizing watershed using a nested-scale study design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeiger, Sean; Hubbart, Jason A

    2016-01-15

    Suspended sediment (SS) remains the most pervasive water quality problem globally and yet, despite progress, SS process understanding remains relatively poor in watersheds with mixed-land-use practices. The main objective of the current work was to investigate relationships between suspended sediment and land use types at multiple spatial scales (n=5) using four years of suspended sediment data collected in a representative urbanized mixed-land-use (forest, agriculture, urban) watershed. Water samples were analyzed for SS using a nested-scale experimental watershed study design (n=836 samples×5 gauging sites). Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn's post-hoc multiple comparison tests were used to test for significant differences (CI=95%, p<0.05) in SS levels between gauging sites. Climate extremes (high precipitation/drought) were observed during the study period. Annual maximum SS concentrations exceeded 2387.6 mg/L. Median SS concentrations decreased by 60% from the agricultural headwaters to the rural/urban interface, and increased by 98% as urban land use increased. Multiple linear regression analysis results showed significant relationships between SS, annual total precipitation (positive correlate), forested land use (negative correlate), agricultural land use (negative correlate), and urban land use (negative correlate). Estimated annual SS yields ranged from 16.1 to 313.0 t km(-2) year(-1) mainly due to differences in annual total precipitation. Results highlight the need for additional studies, and point to the need for improved best management practices designed to reduce anthropogenic SS loading in mixed-land-use watersheds. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Urban structure and air pollution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyons, T. J.; Kenworthy, J. R.; Newman, P. W. G.

    Representative driving cycles across the Perth, Western Australia, metropolitan region illustrate a direct relationship to urban land use. Movement away from the central business district results in fewer traffic events, higher speeds, longer cruise periods and shorter stops. The consequent reduction in root mean square acceleration leads to a corresponding reduction in vehicle emission factors. Urban planning implications are pursued and highlight the importance of public transport as an option in reducing urban air pollution.

  20. Energy and sustainable urban transport development in China: Challenges and solutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Xilang; Hu, Xiaojun

    2002-01-01

    This paper presents an overview of urban road transport development and challenges in energy consumption in China. It relates sustainable urban road transport development with energy consumption and environmental management. It analyzes the main challenges related to urban road transport development: energy security, low efficiency in energy utilization, and unsustainable environmental management. It also discusses necessary technological and policy initiatives to deal with these challenges: e.g., promoting the development and dissemination of cleaner vehicle technologies, substitution of LPG, CNG, LNG and bio fuels for gasoline and diesel, strengthening regulations on vehicle emissions, expediting public transport development, and the effective management of the soaring private cars. (author)

  1. Energy and sustainable urban transport development in China: Challenges and solutions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Xilang; Hu, Xiaojun

    2002-07-01

    This paper presents an overview of urban road transport development and challenges in energy consumption in China. It relates sustainable urban road transport development with energy consumption and environmental management. It analyzes the main challenges related to urban road transport development: energy security, low efficiency in energy utilization, and unsustainable environmental management. It also discusses necessary technological and policy initiatives to deal with these challenges: e.g., promoting the development and dissemination of cleaner vehicle technologies, substitution of LPG, CNG, LNG and bio fuels for gasoline and diesel, strengthening regulations on vehicle emissions, expediting public transport development, and the effective management of the soaring private cars. (author)

  2. Vivid valleys, pallid peaks? Hypsometric variations and rural-urban land change in the Central Peruvian Andes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haller, Andreas

    2012-11-01

    What happens to the land cover within the hinterland's altitudinal belts while Central Andean cities are undergoing globalization and urban restructuring? What conclusions can be drawn about changes in human land use? By incorporating a regional altitudinal zonation model, direct field observations and GIS analyses of remotely sensed long term data, the present study examines these questions using the example of Huancayo Metropolitano - an emerging Peruvian mountain city of 420,000 inhabitants, situated at 3260 m asl in the Mantaro Valley. The study's results indicate that rapid urban growth during the late 1980s and early 1990s was followed by the agricultural intensification and peri-urban condominization at the valley floor ( quechua ) - since the beginning of Peru's neoliberal era. Moreover, regarding the adjoining steep slopes ( suni ) and subsequent grassland ecosystems ( puna ), the research output presents land cover change trajectories that clearly show an expansion of human land use, such as reforestation for wood production and range burning for livestock grazing, even at high altitudes - despite rural-urban migration trends and contrary to several results of extra-Andean studies. Consequently, rural-urban planners and policy makers are challenged to focus on the manifold impacts of globalization on human land use - at all altitudinal belts of the Andean city's hinterland: toward sustainable mountain development that bridges the social and physical gaps - from the bottom up.

  3. Quantifying Water and Energy Fluxes Over Different Urban Land Covers in Phoenix, Arizona

    Science.gov (United States)

    Templeton, Nicole P.; Vivoni, Enrique R.; Wang, Zhi-Hua; Schreiner-McGraw, Adam P.

    2018-02-01

    The impact of urbanization on water and energy fluxes varies according to the characteristics of the urban patch type. Nevertheless, urban flux observations are limited, particularly in arid climates, given the wide variety of land cover present in cities. To help address this need, a mobile eddy covariance tower was deployed at three locations in Phoenix, Arizona, to sample the surface energy balance at a parking lot, a xeric landscaping (irrigated trees with gravel) and a mesic landscaping (irrigated turf grass). These deployments were compared to a stationary eddy covariance tower in a suburban neighborhood. A comparison of the observations revealed key differences between the mobile and reference sites tied to the urban land cover within the measurement footprints. For instance, the net radiation varied substantially among the sites in manners consistent with albedo and shallow soil temperature differences. The partitioning of available energy between sensible and latent heat fluxes was modulated strongly by the presence of outdoor water use, with the irrigated turf grass exhibiting the highest evaporative fraction. At this site, we identified a lack of sensitivity of turbulent flux partitioning to precipitation events, which suggests that frequent outdoor water use removes water limitations in an arid climate, thus leading to mesic conditions. Other urban land covers with less irrigation, however, exhibited sensitivity to the occurrence of precipitation, as expected for an arid climate. As a result, quantifying the frequency and magnitude of outdoor water use is critical for understanding evapotranspiration losses in arid urban areas.

  4. Urban transport in Eastern Europe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Crass, M.; Short, J.

    1995-01-01

    In the cities of central and easter Europe rapidly rising numbers of motor vehicles are flooding streets, choking city centres and emitting alarming volumes of air pollution. Decision-makers in the region face difficult choices in the design and development of their urban transport systems. Saddled with the legacy of transport networks conceived under central planning - aged, often obsolete fleets, facilities and equipment -they must find ways to address the economic, social and environmental pressures caused by the skyrocketing growth in the use of cars and lorries. They also have to reconcile a decline in demand for public transport with tight budgetary constraints and pressure to recover more of their costs through rises in fares. (authors). 4 refs

  5. Kuznets curve and urban transport the scope of I+M programs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jovanović Miomir

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available In this article possibilities of application of Kuznets Curve in the domain of urban development and urban transport are tested. Comparative analysis of GRP per capita, local air pollutant and CO2 emission levels, and different urban and transport development strategies of world metropolises, clearly shows that EKC concept and I+M programs are highly overrated. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 37010

  6. Remote Sensing of Urban Land Cover/Land Use Change, Surface Thermal Responses, and Potential Meteorological and Climate Change Impacts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quattrochi, Dale A.; Jedlovec, Gary; Meyer, Paul

    2011-01-01

    City growth influences the development of the urban heat island (UHI), but the effect that local meteorology has on the UHI is less well known. This paper presents some preliminary findings from a study that uses multitemporal Landsat TM and ASTER data to evaluate land cover/land use change (LULCC) over the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MFSC) and its Huntsville, AL metropolitan area. Landsat NLCD data for 1992 and 2001 have been used to evaluate LULCC for MSFC and the surrounding urban area. Land surface temperature (LST) and emissivity derived from NLCD data have also been analyzed to assess changes in these parameters in relation to LULCC. Additionally, LULCC, LST, and emissivity have been identified from ASTER data from 2001 and 2011 to provide a comparison with the 2001 NLCD and as a measure of current conditions within the study area. As anticipated, the multi-temporal NLCD and ASTER data show that significant changes have occurred in land covers, LST, and emissivity within and around MSFC. The patterns and arrangement of these changes, however, is significant because the juxtaposition of urban land covers within and outside of MSFC provides insight on what impacts at a local to regional scale, the inter-linkage of these changes potentially have on meteorology. To further analyze these interactions between LULCC, LST, and emissivity with the lower atmosphere, a network of eleven weather stations has been established across the MSFC property. These weather stations provide data at a 10 minute interval, and these data are uplinked for use by MSFC facilities operations and the National Weather Service. The weather data are also integrated within a larger network of meteorological stations across north Alabama. Given that the MSFC weather stations will operate for an extended period of time, they can be used to evaluate how the building of new structures, and changes in roadways, and green spaces as identified in the MSFC master plan for the future, will

  7. Urban land use, air toxics and public health: Assessing hazardous exposures at the neighborhood scale

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Corburn, Jason

    2007-01-01

    Land use data are increasingly understood as important indicators of potential environmental health risk in urban areas where micro-scale or neighborhood level hazard exposure data are not routinely collected. This paper aims to offer a method for estimating the distribution of air toxics in urban neighborhoods using land use information because actual air monitoring data rarely exist at this scale. Using Geographic Information System spatial modeling tools, we estimate air toxics concentrations across neighborhoods in New York City and statistically compare our model with the US Environmental Protection Agency's National Air Toxic Assessment and air monitoring data across three NYC neighborhoods. We conclude that land use data can act as a good proxy for estimating neighborhood scale air toxics, particularly in the absence of monitoring data. In addition, the paper suggests that land use data can expand the reach of environmental impact assessments that routinely exclude analyses of potential exposures to urban air toxics at the neighborhood scale

  8. Simulating the Interactions Among Land Use, Transportation ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    In most transportation studies, computer models that forecast travel behavior statistics for a future year use static projections of the spatial distribution of future population and employment growth as inputs. As a result, they are unable to account for the temporally dynamic and non-linear interactions among transportation, land use, and socioeconomic systems. System dynamics (SD) provides a common framework for modeling the complex interactions among transportation and other related systems. This study uses a SD model to simulate the cascading impacts of a proposed light rail transit (LRT) system in central North Carolina, USA. The Durham-Orange Light Rail Project (D-O LRP) SD model incorporates relationships among the land use, transportation, and economy sectors to simulate the complex feedbacks that give rise to the travel behavior changes forecasted by the region’s transportation model. This paper demonstrates the sensitivity of changes in travel behavior to the proposed LRT system and the assumptions that went into the transportation modeling, and compares those results to the impacts of an alternative fare-free transit system. SD models such as the D-O LRP SD model can complement transportation studies by providing valuable insight into the interdependent community systems that collectively contribute to travel behavior changes. Presented at the 35th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society in Cambridge, MA, July 18th, 2017

  9. Controlling Urban Sprawl with Integrated Approach of Space-Transport Development Strategies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ambarwati, L.; Verhaeghe, R.; Pel, A.J.; Van Arem, B.

    2014-01-01

    Urban sprawl phenomenon has been a huge issue since 20th century characterized by a rapid and unbalanced settlement development with transportation network particularly in a suburban area. The improvement of public transport system is a major requirement to minimize urban sprawl. Academic

  10. Detection of Land Use/Land Cover Changes and Urban Sprawl in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia: An Analysis of Multi-Temporal Remote Sensing Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Tauhidur Rahman

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available While several studies examined land use and land cover changes in the central and western parts of Saudi Arabia, this study is the first to use remote sensing data to examine the decadal land cover changes in Saudi Arabia’s eastern coastal city of Al-Khobar between 1990 and 2013. Specifically, it utilized ISODATA classification method to classify Landsat TM, ETM+, and OLI data collected from 1990, 2001, and 2013 and then detected changes in the land cover within the study area. It then measured urban sprawl by calculating the relative Shannon’s entropy index values for the three years. With overall classification accuracies greater than 85%, the results show that urban built-up areas increased by 117% between 1990 and 2001 and 43.51% from 2001 to 2013. Vegetation increased by 110% from 1990 to 2001 and by 52% between 2001 and 2013. The entropy index values of 0.700 (1990, 0.779 (2001, and 0.840 (2013 indicates a high rate of urban sprawl and the city dispersing near the outskirts and towards the neighboring cities of Dhahran and Dammam. Future studies should examine the current challenges faced by the city’s residents due to urban expansion and attempt to find ways to resolve them in the near future.

  11. Mapping Urban Green Infrastructure: A Novel Landscape-Based Approach to Incorporating Land Use and Land Cover in the Mapping of Human-Dominated Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthew Dennis

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Common approaches to mapping green infrastructure in urbanised landscapes invariably focus on measures of land use or land cover and associated functional or physical traits. However, such one-dimensional perspectives do not accurately capture the character and complexity of the landscapes in which urban inhabitants live. The new approach presented in this paper demonstrates how open-source, high spatial and temporal resolution data with global coverage can be used to measure and represent the landscape qualities of urban environments. Through going beyond simple metrics of quantity, such as percentage green and blue cover, it is now possible to explore the extent to which landscape quality helps to unpick the mixed evidence presented in the literature on the benefits of urban nature to human well-being. Here we present a landscape approach, employing remote sensing, GIS and data reduction techniques to map urban green infrastructure elements in a large U.K. city region. Comparison with existing urban datasets demonstrates considerable improvement in terms of coverage and thematic detail. The characterisation of landscapes, using census tracts as spatial units, and subsequent exploration of associations with social–ecological attributes highlights the further detail that can be uncovered by the approach. For example, eight urban landscape types identified for the case study city exhibited associations with distinct socioeconomic conditions accountable not only to quantities but also qualities of green and blue space. The identification of individual landscape features through simultaneous measures of land use and land cover demonstrated unique and significant associations between the former and indicators of human health and ecological condition. The approach may therefore provide a promising basis for developing further insight into processes and characteristics that affect human health and well-being in urban areas, both in the United

  12. Quantifying outdoor water consumption of urban land use/land cover: sensitivity to drought.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaplan, Shai; Myint, Soe W; Fan, Chao; Brazel, Anthony J

    2014-04-01

    Outdoor water use is a key component in arid city water systems for achieving sustainable water use and ensuring water security. Using evapotranspiration (ET) calculations as a proxy for outdoor water consumption, the objectives of this research are to quantify outdoor water consumption of different land use and land cover types, and compare the spatio-temporal variation in water consumption between drought and wet years. An energy balance model was applied to Landsat 5 TM time series images to estimate daily and seasonal ET for the Central Arizona Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research region (CAP-LTER). Modeled ET estimations were correlated with water use data in 49 parks within CAP-LTER and showed good agreement (r² = 0.77), indicating model effectiveness to capture the variations across park water consumption. Seasonally, active agriculture shows high ET (>500 mm) for both wet and dry conditions, while the desert and urban land cover types experienced lower ET during drought (<300 mm). Within urban locales of CAP-LTER, xeric neighborhoods show significant differences from year to year, while mesic neighborhoods retain their ET values (400-500 mm) during drought, implying considerable use of irrigation to sustain their greenness. Considering the potentially limiting water availability of this region in the future due to large population increases and the threat of a warming and drying climate, maintaining large water-consuming, irrigated landscapes challenges sustainable practices of water conservation and the need to provide amenities of this desert area for enhancing quality of life.

  13. Urban Ecological Stewardship: Understanding the Structure, Function and Network of Community-based Urban Land Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lindsay K. Campbell

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Urban environmental stewardship activities are on the rise in cities throughout the Northeast. Groups participating in stewardship activities range in age, size, and geography and represent an increasingly complex and dynamic arrangement of civil society, government and business sectors. To better understand the structure, function and network of these community-based urban land managers, an assessment was conducted in 2004 by the research subcommittee of the Urban Ecology Collaborative. The goal of the assessment was to better understand the role of stewardship organizations engaged in urban ecology initiatives in selected major cities in the Northeastern U.S.: Boston, New Haven, New York City, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. A total of 135 active organizations participated in this assessment. Findings include the discovery of a dynamic social network operating within cities, and a reserve of social capital and expertise that could be better utilized. Although often not the primary land owner, stewardship groups take an increasingly significant responsibility for a wide range of land use types including street and riparian corridors, vacant lots, public parks and gardens, green roofs, etc. Responsibilities include the delivery of public programs as well as daily maintenance and fundraising support. While most of the environmental stewardship organizations operate on staffs of zero or fewer than ten, with small cohorts of community volunteers, there is a significant difference in the total amount of program funding. Nearly all respondents agree that committed resources are scarce and insufficient with stewards relying upon and potentially competing for individual donations, local foundations, and municipal support. This makes it a challenge for the groups to grow beyond their current capacity and to develop long-term programs critical to resource management and education. It also fragments groups, making it difficult for planners and

  14. Mapping the Influence of Land Use/Land Cover Changes on the Urban Heat Island Effect—A Case Study of Changchun, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chaobin Yang

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The spatio-temporal patterns of land use/land cover changes (LUCC can significantly affect the distribution and intensity of the urban heat island (UHI effect. However, few studies have mapped a clear picture of the influence of LUCC on UHI. In this study, both qualitative and quantitative models are employed to explore the effect of LUCC on UHI. UHI and LUCC maps were retrieved from Landsat data acquired from 1984, 1992, 2000, 2007, and 2014 to show their spatiotemporal patterns. The results showed that: (1 both the patterns of LUCC and UHI have had dramatic changes in the past 30 years. The urban area of Changchun increased more than four times, from 143.15 km2 in 1984 to 577.45 km2 in 2014, and the proportion of UHI regions has increased from 15.27% in 1984 to 29.62% in 2014; (2 the spatiotemporal changes in thermal environment were consistent with the process of urbanization. The average LST of the study area has been continuously increasing as many other land use types have been transformed to urban regions. The mean temperatures were higher in urban regions than rural areas over all of the periods, but the UHI intensity varied based on different measurements; and (3 the thermal environment inside the city varied widely even within a small area. The LST possesses a very strong positive relationship with impervious surface area (ISA, and the relationship has become stronger in recent years. The UHI we employ, specifically in this study, is SUHI (surface urban heat island.

  15. A covenant of halflings? developing a roadmap for the european urban transport goal

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gudmundsson, Henrik; Schippl, Jens; Anderton, Karen

    2015-01-01

    ; and to phase them out by 2050; and “To achieve ‘essentially CO2- free city logistics’ in major urban centres by 2030.” This paper describes how the EU FP7 project TRANSFORUM conducted a stakeholder-driven process to produce a roadmap for the urban transport goal. A main conclusion was that the implementation......In the 2011 Transport Policy White Paper, the European Commission introduced ten goals for a more competitive and resource efficient transport system. One of the goal concerns urban transport, with the dual targets: “To halve the use of ‘conventionally-fuelled’ cars in urban transport by 2030...... of a roadmap for urban transport needs to adopt a broad and open approach, given the diversity among member states and cities across Europe. Also it was found that replacing conventional vehicles and fuels is an important but not sufficient strategy to reach the goal. A roadmap to reach towards the ‘halving...

  16. Urban growth in American cities : glimpses of U.S. urbanization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Auch, Roger; Taylor, Janis; Acevedo, William

    2004-01-01

    illustrate the transformation that these areas have undergone over two decades. Specifically, they depict changes in the extent of urban land. Each change pair is composed of one image from the 1970s and one image from the 1990s. Accompanying each image pair is a brief historical geography of factors that helped facilitate major changes that have occurred since the founding of the main city and the consequences and challenges of regional urban growth. The goal of this publication is to provide an illustration of urban change that is easily understood by a broad audience.The images used throughout this booklet were generated from land cover data developed by the USGS. The data sources include the Geographic Information Retrieval and Analysis System (GIRAS) for the 1970s images and the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD) for the 1990s images. GIRAS digital maps are based on photointerpretations completed in the mid-1970s. The NLCD is a land cover dataset for the conterminous United States based on 1992 Landsat thematic mapper (TM) satellite imagery and supplemental data (fig. 1a and fig. 1b). The USGS distributes both of these land use and land cover digital datasets.The images were developed by using a geographic information system (GIS). The GIRAS and NLCD datasets were used to identify urban land within each region. In the final images all urban areas are shown in red. A shaded-relief map of each region was used to display the topographic context of the red polygon coverage. For all of these images, urban land is defined as areas transformed into a built-up environment for human use. It includes residential areas, commercial and industrial developments, transportation features, and institutions.

  17. Taxing land for urban containment : Reflections on a Dutch debate

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Korthals Altes, W.K.

    2009-01-01

    Excessive land use regulations aimed at containing urban sprawl have been criticised, because they may overcompensate for the external effects of uncontrolled greenfield development and contribute to stagnation in house building. Taxes on building in green spaces may be an instrument for balancing

  18. Analysis of Land Use Change and Urbanization in the Kucukcekmece Water Basin (Istanbul, Turkey) with Temporal Satellite Data using Remote Sensing and GIS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coskun, H Gonca; Alganci, Ugur; Usta, Gokce

    2008-11-13

    Accurate and timely information about land use and land cover (LULC) and its changes in urban areas are crucial for urban land management decision-making, ecosystem monitoring and urban planning. Also, monitoring and representation of urban sprawl and its effects on the LULC patterns and hydrological processes of an urbanized watershed is an essential part of water resource planning and management. This paper presents an image analysis study using multi temporal digital satellite imagery of LULC and changes in the Kucukcekmece Watershed (Metropolitan Istanbul, Turkey) from 1992 to 2006. The Kucukcekmece Basin includes portions of the Kucukcekmece District within the municipality of Istanbul so it faces a dramatic urbanization. An urban monitoring analysis approach was first used to implement a land cover classification. A change detection method controlled with ground truth information was then used to determine changes in land cover. During the study period, the variability and magnitude of hydrological components based on land-use patterns were cumulatively influenced by urban sprawl in the watershed. The proposed approach, which uses a combination of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques, is an effective tool that enhances land-use monitoring, planning, and management of urbanized watersheds.

  19. Evaluation of Effecting Parameters on Optimum Arrangement of Urban Land Uses and Assessment of Their Compatibility Using Adjacency Matrix

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaezi, S.; Mesgari, M. S.; Kaviary, F.

    2015-12-01

    Todays, stability of human life is threatened by a set of parameters. So sustainable urban development theory is introduced after the stability theory to protect the urban environment. In recent years, sustainable urban development gains a lot of attraction by different sciences and totally becomes a final target for urban development planners and managers to use resources properly and to establish a balanced relationship among human, community, and nature. Proper distribution of services for decreasing spatial inequalities, promoting the quality of living environment, and approaching an urban stability requires an analytical understanding of the present situation. Understanding the present situation is the first step for making a decision and planning effectively. This paper evaluates effective parameters affecting proper arrangement of land-uses using a descriptive-analytical method, to develop a conceptual framework for understanding of the present situation of urban land-uses, based on the assessment of their compatibility. This study considers not only the local parameters, but also spatial parameters are included in this study. The results indicate that land-uses in the zone considered here are not distributed properly. Considering mentioned parameters and distributing service land-uses effectively cause the better use of these land-uses.

  20. Developing an Agent-Based Model to Simulate Urban Land-Use Expansion (Case Study: Qazvin)

    OpenAIRE

    F. Nourian; A. A. Alesheikh; F. Hosseinali

    2012-01-01

    Extended abstract1-IntroductionUrban land-use expansion is a challenging issue in developing countries. Increases in population as well as the immigration from the villages to the cities are the two major factors for that phenomenon. Those factors have reduced the influence of efforts that try to limit the cities’ boundaries. Thus, spatial planners always look for the models that simulate the expansion of urban land-uses and enable them to prevent unbalanced expansions of cities and guide the...

  1. Vivid valleys, pallid peaks? Hypsometric variations and rural–urban land change in the Central Peruvian Andes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haller, Andreas

    2012-01-01

    What happens to the land cover within the hinterland's altitudinal belts while Central Andean cities are undergoing globalization and urban restructuring? What conclusions can be drawn about changes in human land use? By incorporating a regional altitudinal zonation model, direct field observations and GIS analyses of remotely sensed long term data, the present study examines these questions using the example of Huancayo Metropolitano – an emerging Peruvian mountain city of 420,000 inhabitants, situated at 3260 m asl in the Mantaro Valley. The study's results indicate that rapid urban growth during the late 1980s and early 1990s was followed by the agricultural intensification and peri-urban condominization at the valley floor (quechua) – since the beginning of Peru's neoliberal era. Moreover, regarding the adjoining steep slopes (suni) and subsequent grassland ecosystems (puna), the research output presents land cover change trajectories that clearly show an expansion of human land use, such as reforestation for wood production and range burning for livestock grazing, even at high altitudes – despite rural–urban migration trends and contrary to several results of extra-Andean studies. Consequently, rural–urban planners and policy makers are challenged to focus on the manifold impacts of globalization on human land use – at all altitudinal belts of the Andean city's hinterland: toward sustainable mountain development that bridges the social and physical gaps – from the bottom up. PMID:23564987

  2. Relationships Between Land Use and Stream Nutrient Concentrations in a Highly Urbanized Tropical Region of Brazil: Thresholds and Riparian Zones.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tromboni, F; Dodds, W K

    2017-07-01

    Nutrient enrichment in streams due to land use is increasing globally, reducing water quality and causing eutrophication of downstream fresh and coastal waters. In temperate developed countries, the intensive use of fertilizers in agriculture is a main driver of increasing nutrient concentrations, but high levels and fast rates of urbanization can be a predominant issue in some areas of the developing world. We investigated land use in the highly urbanized tropical State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We collected total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and inorganic nutrient data from 35 independent watersheds distributed across the State and characterized land use at a riparian and entire watershed scales upstream from each sample station, using ArcGIS. We used regression models to explain land use influences on nutrient concentrations and to assess riparian protection relationships to water quality. We found that urban land use was the primary driver of nutrient concentration increases, independent of the scale of analyses and that urban land use was more concentrated in the riparian buffer of streams than in the entire watersheds. We also found significant thresholds that indicated strong increases in nutrient concentrations with modest increases in urbanization reaching maximum nutrient concentrations between 10 and 46% urban cover. These thresholds influenced calculation of reference nutrient concentrations, and ignoring them led to higher estimates of these concentrations. Lack of sewage treatment in concert with urban development in riparian zones apparently leads to the observation that modest increases in urban land use can cause large increases in nutrient concentrations.

  3. Urban land use decouples plant-herbivore-parasitoid interactions at multiple spatial scales.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amanda E Nelson

    Full Text Available Intense urban and agricultural development alters habitats, increases fragmentation, and may decouple trophic interactions if plants or animals cannot disperse to needed resources. Specialist insects represent a substantial proportion of global biodiversity and their fidelity to discrete microhabitats provides a powerful framework for investigating organismal responses to human land use. We sampled site occupancy and densities for two plant-herbivore-parasitoid systems from 250 sites across a 360 km2 urban/agricultural landscape to ask whether and how human development decouples interactions between trophic levels. We compared patterns of site occupancy, host plant density, herbivory and parasitism rates of insects at two trophic levels with respect to landcover at multiple spatial scales. Geospatial analyses were used to identify landcover characters predictive of insect distributions. We found that herbivorous insect densities were decoupled from host tree densities in urban landcover types at several spatial scales. This effect was amplified for the third trophic level in one of the two insect systems: despite being abundant regionally, a parasitoid species was absent from all urban/suburban landcover even where its herbivore host was common. Our results indicate that human land use patterns limit distributions of specialist insects. Dispersal constraints associated with urban built development are specifically implicated as a limiting factor.

  4. Bioclimatic transport stop: Urban equipment kit; Parada bioclimatica de transporte: Kit de equipamiento urbano

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Machado, Maria V; Barroso, Helen; Bonvino, Michelangelo; Puerta, Marigabriela [Instituto de Investigaciones de la Facultad de Arquitectura de la Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo (Venezuela)

    2000-07-01

    Related to the analysis of offer of the urban public transportation, quantity and quality variables are identified, finding in the last one, the related to bus stop designing and equipping. This is, which elements a bus stop has to count with for its insertion in the urban public transportation system: information for the user, bench, trash can, et cetera: generally omitting, relevant aspects that must be considerate in its design and insertion: 1) the urban public transport, 2) the climate variables and 3) renewable energy and environmental preservation. For this presentation, thermal evaluations were made, using a thermal analysis software on prototypes of urban public transportation bus stops existent in Maracaibo (1.6 Mhab.)-Venezuela, city characterized for its high sunning, which duration approximately the same between the day period and night period: and for a marine climate of temperature (27.70 Celsius degrees) and high relative humidity (75%), low precipitation (490 mm) and predominant nor-northeast winds. The year average values of solar radiation corresponds to 5,59 kw/m{sup 2} day for the global radiation, 3.53 kw/m{sup 2} day for the direct radiation (63.1%) and 2.06% kw/m{sup 2} day for the diffuse radiation (36.9%). The maximum average value was obtained in the month of March with 6.4 kw/m{sup 2} day and the minimum on October, 4.7 kw/m{sup 2} day. In the other hand calculations about energy consumption and CO{sub 2} emissions of the conventional bus stop were made. It is proposed a bus stop design conceptualized as the bioclimatic condenser of the urban equipment. Where beside to comply its clearly determined transportation functions, it can conjunct: 1) complementary urban service activities, depending to its categorization in the urban public transportation system of Maracaibo; 2) orientation; 3) regulator of the urban microclima; and 4) area insertion of these. [Spanish] Dentro de lo que corresponde al analisis de la oferta de transporte publico

  5. The Delimitation of Urban Growth Boundaries Using the CLUE-S Land-Use Change Model: Study on Xinzhuang Town, Changshu City, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rui Zhou

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Over the past decades, urban growth boundaries (UGBs have been regarded as effective tools applied by planners and local governments to curb urban sprawl and guide urban smart growth. The UGBs help limit urban development to suitable areas and protect surrounding agricultural and ecological landscapes. At present, China’s Town and Country Planning Act officially requires the delimitation of UGBs in a city master planning outline and in central urban area planning. However, China’s practices in UGBs are usually determined by urban planners and local authorities, and lack a sound analytical basis. Consequently, Chinese UGBs are often proven to be inefficient for controlling urban expansion. In this paper, take the fast-growing Xinzhuang town of Changshu city, eastern China as an example, a new method towards establishing UGBs is proposed based on land-use change model (the Conversion of Land Use and its Effects at Small regional extent, CLUE-S. The results of our study show that the land-use change and urban growth simulation accuracy of CLUE-S model is high. The expansion of construction land and the decrease of paddy field would be the main changing trends of local land use, and a good deal of cultivated land and ecological land would be transformed into construction land in 2009–2027. There is remarkable discordance in the spatial distribution between the simulated UGBs based on the CLUE-S model and the planned UGBs based on the conventional method, where the simulated results may more closely reflect the reality of urban growth laws. Therefore, we believe that our method could be a useful planning tool for the delimitation of UGBs in Chinese cities.

  6. Land tenure insecurity and rural-urban migration in rural China

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ma Xian lei, Xianlei; Heerink, N.B.M.; Ierland, van E.C.; Shi Xiaoping, X.

    2016-01-01

    This paper examines the impact of land tenure security perceptions on rural-urban migration decisions of rural households, using data collected in Minle County in Northwest China. We find that tenure security perceptions play a significant role in household migration decisions in villages without

  7. Assessment of CHSST maglev for U.S. urban transportation

    Science.gov (United States)

    2002-07-01

    This report provides an assessment of the Urban Maglev system proposed by the Maglev Urban Systems Associates MUSA team for application in the United States. The proposed system is the Japanese Chubu high speed surface transportation (HSST) Maglev wh...

  8. Sand transport in urbanized beaches - models and reality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pineiro, G.; Norbis, W.; Panario, D.

    2012-01-01

    The general objective is to quantify the wind transport of sand in the urbanized beaches. The specific objectives include testing and calibration of the wind velocity as well as the classification of the beaches according to the magnitude and the direction of sand transport

  9. Development of an Interdisciplinary Workshop in Urban Transportation. Final Substantive Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foa, Joseph V.

    This project has developed an interdisciplinary graduate workshop in transportation engineering to acquaint students with problems of urban transportation and the role of various disciplines in dealing with these problems. It provides an opportunity for students from the fields of engineering, urban and regional planning, and economics to interact…

  10. Key Challenges and Potential Urban Modelling Opportunities in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Chris Wray

    1Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO), a partnership between the University of ... and guide urban development that is socially, economically and ecologically .... new transport network link may result in an increased investment in land and .... determinants of urban growth in the period 1993-2000 through a case study ...

  11. Integration of LUTI models into sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMPs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nikolaos Gavanas

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available A literature review indicates that there is an increasing number of Land Use/Transport Interaction (LUTI models being used in policy analysis and support of urban land use, transport and environmental planning. In this context, LUTI models are considered to be useful for the development of scenarios during the preparatory stage of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs. A SUMP can be defined as a strategic planning framework, proposed by the European Commission, for planning and design of an urban multimodal transport system, which combines multi-disciplinary policy analysis and decision making. The objective of a SUMP is to achieve sustainable urban mobility, i.e. accessibility for all, safety and security, reduction in emissions and energy consumption, efficient and cost-effective transport and an improvement in the urban environment. Based on the overall conceptual and methodological framework of LUTI models (Geurs and van Wee 2004, the scope of the proposed research is to fully integrate a LUTI model into a contemporary transport planning framework and, more specifically, into the SUMP structure. This paper focuses on the configuration of the integration pattern, according to which a LUTI model may evolve and interact with the planning process throughout the eleven elements of the SUMP, as well as the evaluation of the benefits and drawbacks from the implementation of the proposed pattern for the enhancement of SUMP and overall promotion of sustainable urban planning.

  12. Land Subdivision in Peri-Urban Areas of Sub-Saharan African Cities ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    USER

    , ... development costs substantially, making it difficult in particular for the urban poor ... data and case studies detailing informal land subdivision largely drawn from ..... in a partnership for the unified planning, servicing and subdivision of their ...

  13. Analysis of forecasting methods of cargo flows in International transportation by land transport

    OpenAIRE

    Ponomareva, N.

    2005-01-01

    Advantages and disadvantages of the existing forecasting methods of cargo flows are presented. The improvement of cargo flows forecasting method in international transportation by land transport is considered on the basis of a interregional balance model to get more correct and fuller forecast.

  14. Technology of Urban, Interurban and Rural Passenger Transport

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gordana Štefančić

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available The work will consider the significance of various publictransport modes, since different methods of travel that form thetransport system are interconnected. The application of thelevel of service in one mode influences other transport modesand changes depending on the type of travel and is divided inthree groups: urban, interurban and rural travel. In consideringthe significance of urban public transport there are three levelsof trip-end generation/attraction, with which six types of urbantravel can be identified. lnterurban travel is presented throughtwo main transport modes, rail and bus. Apart from businesstrips, air travel is relatively insignificant, primarily because ofthe prices and small distances. In rural areas, characterized bylow population density, there is the problem of travelling of theelderly people, as well as those without cars, as the difficulty ofproviding economic public transport services has increased becausethe number of carried passengers is small. This results inthe reduction in mobility and the quality of life. Attempts havebeen made to improve the standard of provision of public transportservices by introducing unconventional transport means.

  15. Urban Property Taxation: II. Land and Location. Exchange Bibliography 480.

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Anthony G.

    This is one of three related bibliographies listing publications dealing with the broad topic of property taxation. This particular volume concerns some specialized fields of study, including locational theory, land use and taxation, property markets and valuation, housing, and urban renewal and redevelopment. Citations are listed alphabetically…

  16. How species traits and affinity to urban land use control large-scale species frequency

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Knapp, Sonja; Kuehn, Ingolf; Bakker, Jan P.; Kleyer, Michael; Klotz, Stefan; Ozinga, Wim A.; Poschlod, Peter; Thompson, Ken; Thuiller, Wilfried; Roemermann, Christine

    Although urban areas only occupy c. 2.8% of the earth's land surface, urbanization threatens biodiversity as areas of high human population density often coincide with high biodiversity. Therefore, nature conservation should concentrate on both remote areas and densely populated regions. Protecting

  17. How species traits and affinity to urban land use control large-scale species frequency

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Knapp, S.; Kuhn, I.; Bakker, J.P.; Kleyer, M.; Klotz, S.; Ozinga, W.A.; Poschlod, P.; Thompson, K.; Thuiller, W.; Romermann, C.

    2009-01-01

    Although urban areas only occupy c. 2.8% of the earth's land surface, urbanization threatens biodiversity as areas of high human population density often coincide with high biodiversity. Therefore, nature conservation should concentrate on both remote areas and densely populated regions. Protecting

  18. A Multilayer perspective for the analysis of urban transportation systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aleta, Alberto; Meloni, Sandro; Moreno, Yamir

    2017-03-15

    Public urban mobility systems are composed by several transportation modes connected together. Most studies in urban mobility and planning often ignore the multi-layer nature of transportation systems considering only aggregated versions of this complex scenario. In this work we present a model for the representation of the transportation system of an entire city as a multiplex network. Using two different perspectives, one in which each line is a layer and one in which lines of the same transportation mode are grouped together, we study the interconnected structure of 9 different cities in Europe raging from small towns to mega-cities like London and Berlin highlighting their vulnerabilities and possible improvements. Finally, for the city of Zaragoza in Spain, we also consider data about service schedule and waiting times, which allow us to create a simple yet realistic model for urban mobility able to reproduce real-world facts and to test for network improvements.

  19. Integrated policy analysis of sustainable urban and transportation development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zhang, J.; Feng, T.; Fujiwara, A.; Fujiwara, A.; Zhang, Junyi

    2013-01-01

    Sustainable urban and transportation development needs to balance economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, and social equity. This study conducts integrated policy analyses by explicitly incorporating these sustainability goals and optimizing the performance of transportation networks.

  20. Land Cover Change and Remote Sensing in the Classroom: An Exercise to Study Urban Growth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delahunty, Tina; Lewis-Gonzales, Sarah; Phelps, Jack; Sawicki, Ben; Roberts, Charles; Carpenter, Penny

    2012-01-01

    The processes and implications of urban growth are studied in a variety of disciplines as urban growth affects both the physical and human landscape. Remote sensing methods provide ways to visualize and mathematically represent urban growth; and resultant land cover change data enable both quantitative and qualitative analysis. This article helps…

  1. Developing land market data for use in a state wide land use and transportation model

    Science.gov (United States)

    1997-10-01

    This working paper describes the process used to develop land market variables : for use by TRANUS in the Transportation and Land Use Model Integration : Program (TLUMIP). One of the key variables developed during this phase of the : project is the m...

  2. EnviroAtlas - Pittsburgh, PA - Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data (2010)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The EnviroAtlas Pittsburgh, PA Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) data was generated from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural...

  3. Effects of Green Space and Land Use/Land Cover on Urban Heat Island in a Subtropical Mega-city in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qiu, G. Y.; Li, X.; Li, H.; Guo, Q.

    2014-12-01

    With the quick expansion of urban in size and population, its urban heat island intensity (UHII, expressed as the temperature difference between urban and rural areas) increased rapidly. However, very few studies could quantitatively reveal the effects of green space and land use/land cover (LULC) on urban thermal environment because of lacking of the detailed measurement. This study focuses on quantifying the effects of green space and LULC on urban Heat Island (UHI) in Shenzhen, a mega subtropical city in China. Extensive measurements (air temperature and humidity) were made by mobile traverse method in a transect of 8 km in length, where a variety of LULC types were included. Measurements were carried out at 2 hours interval for 2 years (totally repeated for 7011 times). According to LULC types, we selected 5 different LULC types for studying, including water body, village in the city, shopping center (commercial area), urban green space (well-vegetated area) and suburb (forest). The main conclusions are obtained as follows: (1) The temperature difference between the 5 different urban landscapes is obvious, i.e. shopping center > village in the city > urban water body > urban green space > suburb; (2) Air temperature and UHII decreases linearly with the increase of green space in urban; (3) Green space and water body in urban have obvious effects to reduce the air temperature by evapotranspiration. Compared to the commercial areas, urban water body can relieve the IUHI by 0.9℃, while the urban green space can relieve the IUHI by 1.57℃. The cooling effect of the urban green space is better than that of the urban water body; (4) Periodic activity of human being has obvious effects on urban air temperature. The UHII on Saturday and Sunday are higher than that from Monday to Friday, respectively higher for 0.65, 0.57, 0.26 and 0.21℃. Thursday and Friday have the minimum air temperature and UHII. These results indicate that increase in urban evapotranspiration

  4. Sediment sources in an urbanizing, mixed land-use watershed

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, Erin J.; Booth, Derek B.

    2002-07-01

    The Issaquah Creek watershed is a rapidly urbanizing watershed of 144 km 2 in western Washington, where sediment aggradation of the main channel and delivery of fine sediment into a large downstream lake have raised increasingly frequent concerns over flooding, loss of fish habitat, and degraded water quality. A watershed-scale sediment budget was evaluated to determine the relative effects of land-use practices, including urbanization, on sediment supply and delivery, and to guide management responses towards the most effective source-reduction strategies. Human activity in the watershed, particularly urban development, has caused an increase of nearly 50% in the annual sediment yield, now estimated to be 44 tonnes km -2 yr -1. The main sources of sediment in the watershed are landslides (50%), channel-bank erosion (20%), and road-surface erosion (15%). This assessment characterizes the role of human activity in mixed-use watersheds such as this, and it demonstrates some of the key processes, particularly enhanced stream-channel erosion, by which urban development alters sediment loads.

  5. Model to predict radiological consequences of transportation accidents involving dispersal of radioactive material in urban areas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taylor, J.M.; Daniel, S.L.

    1978-01-01

    The analysis of accidental releases of radioactive material which may result from transportation accidents in high-density urban areas is influenced by several urban characteristics which make computer simulation the calculational method of choice. These urban features fall into four categories. Each of these categories contains time- and location-dependent parameters which must be coupled to the actual time and location of the release in the calculation of the anticipated radiological consequences. Due to the large number of dependent parameters a computer model, METRAN, has been developed to quantify these radiological consequences. Rather than attempt to describe an urban area as a single entity, a specific urban area is subdivided into a set of cells of fixed size to permit more detailed characterization. Initially, the study area is subdivided into a set of 2-dimensional cells. A uniform set of time-dependent physical characteristics which describe the land use, population distribution, traffic density, etc., within that cell are then computed from various data sources. The METRAN code incorporates several details of urban areas. A principal limitation of the analysis is the limited availability of accurate information to use as input data. Although the code was originally developed to analyze dispersal of radioactive material, it is currently being evaluated for use in analyzing the effects of dispersal of other hazardous materials in both urban and rural areas

  6. ANALYTICAL AND SIMULATION PLANNING MODEL OF URBAN PASSENGER TRANSPORT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrey Borisovich Nikolaev

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The article described the structure of the analytical and simulation models to make informed decisions in the planning of urban passenger transport. Designed UML diagram that describes the relationship of classes of the proposed model. A description of the main agents of the model developed in the simulation AnyLogic. Designed user interface integration with GIS map. Also provides simulation results that allow concluding about her health and the possibility of its use in solving planning problems of urban passenger transport.

  7. Daytime urban heat islands from Landsat ETM+ and Corine land cover data: An application to major cities in Greece

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stathopoulou, Marina; Cartalis, Constantinos [Remote Sensing and Image Processing Laboratory, Division of Applied Physics, Department of Physics, Building PHYS-5, University Campus, 157 84 Athens (Greece)

    2007-03-15

    Satellite images in the thermal infrared can be used for assessing the thermal urban environment as well as for defining heat islands in urban areas. In this study, the thermal environment of major cities in Greece (Athens, Thessaloniki, Patra, Volos and Heraklion) is examined using satellite images provided by the Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) sensor on board Landsat 7 satellite corresponding to the daytime and warm period when the surface urban heat island (SUHI) phenomenon is best observed. The spatial structure of the thermal urban environment is analyzed in each case study and the ''hottest'' surfaces within the urban settings are identified and related to the urban surface characteristics and land use. For the needs of the study, the Corine land cover (CLC) database for Greece is also used, in an effort to define more effectively the link between surface emissivities, land surface temperatures and urban surface characteristics. (author)

  8. The Influence of Built-Form and Land Use on Mode Choice

    OpenAIRE

    Reilly, Michael; Landis, John

    2003-01-01

    Although land use planning and urban design are increasingly touted as powerful tools for influencing transportation behavior, only modest empirical evidence for this relationship exists. Here, the results from a two-day activity diary are combined with innovative GIS-based measures of urban form and land use pattern to statistically test potential influences on non-commute home-based mode choice. Local measurement at multiple scales is promoted as a realistic means of quantifying an individu...

  9. Transportation of radionuclides in urban environs: draft environmental assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Finley, N.C.; Aldrich, D.C.; Daniel, S.L.; Ericson, D.M.; Henning-Sachs, C.; Kaestner, P.C.; Ortiz, N.R.; Sheldon, D.D.; Taylor, J.M.

    1980-07-01

    This report assesses the environmental consequences of the transportation of radioactive materials in densely populated urban areas, including estimates of the radiological, nonradiological, and social impacts arising from this process. The chapters of the report and the appendices which follow detail the methodology and results for each of four causative event categories: incident free transport, vehicular accidents, human errors or deviations from accepted quality assurance practices, and sabotage or malevolent acts. The numerical results are expressed in terms of the expected radiological and economic impacts from each. Following these discussions, alternatives to the current transport practice are considered. Then, the detailed analysis is extended from a limited area of New York city to other urban areas. The appendices contain the data bases and specific models used to evaluate these impacts, as well as discussions of chemical toxicity and the social impacts of radioactive material transport in urban areas. The latter are evaluated for each causative event category in terms of psychological, sociological, political, legal, and organizational impacts. The report is followed by an extensive bibliography covering the many fields of study which were required in performing the analysis.

  10. Capacity Development for Sustainable Urban Transportation in Developing Countries

    OpenAIRE

    Senbil, Metin; Fujiwara, Akimasa; Zhang, Junyi

    2008-01-01

    To make urban transport sustainable, effective and efficient, first and foremost, there is a need for capacity development-capacity is defined as the ability to deal with problems in efficient and effective ways-in developing countries. Apart from many important capacity related problems such as lack of adequate infrastructure, older vehicle population, etc., policy makers in developing countries have to consider changing individual behavior to realize sustainable urban transportation policie...

  11. Spatial variations of storm runoff pollution and their correlation with land-use in a rapidly urbanizing catchment in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qin, Hua-Peng; Khu, Soon-Thiam; Yu, Xiang-Ying

    2010-09-15

    The composition of land use for a rapidly urbanizing catchment is usually heterogeneous, and this may result in significant spatial variations of storm runoff pollution and increase the difficulties of water quality management. The Shiyan Reservoir catchment, a typical rapidly urbanizing area in China, is chosen as a study area, and temporary monitoring sites were set at the downstream of its 6 sub-catchments to synchronously measure rainfall, runoff and water quality during 4 storm events in 2007 and 2009. Due to relatively low frequency monitoring, the IHACRES and exponential pollutant wash-off simulation models are used to interpolate the measured data to compensate for data insufficiency. Three indicators, event pollutant loads per unit area (EPL), event mean concentration (EMC) and pollutant loads transported by the first 50% of runoff volume (FF50), were used to describe the runoff pollution for different pollutants in each sub-catchment during the storm events, and the correlations between runoff pollution spatial variations and land-use patterns were tested by Spearman's rank correlation analysis. The results indicated that similar spatial variation trends were found for different pollutants (EPL or EMC) in light storm events, which strongly correlate with the proportion of residential land use; however, they have different trends in heavy storm events, which correlate with not only the residential land use, but also agricultural and bare land use. And some pairs of pollutants (such as COD/BOD, NH(3)-N/TN) might have the similar source because they have strong or moderate positive spatial correlation. Moreover, the first flush intensity (FF50) varies with impervious land areas and different interception ratio of initial storm runoff volume should be adopted in different sub-catchments. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Conference on Transportation and Urban Life

    CERN Document Server

    Wenzel, H

    1976-01-01

    All the papers in this volume were presented at a conference on Transportation and Urban Life, held in Munich during the third week of September, 1975. The conference was sponsored by the Special Programme Panels on Systems Science and Human Factors of the Science Committee of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The distinguishing characteristic of the conference and of this volume lies in the combination of systems science and human factors contributions in the field of urban transportation. The initiative for attempting such a synthesis came from the sponsors. It is increasingly realised that the complexity of contemporary problems which applied scientists are being asked to solve is such that the coordinated efforts of several disciplines are needed to solve them. The brief which we formulated for the conference and distribu­ ted in our international call for papers was as follows: "The conference is intended to highlight significant psycho­ logical, SOCiological and economic aspects of transportatio...

  13. EnviroAtlas - Austin, TX - Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data (2010)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Austin, TX EnviroAtlas One Meter-scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data were generated from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural...

  14. Generation and Assessment of Urban Land Cover Maps Using High-Resolution Multispectral Aerial Images

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Höhle, Joachim; Höhle, Michael

    2013-01-01

    a unique method for the automatic generation of urban land cover maps. In the present paper, imagery of a new medium-format aerial camera and advanced geoprocessing software are applied to derive normalized digital surface models and vegetation maps. These two intermediate products then become input...... to a tree structured classifier, which automatically derives land cover maps in 2D or 3D. We investigate the thematic accuracy of the produced land cover map by a class-wise stratified design and provide a method for deriving necessary sample sizes. Corresponding survey adjusted accuracy measures...... and their associated confidence intervals are used to adequately reflect uncertainty in the assessment based on the chosen sample size. Proof of concept for the method is given for an urban area in Switzerland. Here, the produced land cover map with six classes (building, wall and carport, road and parking lot, hedge...

  15. Effects of urban sprawl on agricultural land: a case study of Kahramanmaraş, Turkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doygun, Hakan

    2009-11-01

    The main objective of this study is to quantify areal loss of olive groves due to urban sprawl of the city of Kahramanmaraş, Turkey. Spatial changes were analysed by interpreting the digitized data derived from a black-white monoscopic aerial photograph taken in 1985, panchromatic IKONOS image of 2000 and two pan-sharpened Quickbird images of 2004 and 2006. Data obtained revealed that the area of olive groves decreased by 25% from 460.55 ha in 1985 to 344.46 in 2006, while the number of parcels increased from 170 to 445. Of the total areal loss, 60% was due to building constructions, with the rest being due to clear-cut for new residential gardens composed of exotic plants, new buildings, or new roads. Rapid population growth, increased land prices due to urban expansion, and abandonment of agricultural practices to construction of multi-storey buildings were the main causes of the process that transformed the olive groves into urbanized areas. Results pointed to an urgent need to (1) revise the national and municipal land management practices, (2) balance the gap between the short- and long-term economic benefits that urban and community development plans ignore, and (3) monitor land-use changes periodically by using high resolution satellite images.

  16. Urban Road Transportation in Nigeria From 1960 To 2006 ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Choice-Academy

    The nature of urban road transportation problems in Nigeria as at today can .... study. These are: Road network development between 1960 and 2006 ... roads in the Western region was tarred, ..... other smaller transport system (in this case.

  17. EnviroAtlas - Portland, ME - Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data (2010)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The EnviroAtlas Portland, ME Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) data was generated from USDA NAIP (National Agricultural Imagery Program) four band (red, green,...

  18. Sustainability in urban transport plans. Case study: Monorail in a hillside area in Medellin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pineda Jaramillo, J.D.

    2016-07-01

    One of the most important concepts today is the incorporation of sustainability in urban transport plans. This paper presents the importance that sustainable urban transport plans must have on mobility policy in cities. It also shows the factors that make a transportation mode like urban railway be sustainable. Finally, the Monorail project in the Metropolitan Green Belt (Medellín-Colombia) is presented, showing its implication on the mobility in this low-income region and its integration with urban and regional plans. (Author)

  19. Simulating the dynamic effect of land use and transport policies on the health of populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McClure, Roderick J; Adriazola-Steil, Claudia; Mulvihill, Christine; Fitzharris, Michael; Salmon, Paul; Bonnington, C Paul; Stevenson, Mark

    2015-04-01

    We identified the features of a land use-transportation system that optimizes the health and well-being of the population. We developed a quantitative system dynamics model to represent relationships among land use, transport, economic development, and population health. Simulation experiments were conducted over a 10-year simulation period to compare the effect of different baseline conditions and land use-transport policies on the number of motor vehicle crash deaths and disability-adjusted life years lost. Optimal reduction in the public health burden attributable to land transport was demonstrated when transport safety risk reduction policies were combined with land use and transport polices that minimized reliance on individual motorized transport and maximized use of active transport modes. The model's results were particularly sensitive to the level of development that characterized each city at the start of the simulation period. Local, national, and international decision-makers are encouraged to address transport, land use, and health as an integrated whole to achieve the desired societal benefits of traffic safety, population health, and social equity.

  20. Transportation barriers to accessing health care for urban children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Serena; Zarr, Robert L; Kass-Hout, Taha A; Kourosh, Atoosa; Kelly, Nancy R

    2006-11-01

    The Texas Children's Hospital Residents' Primary Care Group Clinic provides primary care to urban low-income children. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the impact of transportation problems on a family's ability to keep an appointment. One hundred eighty-three caregivers of children with an appointment were interviewed. Caregivers who kept their appointment were compared with those who did not with respect to demographic and transportation-related characteristics. Logistic regression modeling predicted caregivers with the following characteristics were more likely not to keep an appointment: not using a car to the last kept appointment, not keeping an appointment in the past due to transportation problems, having more than two people in the household, and not keeping an appointment in the past due to reasons other than transportation problems. Future research should focus on developing interventions to help low-income urban families overcome non-financial access barriers, including transportation problems.

  1. Impact of Urban Climate Landscape Patterns on Land Surface Temperature in Wuhan, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yasha Wang

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Facing urban warming, mitigation and adaptation strategies are not efficient enough to tackle excessive urban heat, especially at the local scale. The local climate zone (LCZ classification scheme is employed to examine the diversity and complexity of the climate response within a city. This study suggests that zonal practice could be an efficient way to bridge the knowledge gap between climate research and urban planning. Urban surfaces classified by LCZ are designated as urban climate landscapes, which extends the LCZ concept to urban planning applications. Selecting Wuhan as a case study, we attempt to explore the climatic effect of landscape patterns. Thermal effects are compared across the urban climate landscapes, and the relationships between patch metrics and land surface temperature (LST are quantified. Results indicate that climate landscape layout is a considerable factor impacting local urban climate. For Wuhan, 500 m is an optimal scale for exploring landscape pattern-temperature relationships. Temperature contrast between surrounding landscape patches has a major influence on LST. Generally, fragmental landscape patches contribute to heat release. For most climate landscape types, patch metrics also have a significant effect on thermal response. When three metrics are included as predictive variables, 53.3% of the heating intensity variation can be explained for the Large Lowrise landscape, while 57.4% of the cooling intensity variation can be explained for the Water landscape. Therefore, this article claims that land-based layout optimization strategy at local scale, which conforms to planning manner, should be taken into account in terms of heat management.

  2. EnviroAtlas - Fresno, CA - Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data (2010)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Fresno, CA EnviroAtlas Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data were generated via supervised classification of combined aerial photography and LiDAR data. The...

  3. EnviroAtlas - Tampa, FL - Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data (2010)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The EnviroAtlas Tampa, FL Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) data was generated from USDA NAIP (National Agricultural Imagery Program) four band (red, green, blue...

  4. EnviroAtlas - Portland, OR - Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data (2012)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The EnviroAtlas Portland, OR Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) dataset includes data for the Portland metropolitan area plus the city of Vancouver, Washington and...

  5. EnviroAtlas - Woodbine, IA - Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data (2011)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The EnviroAtlas Woodbine, IA Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) data and map were generated from USDA NAIP (National Agricultural Imagery Program) four band (red,...

  6. EnviroAtlas - Phoenix, AZ - Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data (2010)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The EnviroAtlas Phoenix, AZ Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) data and map were generated from USDA NAIP (National Agricultural Imagery Program) four band (red,...

  7. EnviroAtlas - Durham, NC - Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data (2010)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The EnviroAtlas Durham, NC Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) data was generated from USDA NAIP (National Agricultural Imagery Program) four band (red, green, blue...

  8. The challenge of sustainable mobility in urban planning and development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xue, Jin; Næss, Petter; Yao, Yinmei

    2011-01-01

    The theme of this article is how the challenge of sustainable mobility has been dealt with in urban planning and urban development in the metropolitan areas of Copenhagen (Denmark) and Hangzhou (China). The two metropolises have followed different trajectories in their land use and transport...

  9. Global assessment of rural-urban interface in Portugal related to land cover changes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tonini, Marj; Parente, Joana; Pereira, Mário G.

    2018-06-01

    The rural-urban interface (RUI), known as the area where structures and other human developments meet or intermingle with wildland and rural area, is at present a central focus of wildfire policy and its mapping is crucial for wildfire management. In the Mediterranean Basin, humans cause the vast majority of fires and fire risk is particularly high in the proximity of infrastructure and of rural/wildland areas. RUI's extension changes under the pressure of environmental and anthropogenic factors, such as urban growth, fragmentation of rural areas, deforestation and, more in general, land use/land cover change (LULCC). As with other Mediterranean countries, Portugal has experienced significant LULCC in the last decades in response to migration, rural abandonment, ageing of population and trends associated with the high socioeconomic development. In the present study, we analyzed the LULCC occurring in this country in the 1990-2012 period with the main objective of investigating how these changes affected RUI's evolution. Moreover, we performed a qualitative and quantitative characterization of burnt areas within the RUI in relation to the observed changes. Obtained results disclose important LULCC and reveal their spatial distribution, which is far from uniform within the territory. A significant increase in artificial surfaces was registered near the main metropolitan communities of the northwest, littoral-central and southern regions, whilst the abandonment of agricultural land near the inland urban areas led to an increase in uncultivated semi-natural and forest areas. Within agricultural areas, heterogeneous patches suffered the greatest changes and were the main contributors to the increase in urban areas; moreover, this land cover class, together with forests, was highly affected by wildfires in terms of burnt area. Finally, from this analysis and during the investigated period, it appears that RUI increased in Portugal by more than two-thirds, while the total

  10. Global assessment of rural–urban interface in Portugal related to land cover changes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Tonini

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available The rural–urban interface (RUI, known as the area where structures and other human developments meet or intermingle with wildland and rural area, is at present a central focus of wildfire policy and its mapping is crucial for wildfire management. In the Mediterranean Basin, humans cause the vast majority of fires and fire risk is particularly high in the proximity of infrastructure and of rural/wildland areas. RUI's extension changes under the pressure of environmental and anthropogenic factors, such as urban growth, fragmentation of rural areas, deforestation and, more in general, land use/land cover change (LULCC. As with other Mediterranean countries, Portugal has experienced significant LULCC in the last decades in response to migration, rural abandonment, ageing of population and trends associated with the high socioeconomic development. In the present study, we analyzed the LULCC occurring in this country in the 1990–2012 period with the main objective of investigating how these changes affected RUI's evolution. Moreover, we performed a qualitative and quantitative characterization of burnt areas within the RUI in relation to the observed changes. Obtained results disclose important LULCC and reveal their spatial distribution, which is far from uniform within the territory. A significant increase in artificial surfaces was registered near the main metropolitan communities of the northwest, littoral-central and southern regions, whilst the abandonment of agricultural land near the inland urban areas led to an increase in uncultivated semi-natural and forest areas. Within agricultural areas, heterogeneous patches suffered the greatest changes and were the main contributors to the increase in urban areas; moreover, this land cover class, together with forests, was highly affected by wildfires in terms of burnt area. Finally, from this analysis and during the investigated period, it appears that RUI increased in Portugal by more than two

  11. Comprehensive Regional Modeling for Long-Range Planning: Linking Integrated Urban Models and Geographic Information Systems

    OpenAIRE

    Johnston, Robert; de la Barra, Thomas

    2000-01-01

    This study demonstrates the sequential linking of two types of models to permit the comprehensive evaluation of regional transportation and land use policies. First, we operate an integrated urban model (TRANUS), which represents both land and travel markets with zones and networks. The travel and land use projections from TRANUS are outlined, to demonstrate the general reasonableness of the results, as this is the first application of a market-based urban model in the US. Second, the land us...

  12. The Role of Vegetation in Mitigating Urban Land Surface Temperatures: A Case Study of Munich, Germany during the Warm Season

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sadroddin Alavipanah

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The Urban Heat Island (UHI is the phenomenon of altered increased temperatures in urban areas compared to their rural surroundings. UHIs grow and intensify under extreme hot periods, such as during heat waves, which can affect human health and also increase the demand for energy for cooling. This study applies remote sensing and land use/land cover (LULC data to assess the cooling effect of varying urban vegetation cover, especially during extreme warm periods, in the city of Munich, Germany. To compute the relationship between Land Surface Temperature (LST and Land Use Land Cover (LULC, MODIS eight-day interval LST data for the months of June, July and August from 2002 to 2012 and the Corine Land Cover (CLC database were used. Due to similarities in the behavior of surface temperature of different CLCs, some classes were reclassified and combined to form two major, rather simplified, homogenized classes: one of built-up area and one of urban vegetation. The homogenized map was merged with the MODIS eight-day interval LST data to compute the relationship between them. The results revealed that (i the cooling effect accrued from urban vegetation tended to be non-linear; and (ii a remarkable and stronger cooling effect in terms of LST was identified in regions where the proportion of vegetation cover was between seventy and almost eighty percent per square kilometer. The results also demonstrated that LST within urban vegetation was affected by the temperature of the surrounding built-up and that during the well-known European 2003 heat wave, suburb areas were cooler from the core of the urbanized region. This study concluded that the optimum green space for obtaining the lowest temperature is a non-linear trend. This could support urban planning strategies to facilitate appropriate applications to mitigate heat-stress in urban area.

  13. Performance of Urban Transit in Jordan

    OpenAIRE

    Dr. Hashem R. Al-Masaeid; Amir Shtayat

    2016-01-01

    Urban public transit has essential and active role for sustainable and balanced socio-economic and environmental development. This study investigated the performance of urban public transit services in three major cities in Jordan, including Amman, Irbid, and Zarqa. Accessibility, mobility, productivity, punctuality, waiting time and comfort of public transit were investigated in the study. Data were obtained from Land Transport RegulatoryCommission of Jordan, municipalities, and ...

  14. Modelling transport of storm-water pollutants using the distributed Multi-Hydro platform on an urban catchment near Paris

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Yi; Bonhomme, Celine; Giangola-Murzyn, Agathe; Schertzer, Daniel; Chebbo, Ghassan

    2015-04-01

    Nowadays, the increasingly use of vehicles causes expanding contaminated storm-water runoff from roads and the associated quarters. Besides, the current utilization of city's separated sewer systems underlines the needs for evaluating precisely the growing impact of these polluted effluents on receiving water bodies. Nevertheless, traditional means of water quality modelling had shown its limits (Kanso, 2004), more accurate modelling schemes are hence required. In this paper, we found that the application of physically based and fully distributed model coupled with detailed high-resolution data is a promising approach to reproduce the various dynamics and interactions of water quantity/quality processes in urban or peri-urban environment. Over recent years, the physically based and spatially distributed numerical platform Multi-Hydro (MH) has been developed at Ecole des Ponts ParisTech (El-Tabach et al. , 2009 ; Gires et al., 2013 ; Giangola-Murzyn et al., 2014). This platform is particularly adapted for representing the hydrological processes for medium size watersheds, including the surface runoff, drainage water routing and the infiltrations on permeable zones. It is formed by the interactive coupling of several independent modules, which depend on generally used open-access models. In the framework of the ANR (French National Agency for Research) Trafipollu project, a new extension of MH, MH-quality, was set up for the water-quality modelling. MH-quality was used for the simulation of pollutant transport on a peri-urban and highly trafficked catchment located near Paris (Le Perreux-sur-Marne, 0.2 km2). The set-up of this model is based on the detailed description of urban land use features. For this purpose, 15 classes of urban land uses relevant to water quality modelling were defined in collaboration with the National Institute of Geography of France (IGN) using Digital Orthophoto Quadrangles (5cm). The delimitation of the urban catchment was then performed

  15. The Fusion Model of Intelligent Transportation Systems Based on the Urban Traffic Ontology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Wang-Dong; Wang, Tao

    On these issues unified representation of urban transport information using urban transport ontology, it defines the statute and the algebraic operations of semantic fusion in ontology level in order to achieve the fusion of urban traffic information in the semantic completeness and consistency. Thus this paper takes advantage of the semantic completeness of the ontology to build urban traffic ontology model with which we resolve the problems as ontology mergence and equivalence verification in semantic fusion of traffic information integration. Information integration in urban transport can increase the function of semantic fusion, and reduce the amount of data integration of urban traffic information as well enhance the efficiency and integrity of traffic information query for the help, through the practical application of intelligent traffic information integration platform of Changde city, the paper has practically proved that the semantic fusion based on ontology increases the effect and efficiency of the urban traffic information integration, reduces the storage quantity, and improve query efficiency and information completeness.

  16. Theorizing the Concept of Urban Public Transportation Institutional Framework in Malaysia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abd Rahman Noor Ashikin

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The trends in transportation have been changing and will continue to change over the years. Urban dwellers in developing countries require and demand for mobility and accessibility at the same growth rate of these urban areas. Often, this demand is accommodated by the increased number of private vehicles. Development of a country is closely linked with the transportation system facilities thus will have a positive impact on the economic growth and social fabric of a country. The traffic issues are always associated with private vehicles especially in any developing cities such as the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. A practical, efficient and effective transport system includes traffic management, public transport, road network and infrastructure. However, sadly, at present, the traffic problems in Malaysia are resulted from ineffective public transport system which is not methodically integrated from one place to another, therefore, forcing the people to use private vehicles for daily exercise. An integrated and comprehensive approach is required as it enhances the regulatory framework, planning structure and level of services delivered. For that reason, this paper reviews the magnitude of urban public transportation institutional framework in order to improve the people’s mobility, also to respond to the major problem of urban public transportation in the major city of Malaysia. This study therefore applies a case study design and relies very much on qualitative data encompassing policies and guidelines. The findings were drawn from an early investigation of the Malaysian institutional public transport framework through literature review which looks closely into the management structure, as well as the implementation of public transportation system and its enforcement.

  17. Firm dynamic analysis for urban land use and economic growth modelling

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Che'Man, N.; Sabri, S.; Hosni, N.; Timmermans, H.J.P.

    2013-01-01

    In urban growth processes, urbanisation is highly influenced by economic growth which triggers the dynamics of economic agents and land uses. This is consisted of complex subsystems which need sophisticated methods like agent-based modelling and simulation to understand the pattern, behaviour and

  18. Desperately Seeking Sustainability: Urban Shrinkage, Land Consumption and Regional Planning in a Mediterranean Metropolitan Area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luca Salvati

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Land degradation has expanded in the Mediterranean region as a result of a variety of factors, including economic and population growth, land-use changes and climate variations. The level of land vulnerability to degradation and its growth over time are distributed heterogeneously over space, concentrating on landscapes exposed to high human pressure. The present study investigates the level of land vulnerability to degradation in a shrinking urban area (Rome, Italy at four points in time (1960, 1990, 2000 and 2010 and it identifies relevant factors negatively impacting the quality of land and the level of landscape fragmentation. A multi-domain assessment of land vulnerability incorporating indicators of climate quality, soil quality, vegetation quality and land management quality was carried out based on the Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA framework. The highest rate of growth in the level of land vulnerability was observed in low-density suburban areas. The peri-urban mosaic formed by coastal woodlands and traditional cropland preserved high-quality land with a stable degree of vulnerability over time. Evidence suggests that the agro-forest mosaic surrounding Mediterranean cities act as a “buffer zone” mitigating on-site and off-site land degradation. The conservation of relict natural landscapes is a crucial target for multi-scale policies combating land degradation in suburban dry regions.

  19. THE CITY OF ADDIS ABABA FROM ‘FOREST CITY’ TO ‘URBAN HEAT ISLAND’: ASSESSMENT OF URBAN GREEN SPACE DYNAMICS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mathias Tesfaye Abebe

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The unprecedented rate of urban growth in developing countries causes various problems such as deficiency in public infrastructure services, lack of green spaces and inadequate service provisions. This study applies GIS tools and remote sensing techniques to assess the effects of urban development on urban green space in Ethiopia’s capital. Spatial and non-spatial datasets were collected from different organizations and processed using GIS tools and remote sensing techniques for land use/ land cover classification and analysis. The analysis demonstrated shrinking of urban green spaces- plantations, forestland, grassland and cultivated land (at annual rates of 5.9%, 3.3%, 5.4% and 3.7 % respectively by 82.1%, 62.1%, 78.8 and 65.8 % respectively during the past three decades (1986-2015 whereas built-up and transport areas increased at annual rate of 5.7% and 1.3% and consumed 419% and 47% of the city’s total area respectively.

  20. Urban land rights and child nutritional status in Peru, 2004.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vogl, Tom S

    2007-07-01

    Advocates of land-titling programs in developing countries posit that these programs lead to a multitude of benefits, including health improvements. This paper presents the results of a child health survey of several Lima communities after various time exposures to Peru's urban land-titling program. The results provide suggestive evidence that improved property rights increase children's weight but not their height, which is consistent with previous work on the topic. However, titles also appear to raise children's risk of being overweight or obese, implying that the observed weight gain is not necessarily an improvement in nutritional status.

  1. Studies and researches regarding the urban policies impact on land valuation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniela Barbu

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available The authors develop a concept paper on the economic valuation of land. They detail the basic principles corroborated with the direct factors that modify the mathematical parameters and also the impact of construction on the land. Starting from the principles of Darin Drabkin, the authors develop, within the concept of a market economy, an urban land sale procedure by optimizing the control of land instruments. This study asks about the expected consequences of increasing the tax rate on the land component of real estate while reducing the rate at which the improvement is taxed. The first part briefly presents the consequences that land taxes are expected to produce given our theoretical understanding of land markets. These conclusions are blind to the planning and the institutional context of the development process. The consequences of moving from a general property tax to a land value tax in the Toronto and Ottawa regions are assessed by interviewing developers, planners and municipal finance officers. The conclusions summarise the main concerns that would be raised by moving toward land value taxation in the context of a growth management strategy that would make cities more compact.

  2. Agricultural implications of providing soil-based constraints on urban expansion: Land use forecasts to 2050.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smidt, Samuel J; Tayyebi, Amin; Kendall, Anthony D; Pijanowski, Bryan C; Hyndman, David W

    2018-07-01

    Urbanization onto adjacent farmlands directly reduces the agricultural area available to meet the resource needs of a growing society. Soil conservation is a common objective in urban planning, but little focus has been placed on targeting soil value as a metric for conservation. This study assigns commodity and water storage values to the agricultural soils across all of the watersheds in Michigan's Lower Peninsula to evaluate how cities might respond to a soil conservation-based urbanization strategy. Land Transformation Model (LTM) simulations representing both traditional and soil conservation-based urbanization, are used to forecast urban area growth from 2010 to 2050 at five year intervals. The expansion of urban areas onto adjacent farmland is then evaluated to quantify the conservation effects of soil-based development. Results indicate that a soil-based protection strategy significantly conserves total farmland, especially more fertile soils within each soil type. In terms of revenue, ∼$88 million (in current dollars) would be conserved in 2050 using soil-based constraints, with the projected savings from 2011 to 2050 totaling more than $1.5 billion. Soil-based urbanization also increased urban density for each major metropolitan area. For example, there were 94,640 more acres directly adjacent to urban land by 2050 under traditional development compared to the soil-based urbanization strategy, indicating that urban sprawl was more tightly contained when including soil value as a metric to guide development. This study indicates that implementing a soil-based urbanization strategy would better satisfy future agricultural resource needs than traditional urban planning. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  3. Impacts of urban land-surface forcing on ozone air quality in the Seoul metropolitan area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y.-H. Ryu

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Modified local meteorology owing to heterogeneities in the urban–rural surface can affect urban air quality. In this study, the impacts of urban land-surface forcing on ozone air quality during a high ozone (O3 episode in the Seoul metropolitan area, South Korea, are investigated using a high-resolution chemical transport model (CMAQ. Under fair weather conditions, the temperature excess (urban heat island significantly modifies boundary layer characteristics/structures and local circulations. The modified boundary layer and local circulations result in an increase in O3 levels in the urban area of 16 ppb in the nighttime and 13 ppb in the daytime. Enhanced turbulence in the deep urban boundary layer dilutes pollutants such as NOx, and this contributes to the elevated O3 levels through the reduced O3 destruction by NO in the NOx-rich environment. The advection of O3 precursors over the mountains near Seoul by the prevailing valley-breeze circulation in the mid- to late morning results in the build-up of O3 over the mountains in conjunction with biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC emissions there. As the prevailing local circulation in the afternoon changes to urban-breeze circulation, the O3-rich air masses over the mountains are advected over the urban area. The urban-breeze circulation exerts significant influences on not only the advection of O3 but also the chemical production of O3 under the circumstances in which both anthropogenic and biogenic (natural emissions play important roles in O3 formation. As the air masses that are characterized by low NOx and high BVOC levels and long OH chain length are advected over the urban area from the surroundings, the ozone production efficiency increases in the urban area. The relatively strong vertical mixing in the urban boundary layer embedded in the

  4. Correlation or Causality between Land Cover Patterns and the Urban Heat Island Effect? Evidence from Brisbane, Australia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaveh Deilami

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Numerous studies have identified associations between the surface urban heat island (SUHI effect (i.e., SUHI, hereinafter is referred to as UHI and urban growth, particularly changes in land cover patterns. This research questions their causal links to answer a key policy question: If cities restrict urban expansion and encourage people to live within existing urban areas, will that help in controlling UHI? The question has been answered by estimating four models using data from Brisbane, Australia: Model 1—cross-sectional ordinary least square (OLS regression—to examine the association between the UHI effect and land cover patterns in 2013; Model 2—cross-sectional geographically weighted regression (GWR—to examine whether the outputs generated from Model 1 possess significant spatial variations; Model 3—longitudinal OLS—to examine whether changes in land cover patterns led to changes in UHI effects between 2004 and 2013; and Model 4—longitudinal GWR—to examine whether the outputs generated from Model 3 vary significantly over space. All estimations were controlled for potential confounding effects (e.g., population, employment and dwelling densities. Results from the cross-sectional OLS and GWR models were consistent with previous findings and showed that porosity is negatively associated with the UHI effect in 2013. In contrast, population density has a positive association. Results from the longitudinal OLS and GWR models confirm their causal linkages and showed that an increase in porosity level reduced the UHI effect, whereas an increase in population density increased the UHI effect. The findings suggest that even a containment of population growth within existing urban areas will lead to the UHI effect. However, this can be significantly minimized through proper land use planning, by creating a balance between urban and non-urban uses of existing urban areas.

  5. The Environmental Impact of Flooding on Transportation Land Use ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Environmental problems of flooding on transportation land use manifest as a result of different land use activities of man to earn his living and his livelihood. Natural surfaces were replaced by more impermeable roads and concrete which have very low infiltration capacity, which have hydrological consequences of resulting ...

  6. EnviroAtlas - Memphis, TN - Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data (2012)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Memphis, TN EnviroAtlas One Meter-scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) dataset comprises 2,733 km2 around the city of Memphis, surrounding towns, and rural areas. These...

  7. Alternative Transportation System Demand Estimation for Federal Land Management Agencies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-30

    Estimating travel demand for alternative transportation systems (ATS) is challenging in any context, but is even more daunting for Federal Land Management Agencies (FLMAs). Federal public land sites vary widely in their characteristics. Moreover, tra...

  8. [Urban greenbelt eco-service value of Hangzhou City under effects of land use change: an evaluation with CITYgreen model].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Kan; Zhang, Jianying; Chen, Yingxu; Zhu, Yinmei

    2006-10-01

    Based on the Landset TM information of land use/cover change and greenbelt distribution in Hangzhou city in 1994 and 2004, and by using CITYgreen model, this paper estimated the eco-service value of urban greenbelt in the city under the effects of land use change and economic development. The results showed that in the 10 years from 1994 to 2004, the greenbelt area in the city decreased by 20. 4% , while its eco-service value increased by 168 million yuan. The annual increment of greenbelt eco-service value and GDP was 111.92% and 5. 32% , respectively. Suitable adjustment of land use pattern in the city harmonized the relationships between urban economic development and urban eco-function, and achieved higher eco-service efficiency of land utilization.

  9. Norfolk and environs: A land use perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexander, Robert H.; Buzzanell, Peter J.; Fitzpatrick, Katherine A.; Lins, Harry F.; McGinty, Herbert K.

    1975-01-01

    The Norfolk-Portsmouth Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA) in southeastern Virginia was the site of intensive testing of a number of land resources assessment methods, built around the availability of remotely sensed data from the Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS-I), later renamed LANDSAT I. The Norfolk tests were part of a larger experiment known as the Central Atlantic Regional Ecological Test Site (CARETS), designed to test the extent to which LANDSAT and associated high-altitude aircraft data could be used as cost-effective inputs to a regional land use information system. The Norfolk SMSA contains a variety of land uses typical of the urbanized eastern seaboard, along with typical associated problems: rapid urbanization; heavy recreational, commercial, and residential demands on fragile beaches and coastal marsh environments; industrial, transportation, and governmental land and water uses impacting on residential and agricultural areas; drainage and land stability difficulties affecting construction and other uses; and increasing difficulties in maintaining satisfactory air and water quality.

  10. Analysis of Urban-Rural Land-Use Change during 1995-2006 and Its Policy Dimensional Driving Forces in Chongqing, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guihua Dong

    2008-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyzes the urban-rural land-use change of Chongqing and its policydimensional driving forces from 1995 to 2006, using high-resolution Landsat TM(Thematic Mapper data of 1995, 2000 and 2006, and socio-economic data from bothresearch institutes and government departments. The outcomes indicated that urban-ruralland-use change in Chongqing can be characterized by two major trends: First, thenon-agricultural land increased substantially from 1995 to 2006, thus causing agriculturalland especially farmland to decrease continuously. Second, the aggregation index of urbansettlements and rural settlements shows that local urban-rural development experienced aprocess of changing from aggregation (1995-2000 to decentralization (2000-2006.Chongqing is a special area getting immersed in many important policies, which includethe establishment of the municipality directly under the Central Government, the buildingof Three Gorges Dam Project, the Western China Development Program and theGrain-for-Green Programme, and bring about tremendous influences on its land-usechange. By analyzing Chongqing’s land-use change and its policy driving forces, someimplications for its new policy of ‘Urban-rural Integrated Reform’ are obtained. That ismore attentions need to be paid to curbing excessive and idle rural housing andconsolidating rural construction land, and to laying out a scientific land-use plan for its rural areas taking such rural land-use issues as farmland occupation and rural housing landmanagement into accounts, so as to coordinate and balance the urban-rural development.

  11. Four decades urban growth and land use change in Samara Russia through remote sensing and GIS techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boori, Mukesh Singh; Choudhary, Komal; Kupriyanov, Alexander; Kovelskiy, Viktor

    2015-12-01

    This study illustrates the spatio-temporal dynamics of urban growth and land use changes in Samara city, Russia from 1975 to 2015. Landsat satellite imageries of five different time periods from 1975 to 2015 were acquired and quantify the changes with the help of ArcGIS 10.1 Software. By applying classification methods to the satellite images four main types of land use were extracted: water, built-up, forest and grassland. Then, the area coverage for all the land use types at different points in time were measured and coupled with population data. The results demonstrate that, over the entire study period, population was increased from 1146 thousand people to 1244 thousand from 1975 to 1990 but later on first reduce and then increase again, now 1173 thousand population. Built-up area is also change according to population. The present study revealed an increase in built-up by 37.01% from 1975 to 1995, than reduce -88.83% till 2005 and an increase by 39.16% from 2005 to 2015, along with the increase in population, migration from rural areas owing to the economic growth and technological advantages associated with urbanization. Information on urban growth, land use and land cover change study is very useful to local government and urban planners for the betterment of future plans to sustainable development of the city.

  12. Monitoring urban growth and detection of land use with GIS and remote sensing: a case study of the Kyrenia region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kara, Can; Akçit, Nuhcan

    2016-08-01

    Land-cover change is considered one of the central components in current strategies for managing natural resources and monitoring environmental changes. It is important to manage land resources in a sustainable manner which targets at compacting and consolidating urban development. From 2005 to 2015,urban growth in Kyrenia has been quite dramatic, showing a wide and scattered pattern, lacking proper plan. As a result of this unplanned/unorganized expansion, agricultural areas, vegetation and water bodies have been lost in the region. Therefore, it has become a necessity to analyze the results of this urban growth and compare the losses between land-cover changes. With this goal in mind, a case study of Kyrenia region has been carried out using a supervised image classification method and Landsat TM images acquired in 2005 and 2015 to map and extract land-cover changes. This paper tries to assess urban-growth changes detected in the region by using Remote Sensing and GIS. The study monitors the changes between different land cover types. Also, it shows the urban occupation of primary soil loss and the losses in forest areas, open areas, etc.

  13. Estimating the Effects of Conversion of Agricultural Land to Urban Land on Deep Percolation of Irrigation Water in the Grand Valley, Western Colorado

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayo, John W.

    2008-01-01

    The conversion of agricultural land to urban residential land is associated with rapid population growth in the Grand Valley of western Colorado. Information regarding the effects of this land-use conversion on deep percolation, irrigation-water application, and associated salt loading to the Colorado River is needed to support water-resource planning and conservation efforts. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) assessed deep percolation and estimated salt loading derived from irrigated agricultural lands in the Grand Valley in a 1985 to 2002 monitoring and evaluation study (NRCS M&E). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Colorado River Salinity Control Forum and the Mesa Conservation District, quantified the current (2005-2006) deep percolation and irrigation-water application characteristics of 1/4-acre residential lots and 5-acre estates, urban parks, and urban orchard grass fields in the Grand Valley, and compared the results to NRCS M&E results from alfalfa-crop sites. In addition, pond seepage from three irrigation-water holding ponds was estimated. Salt loading was estimated for the urban study results and the NRCS M&E results by using standard salt-loading factors. A daily soil-moisture balance calculation technique was used at all urban study irrigated sites. Deep percolation was defined as any water infiltrating below the top 12 inches of soil. Deep percolation occurred when the soil-moisture balance in the first 12 inches of soil exceeded the field capacity for the soil type at each site. Results were reported separately for urban study bluegrass-only sites and for all-vegetation type (bluegrass, native plants, and orchard grass) sites. Deep percolation and irrigation-water application also were estimated for a complete irrigation season at three subdivisions by using mean site data from each subdivision. It was estimated that for the three subdivisions, 37 percent of the developed acreage was irrigated (the balance

  14. Quantifying the influence of land-use and surface characteristics on spatial variability in the urban heat island

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hart, Melissa A.; Sailor, David J.

    2009-03-01

    The urban thermal environment varies not only from its rural surroundings but also within the urban area due to intra-urban differences in land-use and surface characteristics. Understanding the causes of this intra-urban variability is a first step in improving urban planning and development. Toward this end, a method for quantifying causes of spatial variability in the urban heat island has been developed. This paper presents the method as applied to a specific test case of Portland, Oregon. Vehicle temperature traverses were used to determine spatial differences in summertime ~2 m air temperature across the metropolitan area in the afternoon. A tree-structured regression model was used to quantify the land-use and surface characteristics that have the greatest influence on daytime UHI intensity. The most important urban characteristic separating warmer from cooler regions of the Portland metropolitan area was canopy cover. Roadway area density was also an important determinant of local UHI magnitudes. Specifically, the air above major arterial roads was found to be warmer on weekdays than weekends, possibly due to increased anthropogenic activity from the vehicle sector on weekdays. In general, warmer regions of the city were associated with industrial and commercial land-use. The downtown core, whilst warmer than the rural surroundings, was not the warmest part of the Portland metropolitan area. This is thought to be due in large part to local shading effects in the urban canyons.

  15. “Looking back, looking forward": urban development and transport infrastructure in Gauteng Province

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Mubiwa, B

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Studies have shown that land-use and transportation systems have a two-way dependency. On one hand, the existing land-use structures influence trip distances and transport mode choice, while on the other hand transport infrastructure and systems...

  16. Eco efficiency of urban form and transportation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wahlgren, Irmeli

    2007-01-01

    Urban planning and transportation system solutions and decisions have a large-scale significance for eco efficiency, the consumption of energy and other natural resources, the production of greenhouse gas and other emissions, and the costs caused by communities.Planning solutions may impact on greenhouse gas emissions by 10 % at regional level, by 20 % at local community level and even by 200 % at local dwelling area level. Impact on emissions caused by transportation is even bigger: at least double compared to the impact on total emissions. Similarly large impacts can be seen concerning consumption of energy and other natural resources as well as costs.The most important factors in sustainable urban and transportation planning are at dwelling area level: location, structure, building density, house types, space heating systems, at community and regional level: area density, energy consumption and production systems, location of and distances between dwellings, working places and services, transportation systems, possibilities of walking and cycling, availability of public transport, and necessity for use of private cars. The presentation is based on the author's research and case studies from 1992 to 2006. The assessment method EcoBalance was developed to assess sustainability of communities and it has been applied at different planning levels: regional plans, local master plans and detailed plans. The EcoBalance model estimates the total consumption of energy and other natural resources, the production of emissions and wastes and the costs caused directly and indirectly by communities on a life-cycle basis

  17. 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.

  18. Linking primary production, climate and land use along an urban-wildland transect: a satellite view

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hu Yonghong; Jia Gensuo; Guo Huadong

    2009-01-01

    Variation of green vegetation cover influences local climate dynamics, exchange of water-heat between land and atmosphere, and hydrological processes. However, the mechanism of interaction between vegetation and local climate change in subtropical areas under climate warming and anthropogenic disturbances is poorly understood. We analyzed spatial-temporal trends of vegetation with moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) vegetation index datasets over three sections, namely urban, urban-rural fringe and wildland along an urban-wildland transect in a southern mega-city area in China from 2000-2008. The results show increased photosynthetic activity occurred in the wildland and the stable urban landscape in correspondence to the rising temperature, and a considerable decrease of vegetation activity in the urban-rural fringe area, apparently due to urban expansion. On analyzing the controlling factors of climate change and human drivers of vegetation cover change, we found that temperature contributed to vegetation growth more than precipitation and that rising temperature accelerated plant physiological activity. Meanwhile, human-induced dramatic modification of land cover, e.g. conversion of natural forest and cropland to built-up areas in the urban-rural fringe, has caused significant changes of green vegetation fraction and overall primary production, which may further influence local climate.

  19. Spatial Modeling of Urban Vegetation and Land Surface Temperature: A Case Study of Beijing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chudong Huang

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The coupling relationship between urban vegetation and land surface temperature (LST has been heatedly debated in a variety of environmental studies. This paper studies the urban vegetation information and LST by utilizing a series of remote sensing imagery covering the period from 1990 to 2007. Their coupling relationship is analyzed, in order to provide the basis for ecological planning and environment protection. The results show that the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI, urban vegetation abundance (UVA and urban forest abundance (UFA are negatively correlated with LST, which means that both urban vegetation and urban forest are capable in decreasing LST. The apparent influence of urban vegetation and urban forest on LST varies with the spatial resolution of the imagery, and peaks at the resolutions ranging from 90 m to 120 m.

  20. Urban Landscape Characterization Using Remote Sensing Data For Input into Air Quality Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quattrochi, Dale A.; Estes, Maurice G., Jr.; Crosson, William; Khan, Maudood

    2005-01-01

    The urban landscape is inherently complex and this complexity is not adequately captured in air quality models that are used to assess whether urban areas are in attainment of EPA air quality standards, particularly for ground level ozone. This inadequacy of air quality models to sufficiently respond to the heterogeneous nature of the urban landscape can impact how well these models predict ozone pollutant levels over metropolitan areas and ultimately, whether cities exceed EPA ozone air quality standards. We are exploring the utility of high-resolution remote sensing data and urban growth projections as improved inputs to meteorological and air quality models focusing on the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area as a case study. The National Land Cover Dataset at 30m resolution is being used as the land use/land cover input and aggregated to the 4km scale for the MM5 mesoscale meteorological model and the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling schemes. Use of these data have been found to better characterize low density/suburban development as compared with USGS 1 km land use/land cover data that have traditionally been used in modeling. Air quality prediction for future scenarios to 2030 is being facilitated by land use projections using a spatial growth model. Land use projections were developed using the 2030 Regional Transportation Plan developed by the Atlanta Regional Commission. This allows the State Environmental Protection agency to evaluate how these transportation plans will affect future air quality.

  1. Spectral unmixing of urban land cover using a generic library approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Degerickx, Jeroen; Lordache, Marian-Daniel; Okujeni, Akpona; Hermy, Martin; van der Linden, Sebastian; Somers, Ben

    2016-10-01

    Remote sensing based land cover classification in urban areas generally requires the use of subpixel classification algorithms to take into account the high spatial heterogeneity. These spectral unmixing techniques often rely on spectral libraries, i.e. collections of pure material spectra (endmembers, EM), which ideally cover the large EM variability typically present in urban scenes. Despite the advent of several (semi-) automated EM detection algorithms, the collection of such image-specific libraries remains a tedious and time-consuming task. As an alternative, we suggest the use of a generic urban EM library, containing material spectra under varying conditions, acquired from different locations and sensors. This approach requires an efficient EM selection technique, capable of only selecting those spectra relevant for a specific image. In this paper, we evaluate and compare the potential of different existing library pruning algorithms (Iterative Endmember Selection and MUSIC) using simulated hyperspectral (APEX) data of the Brussels metropolitan area. In addition, we develop a new hybrid EM selection method which is shown to be highly efficient in dealing with both imagespecific and generic libraries, subsequently yielding more robust land cover classification results compared to existing methods. Future research will include further optimization of the proposed algorithm and additional tests on both simulated and real hyperspectral data.

  2. Regional disparity of urban passenger transport associated GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions in China: A review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hao, Han; Geng, Yong; Wang, Hewu; Ouyang, Minggao

    2014-01-01

    With China’s urbanization and motorization, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from urban passenger transport increased rapidly over recent years. As we estimated, China’s urban passenger transport associated motorized travel, energy consumption and lifecycle GHG emissions reached 2815 billion passenger kilometers (pkm), 77 million tons of oil equivalent (toe) and 335 million ton CO 2 equivalent in 2010, over half of which were located in eastern provinces. Over national level, GHG emissions by private passenger vehicles, business passenger vehicles, taxis, motorcycles, E-bikes, transit buses and urban rails accounted for 57.7%, 13.0%, 7.7%, 8.6%, 1.8%, 10.5% and 0.7% of the total. Significant regional disparity was observed. The province-level per capita GHG emissions ranged from 285 kg/capita in Guizhou to 1273 kg/capita in Beijing, with national average of 486 kg/capita. Depending on province context and local policy orientation, the motorization pathways of China’s several highest motorized provinces are quite diverse. We concluded that motorization rate and transport structure were the substantial factors determining urban passenger transport associated GHG emissions. Considering the great potential of urban passenger transport growth in China, policies guiding the optimization of transport structure should be in place with priority in eastern provinces. - Highlights: • Province-leveled motorized travel, energy consumption and GHG emissions in China were studied. • Significant regional disparities on urban passenger transport were observed. • Region-specific sustainable transport energy policies were discussed

  3. How did the urban land in floodplains distribute and expand in China from 1992-2015?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Du, Shiqiang; He, Chunyang; Huang, Qingxu; Shi, Peijun

    2018-03-01

    Urban land in floodplains (ULF) is a vital component of flood exposure and its variations can cause changes in flood risk. In the context of rapid urbanization, ULF is expanding rapidly in China and imperiling societal sustainability. However, a national-scale analysis of ULF patterns and dynamics has yet to be conducted. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the spatiotemporal changes in China’s ULF at different spatial scales (the country, region, basin, and sub-basin scales) from 1992-2015. We found that ULF accounted for 44.41% of the total urban land in China in 2015, which was 3.68 times greater than the proportion of floodplains relative to the total land area in China (12.06%). From 1992-2015, the ULF area increased by 26.43 × 103 km2, or 542.21%. Moreover, the ULF area is expected to grow by 16.89 × 103 km2 (53.38%) between 2015 and 2050. ULF growth was strongly associated with the flood occurrence in China, and continued growth will pose a considerable challenge to urban sustainability, particularly in basins with poor flood defenses. Greater attention should thus be paid to ULF dynamics in China.

  4. Toward a Shared Urban Transport System Ensuring Passengers & Goods Cohabitation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Trentini

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents radical new urban transportation system concepts, potentially allowing changing the economic and environmental costs of passenger and freight transportation. The driver focuses on the concept of sharing, which means to make a joint use of transport resources, between passengers and goods flows. From a field observation of several existing solutions, an inductive reasoning enables us to move from a set of specific facts to establish an archetype for a radical new urban transportation system. Once the archetype defined, it is translated in real life through the example of the On Route proposal for London. The research frame of this paper is the ANR C-Goods (City Goods Operation Optimization using Decision support System project. Started in February 2009 the project involves four partners , and will end on 2011.

  5. The changing patterns of cropland conversion to built-up land in China from 1987 to 2010

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ju, H.; Zhang, Z.; Zhao, X.; Wu, W.; Wang, X.; Zuo, L.

    2017-12-01

    With the rapid urbanization, industrialization and rural area construction in China, the expansions of built-up land encroached upon a large amount of cropland, and thus placed great challenges on national food security. Previous studies have primarily been focused on the whole effects of built-up land expansion, however, the individual effect of different types of built-up land (urban areas, rural settlements and industrial/transportation land) on cropland loss remains unclear. Based on land use maps interpreted from remote sensing imagery in 1987-2010, we illustrated the spatio-temporal patterns of the speed and the structure of cropland conversion to built-up land. Then, we quantitatively measured the influence of different built-up land on cropland loss from three aspects: the contribution of built-up land expansion to cropland loss, the dependence of built-up land expansion on cropland loss and the conversion's impacts on cropland quality. It was found 42,822 km2 of cropland were converted into built-up land in China, accounting for 43.8% of total cropland loss during 1987-2010. Before 2000, the expansion of rural settlements had the largest influence on cropland loss, however, urban growth showed a greater impact on cropland loss after 2000. Although the effects of rural settlements expansion decreased, rural settlements still saw the highest percentage of the loss of traditional cropland which is generally in high quality. In addition, the impacts of industrial/transportation land expansion increased dramatically and was mainly distributed in major food production regions. These changes were closely related to the economic restructuring, urban-rural transformation and government policies in China. These findings demonstrate that Chinese cropland conservation in both amount and quality should focus not only on finding a reasonable urbanization mode, but also solving the "hollowing village" problem and balancing the industrial transformations in the future.

  6. Impacts, trends and strategies in urban transportation sector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Valenti, G.

    1998-01-01

    This paper presents the urban mobility evolution from 1985 to 1995 and the possible future assets for transportation demand. For some scenarios are quantized the environmental impacts and energetic impacts [it

  7. EnviroAtlas - New Bedford, MA - Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data (2010)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The New Bedford, MA Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) data were generated from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Imagery Program...

  8. Computing Pathways for Urban Decarbonization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cremades, R.; Sommer, P.

    2016-12-01

    Urban areas emit roughly three quarters of global carbon emissions. Cities are crucial elements for a decarbonized society. Urban expansion and related transportation needs lead to increased energy use, and to carbon-intensive lock-ins that create barriers for climate change mitigation globally. The authors present the Integrated Urban Complexity (IUC) model, based on self-organizing Cellular Automata (CA), and use it to produce a new kind of spatially explicit Transformation Pathways for Urban Decarbonization (TPUD). IUC is based on statistical evidence relating the energy needed for transportation with the spatial distribution of population, specifically IUC incorporates variables from complexity science related to urban form, like the slope of the rank-size rule or spatial entropy, which brings IUC a step beyond existing models. The CA starts its evolution with real-world urban land use and population distribution data from the Global Human Settlement Layer. Thus, the IUC model runs over existing urban settlements, transforming the spatial distribution of population so the energy consumption for transportation is minimized. The statistical evidence that governs the evolution of the CA departs from the database of the International Association of Public Transport. A selected case is presented using Stuttgart (Germany) as an example. The results show how IUC varies urban density in those places where it improves the performance of crucial parameters related to urban form, producing a TPUD that shows where the spatial distribution of population should be modified with a degree of detail of 250 meters of cell size. The TPUD shows how the urban complex system evolves over time to minimize energy consumption for transportation. The resulting dynamics or urban decarbonization show decreased energy per capita, although total energy increases for increasing population. The results provide innovative insights: by checking current urban planning against a TPUD, urban

  9. Impacts of land-use change on the water cycle of urban areas within the Upper Great Lakes drainage basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowling, L. C.; Cherkauer, K. A.; Pijanowski, B. C.; Niyogi, D.

    2006-12-01

    Urbanization is altering the global landscape at an unprecedented rate. This form of land cover/land-use change (LCLUC) can significantly reduce infiltration and runoff response times, and alter heat and water vapor fluxes, which can further alter surface-forced regional circulation patterns and modulate precipitation volume and intensity. Spatial patterns of future LCLUC are projected using the Land Transformation Model (LTM), enhanced to incorporate dynamic landcover, economics and policy using Bayesian Belief Networks (LTM- BBN). Different land use scenarios predicted by the LTM-BBN as well as a pre-development scenario are represented through the Unified Noah Land Surface Model (LSM) with an enhanced urban canopy model, embedded in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The coupled WRF-Noah LSM model will be used to investigate the connections between land-use, hydrometeorology and the atmosphere, through analysis of water and energy balances over several urbanized watersheds within the Upper Great Lakes region. Preliminary results focus on a single watershed, the White River in Indiana, which includes the city of Indianapolis. Coupled WRF-Noah simulations made using pre and post-development land use maps provide a 7 year climatology of convective storm morphology around the urban center. Precipitation and other meteorological variables from the WRF-Noah simulations are used to drive simulations of the White River watershed using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) macroscale hydrologic model. The VIC model has been modified to represent urban areas and has been calibrated for modern flow regimes in the White River watershed. Pre- and post-development VIC simulations are used to assess the impact of Indianapolis area infiltration changes. Finally, VIC model simulations utilizing projected land use change from 2005 through 2040 for the Indianapolis metropolitan area explore the magnitude of future hydrologic change, especially peak flow response

  10. An assessment of transit ridership: increased suburban to urban public transportation options in Houston, Texas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2008-11-01

    Suburban development is occurring near urban areas across America. Often these communities are : separated by large masses of land with no linkage to the urban core. Referred to as urban sprawl, this type : of development causes a challenge for trans...

  11. Indigenous Māori perspectives on urban transport patterns linked to health and wellbeing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raerino Ngāti Awa Te Arawa, K; Macmillan, Alex K; Jones Ngāti Kahungunu, Rhys G

    2013-09-01

    There is a growing body of research linking urban transport systems to inequities in health. However, there is a lack of research providing evidence of the effect of transport systems on indigenous family wellbeing. We examined the connections between urban transport and the health and wellbeing of Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. We provide an indigenous exploration of current urban transport systems, with a particular focus on the impacts of car dependence and the need for culturally relevant travel. We interviewed nineteen Māori participants utilising qualitative research techniques underpinned by an indigenous research methodology (Kaupapa Māori). The data highlighted the importance of accessing cultural activities and sites relevant to 'being Māori', and issues with affordability and safety of public transport. Understanding the relationship between indigenous wellbeing and transport systems that goes further than limited discourses of inequity is essential to improving transport for indigenous wellbeing. Providing an indigenous voice in transport decision-making will make it more likely that indigenous health and wellbeing is prioritised in transport planning. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  12. Understanding the health impacts of urbanization in China: A living laboratory for urban biogeochemistry research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Y. G.

    2015-12-01

    China has the largest population in the world, and by 2011, more than 50% of its population are now living in cities. This ongoing societal change has profound impacts on environmental quality and population health. In addition to intensive discharges of waste, urbanization is not only changing the land use and land cover, but also inducing fundamental changes in biogeochemical processes. Unlike biogeochemistry in non-urban environment, the biological component of urban biogeochemistry is dominated by direct human activities, such as air pollution derived from transport, wastewater treatment, garbage disposal and increase in impervious surface etc. Managing urban biogeochemistry will include source control over waste discharge, eco-infrastructure (such as green space and eco-drainage), resource recovery from urban waste stream, and integration with peri-urban ecosystem, particularly with food production system. The overall goal of managing urban biogeochemistry is for human health and wellbeing, which is a global challenge. In this paper, the current status of urban biogeochemistry research in China will be briefly reviewed, and then it will focus on nutrient recycling and waste management, as these are the major driving forces of environmental quality changes in urban areas. This paper will take a holistic view on waste management, covering urban metabolism analysis, technological innovation and integration for resource recovery from urban waste stream, and risk management related to waste recycling and recovery.

  13. The Impact of Land Cover Change on Ecosystem Service Values in Urban Agglomerations along the Coast of the Bohai Rim, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yushuo Zhang

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Local ecosystem services have been significantly affected by land cover changes associated with rapid urbanization in China. Based on the 2000 and 2010 land cover data products with 30-m resolution, we examined the similarities and differences in the impacts of land cover change on ecosystem service values (ESV at three coastal urban agglomerations in China between 2000 and 2010 (Liaodong Peninsula (LP, Jing-Jin-Ji (JJJ and Shandong Peninsula (SP. A rapid evaluation method developed by Xie et al. (2008 was used to derive an ecosystem service value coefficient. The most significant change was an increase in artificial surfaces, due to urban expansion, which mainly occurred on cultivated land. The greatest loss in total ESV (2273 million Chinese Yuan occurred in SP, due to the large decrease in wetland areas, because this service has the highest estimated coefficient. The second greatest loss in ESV (893 million Yuan occurred in JJJ, due to the urban expansion of major cities. In contrast, ESV increased (72 million Yuan in LP. This study demonstrates that urban expansion does not necessarily lead to a net decline in ESV. In conclusion, land use and land cover policymaking should consider the sustainability of ecosystem services in relation to economic growth.

  14. URBAN PUBLIC TRANSPORT WITH THE USE OF ELECTRIC BUSES – DEVELOPMENT TENDENCIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stanisław KRAWIEC

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The programing documents of the European Union determine the direction of transport systems development, including large cities and agglomerations. The context of these actions which aim to transform into ecologically clean and sustainable transport system is a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Assuming that public transport will significantly reduce the use of combustion-powered buses, studies on urban logistic enabling the use of electric buses for public transport are needed. The article presents the variants and scenarios for electric buses implementation in urban public transport, as well as the decision algorithm to support electric bus implementation based on technological, organisational, economic and ecological variables.

  15. Modelling carbon dynamics from urban land conversion: fundamental model of city in relation to a local carbon cycle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Schellnhuber Hans-Joachim

    2006-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The main task is to estimate the qualitative and quantitative contribution of urban territories and precisely of the process of urbanization to the Global Carbon Cycle (GCC. Note that, on the contrary to many investigations that have considered direct anthropogenic emission of CO2(urbanized territories produce ca. 96–98% of it, we are interested in more subtle, and up until the present time, weaker processes associated with the conversion of the surrounding natural ecosystems and landscapes into urban lands. Such conversion inevitably takes place when cities are sprawling and additional "natural" lands are becoming "urbanized". Results In order to fulfil this task, we first develop a fundamental model of urban space, since the type of land cover within a city makes a difference for a local carbon cycle. Hence, a city is sub-divided by built-up, „green" (parks, etc. and informal settlements (favelas fractions. Another aspect is a sub-division of the additional two regions, which makes the total number reaching eight regions, while the UN divides the world by six. Next, the basic model of the local carbon cycle for urbanized territories is built. We consider two processes: carbon emissions as a result of conversion of natural lands caused by urbanization; and the transformation of carbon flows by "urbanized" ecosystems; when carbon, accumulated by urban vegetation, is exported to the neighbouring territories. The total carbon flow in the model depends, in general, on two groups of parameters. The first includes the NPP, and the sum of living biomass and dead organic matter of ecosystems involved in the process of urbanization, and namely them we calculate here, using a new more realistic approach and taking into account the difference in regional cities' evolution. Conclusion There is also another group of parameters, dealing with the areas of urban territories, and their annual increments. A method of dynamic forecasting

  16. Monitoring Urbanization-Related Land Cover Change on the U.S. Great Plains and Impacts on Remotely Sensed Vegetation Dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krehbiel, C. P.; Jackson, T.; Henebry, G. M.

    2014-12-01

    Earth is currently in an era of rapid urban growth with >50% of global population living in urban areas. Urbanization occurs alongside urban population growth, as cities expand to meet the demands of increasing population. Consequently, there is a need for remote sensing research to detect, monitor, and measure urbanization and its impacts on the biosphere. Here we used MODIS and Landsat data products to (1) detect urbanization-related land cover changes, (2) investigate urbanization-related impacts on land surface phenology (LSP) across rural to urban gradients and (3) explore fractional vegetation and impervious surface area regionally across the US Great Plains and within 14 cities in this region. We used the NLCD Percent Impervious Surface Area (%ISA) and Land Cover Type (LCT) products from 2001, 2006, and 2011 for 30m classification of the peri-urban environment. We investigated the impacts of urbanization-related land cover change on urban LSP at 30m resolution using the NDVI product from Web Enabled Landsat Data (http://weld.cr.usgs.gov) with accumulated growing degree-days calculated from first-order weather stations. We fitted convex quadratic LSP models to a decade (2003-2012) of observations to yield these phenometrics: modeled peak NDVI, time (thermal and calendar) to modeled peak, duration of season (DOS), and model fit. We compared our results to NDVI from MODIS NBAR (500m) and we explored the utility of 4 μm radiance (MODIS band 23) at 1 km resolution to characterize fractional vegetation dynamics in and around urbanized areas. Across all 14 cities we found increases in urbanized area (>25 %ISA) exceeding 10% from 2001-2011. Using LSP phenometrics, we were able to detect changes from cropland to suburban LCTs. In general we found negative relationships between DOS and distance from city center. We found a distinct seasonal cycle of MIR radiance over cropland LCTs due to the spectral contrast between bare soils and green vegetation.

  17. Assessing the Effect of Spatial Proximity on Urban Growth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eduardo Gomes

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Land-Use/Cover Change (LUCC reacts to demographic pressures, economic trends, or improved transport networks. Urban growth with implications on LUCC patterns can be measured using a diversity of methods. Our study derives from Tobler’s first law of geography: ‘everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant ones’. We identified and measured the influence of neighbouring distance on urban growth from the edge of existing urban areas. For that, we have developed a method, built using the NetLogo software tool, which we called Land-use chAnge and Neighbouring Distance (LAND. We selected Torres Vedras (Portugal to conduct our case study due to its increasing urban development in the past few years. The periods of analysis were 1995–2010, 1995–2007, and 2007–2010. The results have shown the influence and the effect of strong spatial correlation between the proximity of existing artificial surfaces and the emergence of new ones. The understanding of the patterns of urban growth is helpful to plan forward land developments. This method can be used to write guidelines for decision makers to monitor urban expansion and define spatial planning priorities.

  18. EnviroAtlas - Milwaukee, WI - Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover Data (MULC) Data (2010)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The EnviroAtlas Milwaukee, WI Meter Urban Land Cover (MULC) data and map were generated from USDA NAIP (National Agricultural Imagery Program) four band (red, green,...

  19. EnviroAtlas - New York, NY - Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data (2008)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The New York, NY EnviroAtlas Meter-scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data were generated by the University of Vermont Spatial Analysis Laboratory (SAL) under the...

  20. Transport Infrastructure and the Environment in the Global South: Sustainable Mobility and Urbanism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert Cervero

    2015-04-01

    investments but city-shaping investments as well should not be squandered. Transit-oriented development is but one of a number of built forms that hold considerable promise toward placing cities of the Global South on more sustainable mobility and urbanization pathways.Keywords. Public Transport, bus rapid transit, land use, sustainability, transit oriented development

  1. Smart urban design to reduce transportation impact in city centers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fezzai, Soufiane; Mazouz, Said; Ahriz, Atef

    2018-05-01

    Air pollution is one of the most serious problems facing human being; urban wastes are in first range of energy consumption and emission of greenhouse gasses. Transportation or car traffic is one of the most consumer sectors of fuel, and most pollutant. Reducing energy consumption in transportation and the emission of pollutant gasses becomes an important objective for urban designers; many solutions may be proposed to help solving this problem in future designs, but it depend on other factors in existing urban space especially in city centers characterized with high occupation density. In this paper we investigate traffic rate in the city center of the case study, looking for the causes of the high traffic using gate count method and estimating fuel consumption. We try to propose some design solutions to reduce distances so fuel consumption and emission of pollutant gasses. We use space syntax techniques to evaluate urban configuration and verify the proposed solutions.

  2. Impacts of land use and cover change on terrestrial carbon stocks and the micro-climate over urban surface: a case study in Shanghai, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, F.; Zhan, J.; Bai, Y.

    2016-12-01

    Land use and cover change is the key factor affecting terrestrial carbon stocks and micro-climate, and their dynamics not only in regional ecosystems but also in urbanized areas. Using the typical fast-growing city of Shanghai, China as a case study, this paper explored the relationships between terrestrial carbon stocks, micro-climate and land cover within an urbanized area. The main objectives were to assess variation in soil carbon stocks and local climate conditions across terrestrial land covers with different intensities of urban development, and quantify spatial distribution and dynamic variation of carbon stocks and microclimate in response to urban land use and cover change. On the basis of accurate spatial datasets derived from a series of Landsat TM images during the years 1988 to 2010 and reliable estimates of urban climate and soil carbon stocks using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model, our results showed that carbon stocks per unit area in terrestrial land covers decreased and urban temperature increased with increasing intensity of urban development. Urban land use and cover change and sealing of the soil surface created hotspots for losses in carbon stocks. Total carbon stocks in Shanghai decreased by about 30%-35%, representing a 1.5% average annual decrease, and the temperature increased by about 0.23-0.4°/10a during the past 20 years. We suggested potential policy measures to mitigate negative effects of land use and cover change on carbon stocks and microclimate in urbanized areas.

  3. Object-oriented classification of land use in urban areas applying very high resolution satellite data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bauer, T.B.

    2001-08-01

    The availability of the new very high resolution satellite imagery will offer a wide range of new applications in the field of remote sensing. Information about actual land use is an important task for the management and planning in urban areas. High resolution satellite data will be an alternative to aerial photographs for updating and maintaining cartographic and geographic databases at reduced costs. The aim of the research is to formalize the visual interpretation procedure in order to automate the whole process. The assumption underlying this approach is that the land use functions can be distinguished on the basis of the differences in spatial distribution and pattern of land cover forms. Therefore a two-stage classification procedure is applied. In a first stage a land cover map is produced. In a second stage the morphological properties and spatial patterns of the land cover objects are analyzed with the structural analyzing and mapping system leading to a characterization and description of distinct urban land use categories. This information is then used for building a rule system that is implemented in a new commercial software tool called eCognition. An object-oriented classifier applies the rules to the land cover objects resulting in the required land use map. The potential of this method is demonstrated in a case study using IKONOS data covering a part of the metropolitan area of Vienna. (author)

  4. Effect of urbanization in a coastal region on sea breeze and urban thermal environment

    OpenAIRE

    河原, 能久; 川又, 孝太郎; 玉井, 信行

    1994-01-01

    Effect of land use development in a coastal region on heat island phenomenon is studied numerically by an urban climate model that employs the k-e turbulence model and an eddy diffusivity model for the transport of momentum, temperature and moisture in the Eckman layer together with a heat balance model for the surface boundary layer and the soil layer. Numerical simulations are carried out for a simplified terrain which consists of sea and land. Changes in wind velocity, temperature and heat...

  5. Spatial variation and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons influenced by intensive land use in an urbanized river network of East China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bi, Chunjuan; Wang, Xueping; Jia, Jinpu; Chen, Zhenlou

    2018-06-15

    The concentrations and distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urbanized river networks are strongly influenced by intensive land use, industrial activities and population density. The spatial variations and their influencing factors of 16 priority PAHs were investigated in surface water, suspended particulate matter (SPM) and sediments among areas under different intensive land uses (industrial areas, agricultural areas, inner city, suburban towns and island areas) in the Shanghai river network, East China. Source apportionment was carried out using isomer ratios of PAHs and Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF). Total concentrations of 16 PAHs ranged from 105.2 to 400.5 ng/L, 108.1 to 1058.8 ng/L and 104.4 to 19,480.0 ng/g in water, SPM and sediments, respectively. The concentrations of PAHs in SPM and sediments varied significantly among areas (p natural gas combustion in water and SPM, and vehicular emissions in sediments. Vehicular emissions were the strongest contributors in SPM and sediments of the inner city, indicating the strong influence of vehicular transportation to PAHs pollution in the urbanized river network. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Using GIS and Teledetection data to assess mobility and land consumption in polynucleated landscapes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marmolejo Duarte, Carlos; Tornés Fernández, Moira

    2014-03-01

    Polycentrism has become the keystone in a major number of regional and urban policies, since it has been seen as a sustainable and equilibrated urban model. In this paper, the problem has been focused in case study the biggest metropolitan areas in Spain and pretends test whether polycentric urban growth does effectively reduce land consumption and travel-to-work journeys, protecting in this way agricultural and forest areas around cities and at the same time reducing energy and air emissions produced by cars. The methodology used has been departed from land-use, transport and census data, and using ArcGIS and TransCAD a group of spatial indicators is calculated and introduced in a family of regression models, where explained variables are per capita land consumption and excess commuting respectively. The results suggest that polynucleation has little effect both in the reduction of land consumption and excess commuting. On the contrary, other variables associated to urban form do highly influence land and mobility patterns, such as fragmentation of urban fabrics, job ratio balance, and the diversity of economic activities and housing offer. Such conclusions may shed light in the design of urban policies, and focus the attention on the definition of small-scale urban variables instead of structural ones at metropolitan scale.

  7. Using GIS and Teledetection data to assess mobility and land consumption in polynucleated landscapes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duarte, Carlos Marmolejo; Fernández, Moira Tornés

    2014-01-01

    Polycentrism has become the keystone in a major number of regional and urban policies, since it has been seen as a sustainable and equilibrated urban model. In this paper, the problem has been focused in case study the biggest metropolitan areas in Spain and pretends test whether polycentric urban growth does effectively reduce land consumption and travel-to-work journeys, protecting in this way agricultural and forest areas around cities and at the same time reducing energy and air emissions produced by cars. The methodology used has been departed from land-use, transport and census data, and using ArcGIS and TransCAD a group of spatial indicators is calculated and introduced in a family of regression models, where explained variables are per capita land consumption and excess commuting respectively. The results suggest that polynucleation has little effect both in the reduction of land consumption and excess commuting. On the contrary, other variables associated to urban form do highly influence land and mobility patterns, such as fragmentation of urban fabrics, job ratio balance, and the diversity of economic activities and housing offer. Such conclusions may shed light in the design of urban policies, and focus the attention on the definition of small-scale urban variables instead of structural ones at metropolitan scale

  8. The impact of land use and season on the riverine transport of mercury into the marine coastal zone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saniewska, Dominika; Bełdowska, Magdalena; Bełdowski, Jacek; Saniewski, Michał; Szubska, Marta; Romanowski, Andrzej; Falkowska, Lucyna

    2014-11-01

    In Mediterranean seas and coastal zones, rivers can be the main source of mercury (Hg). Catchment management therefore affects the load of Hg reaching the sea with surface runoff. The major freshwater inflows to the Baltic Sea consist of large rivers. However, their systems are complex and identification of factors affecting the outflow of Hg from its catchments is difficult. For this reason, a study into the impact of watershed land use and season on mercury biogeochemistry and transport in rivers was performed along two small rivers which may be considered typical of the southern Baltic region. Neither of these rivers are currently impacted by industrial effluents, thus allowing assessment of the influence of catchment terrain and season on Hg geochemistry. The study was performed between June 2008 and May 2009 at 13 sampling points situated at different terrain types within the catchments (forest, wetland, agriculture and urban). Hg analyses were conducted by CVAFS. Arable land erosion was found to be an important source of Hg to the aquatic system, similar to urban areas. Furthermore, inflows of untreated storm water discharge resulted in a fivefold increase of Hg concentration in the rivers. The highest Hg concentration in the urban runoff was observed with the greatest amount of precipitation during summer. Moderate rainfalls enhance the inflow of bioavailable dissolved mercury into water bodies. Despite the lack of industrial effluents entering the rivers directly, the sub-catchments with anthropogenic land use were important sources of Hg in the rivers. This was caused by elution of metal, deposited in soils over the past decades, into the rivers. The obtained results are especially important in the light of recent environmental conscience regulations, enforcing the decrease of pollution by Baltic countries.

  9. Urban land use and geohazards in the Itanagar Capital city, Arunachal Pradesh, India: Need for geoethics in urban disaster resilience governance in a changing climate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acharjee, Swapna

    2013-04-01

    The capital city, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, India is exposed to the multiple geohazards as the city is located in the region which experiences extreme physical phenomenon due to changing climate in the tectonically active North-Eastern Himalayas. The geohazards in Itanagar includes landslides, floods, soil erosion and earthquakes. The high decadal growth rate of 111.36% in 1991-2001 census has brought in many challenges with respect to the capital city developmental planning. Due to rapid and haphazard growth in urban land use the people residing in the city are gradually becoming more vulnerable to the geohazards in the past decades. The city condition at present has raised issues of grave concern related to effective hazard management. It is observed that geoscientific approach is violated at many places in the urban developmental activities along the central spine, the National Highway-52A of the capital city. There is an urgent need of geoscientists to apprise the urban populace about land suitability and stability in terms of rock types, soil, slope, geomorphology, groundwater condition etc. and the vulnerability of the existing urban land use to landslides, flood, soil erosion and earthquakes. In this paper major issue, critical issues and elements at risk are discussed in the context of ethics in geohazard management and developmental planning for urban disaster resilience governance in a changing climate.

  10. 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)

  11. Futures Analysis of Urban Land Use and Wetland Change in Saskatoon, Canada: An Application in Strategic Environmental Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anton Sizo

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a scenario-based approach to strategic environmental assessment (SEA for wetland trend analysis and land use and land cover (LUC modeling in an urban environment. The application is focused on the Saskatoon urban environment, a rapidly growing urban municipality in Canada’s prairie pothole region. Alternative future LUC was simulated using remote sensing data and city spatial planning documentation using a Markov Chain technique. Two alternatives were developed and compared for LUC change and threats to urban wetland sustainability: a zero alternative that simulated trends in urban development and wetland conservation under a business as usual scenario, in the absence of prescribed planning and zoning actions; and an alternative focused on implementation of current urban development plans, which simulated future LUC to account for prescribed wetland conservation strategies. Results show no improvement in future wetland conditions under the city’s planned growth and wetland conservation scenario versus the business as usual scenario. Results also indicate that a blanket wetland conservation strategy for the city may not be sufficient to overcome the historic trend of urban wetland loss; and that spatially distributed conservation rates, based on individual wetland water catchment LUC peculiarities, may be more effective in terms of wetland conservation. The paper also demonstrates the challenges to applied SEA in a rapidly changing urban planning context, where data are often sparse and inconsistent across the urban region, and provides potential solutions through LUC classification and prediction tools to help overcome data limitations to support land use planning decisions for wetland conservation.

  12. Utilization of multi-temporal landsat imagery for analyzing land Use/Cover changes and urban expansion of Nakhon Rachasima City

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prach Sangthongwattanakul

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available One of important causes to climate change is land use/ land cover changes due to their important role in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which directly relate to a solution to the problem of global warming. Analysis of land use/ land cover changes is thus very important for developing countries such as Thailand, especially to study the trend of land use/land cover changes that can be used for investigation of theirs driving forces. In addition, during these four decades, land use/cover in Nakhon Ratchasima city, a metropolitan city in Northeastern Thailand, has been rapidly changes because of rapid economical growth together with its location situated in the central of Northeastern Thailand. This study aims to determine land use/cover changes pattern of the Nakhon Ratchasima city. We employed unsupervised classification approach coupled with GIS analyses was employed to generate land use/cover maps for 1972, 2002 and 2013 with four classes; vegetated areas, settlement areas, barelands and water resoures. The results indicate that urban areas have increased based on economic and population growth as well as road network extension and consequently the urban growth affected environmental conditions. In the study, with multi-temporal Landsat data, we successfully used remote sensing techniques together with information technology as a tool for effectively monitoring urban growth.

  13. 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

  14. A Basic Consideration on Urban Structure Analysis for Transportation Planning

    OpenAIRE

    本多, 義明; 加藤, 哲男; 稲葉, 隆夫

    1983-01-01

    1n this paper,using the method of FACTOR ANALYS1S, urban structure analysis for transportation planning is considered. Study areas are Fukui city, Takefu city and Obama city. From thisanalysis,planning informations are obtained for prior analysis of usual transportation planning.

  15. Urban land takeup and the potential for a crisis in the real estate regime

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mariana Giaretto

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Urban land takeups have become one of the main problems in Latin American cities within the last twenty years. From a social and critical perspective, the task at hand is double: to discredit common sense views considering take ups are crime offences and fostering poverty criminalization and, at the same time, to critically analyze the relations between the State and the individuals involved in land take ups, so that we may understand the complexity of this problem.By analysing some interviews to individuals involved in social conflicts in the framework of urban land take ups —both by grassroots sectors and municipal officers, and by secondary sources—, to review varied concrete experiences in the city of Cipolletti (Argentina is proposed, focusing in State intervention forms and discussing whether they are or they are not the sign of a structural crisis within the capitalist property regime under new accumulation conditions.

  16. Improved land use classification from Landsat and Seasat satellite imagery registered to a common map base

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, J.

    1981-01-01

    In the case of Landsat Multispectral Scanner System (MSS) data, ambiguities in spectral signature can arise in urban areas. A study was initiated in the belief that Seasat digital SAR could help provide the spectral separability needed for a more accurate urban land use classification. A description is presented of the results of land use classifications performed on Landsat and preprocessed Seasat imagery that were registered to a common map base. The process of registering imagery and training site boundary coordinates to a common map has been reported by Clark (1980). It is found that preprocessed Seasat imagery provides signatures for urban land uses which are spectrally separable from Landsat signatures. This development appears to significantly improve land use classifications in an urban setting for class 12 (Commercial and Services), class 13 (Industrial), and class 14 (Transportation, Communications, and Utilities).

  17. Urban Transport Policies: The Dutch Struggle with Market Failures and Policy Failures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rietveld, Piet

    2004-01-01

    Transport is characterised by market failures that are of particular importance in urban settings. This paper reviews market failures and policy failures in The Netherlands for various transport markets, including road transport, public transport and biking. Special attention is paid to parking

  18. COMPARISON OF SUSTAINABILITY BETWEEN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT CONSIDERING URBAN STRUCTURE

    OpenAIRE

    Masanobu KII

    2003-01-01

    It is said that the car is convenient but consumes high-energy per passenger, while public transport is an environmentally friendly mode but needs high cost of investment and management. However, this view does not take account of urban structure such as population size and density. For instance, higher population density would cause congestion and consequent inconvenience for car usage. This may shift demand to public transport use. On the other hand, in a lower density of urban area, public...

  19. Geospatial analysis of land use and water interaction in the peri-urban area of Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua. A socio-environmental study in northern Mexico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rolando Enrique Díaz Caravantes

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available For decades, city growth has been considered only in terms of land availability. In cities of northern Mexico, usually located in arid or semi-arid regions, there is a high dependence on groundwater. For this reason, comprehensive planning urban must consider the peri-urban area not only in terms of soil, but also groundwater. Water transfer for urban use produces severe alterations to the natural environment as aquifer depletion and drastic changes in land use/cover. This paper presents a spatial analysis of land use and water in the peri-urban area of Ciudad Cuauhtémoc. Using geographic modeling and remote sensing we assessed the dynamics of land use/cover. The results indicate that land change processes occur in a context of high competition for water between different users. This process is not usually considered in studies measuring urban spatial expansion, but should be considered to fully understand the effects of urban growth in the territory.

  20. Quantitative Analysis of Major Factors Affecting Black Carbon Transport and Concentrations in the Unique Atmospheric Structures of Urban Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Marissa Shuang

    Black carbon (BC) from vehicular emission in transportation is a principal component of particulate matters ≤ 2.5 mum (PM2.5). PM2.5 and other diesel emission pollutants (e.g., NOx) are regulated by the Clean Air Act (CAA) according to the National Ambient Air Quality standards (NAAQS). This doctoral dissertation details a study on transport behaviors of black carbon and PM2.5 from transportation routes, their relations with the atmospheric structure of an urban formation, and their relations with the use of biodiesel fuels. The results have implications to near-road risk assessment and to the development of sustainable transportation solutions in urban centers. The first part of study quantified near-roadside black carbon transport as a function of particulate matter (PM) size and composition, as well as microclimatic variables (temperature and wind fields) at the interstate highway I-75 in northern Cincinnati, Ohio. Among variables examined, wind speed and direction significantly affect the roadside transport of black carbon and hence its effective emission factor. Observed non-Gaussian dispersion occurred during low wind and for wind directions at acute angles or upwind to the receptors, mostly occurring in the morning hours. Meandering of air pollutant mass under thermal inversion is likely the driving force. In contrary, Gaussian distribution predominated in daytime of strong downwinds. The roles of urban atmospheric structure, wind fields, and the urban heat island (UHI) effects were further examined on pollutant dispersion and transport. Spatiotemporal variations of traffic flow, atmospheric structure, ambient temperature and PM2.5 concentration data from 14 EPA-certified NAAQS monitoring stations, were analyzed in relation to land-use in the Cincinnati metropolitan area. The results show a decade-long UHI effects with higher interior temperature than that in exurban, and a prominent nocturnal thermal inversion frequent in urban boundary layer. The

  1. Spatiotemporal Analysis of Urban Land Cover Changes in Kigali, Rwanda Using Multitemporal Landsat Data and Landscape Metrics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mugiraneza, T.; Haas, J.; Ban, Y.

    2017-11-01

    Mapping urbanization and ensuing environmental impacts using satellite data combined with landscape metrics has become a hot research topic. The objectives of the study are to analyze the spatio-temporal evolution of urbanization patterns of Kigali, Rwanda over the last three decades (from 1984 to 2015) using multitemporal Landsat data and to assess the associated environmental impact using landscape metrics. Landsat images, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Grey Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) variance texture and digital elevation model (DEM) data were classified using a support vector machine (SVM). Eight landscape indices were derived from classified images for urbanization environment impact assessment. Seven land cover classes were derived with an overall accuracy exceeding 88 % with Kappa Coefficients around 0.8. As most prominent changes, cropland was reduced considerably in favour of built-up areas that increased from 2,349 ha to 11,579 ha between 1984 and 2015. During those 31 years, the increased number of patches in most land cover classes illustrated landscape fragmentation, especially for forest. The landscape configuration indices demonstrate that in general the land cover pattern remained stable for cropland but it was highly changed in built-up areas. Satellite-based analysis and quantification of urbanization and its effects using landscape metrics are found to be interesting for grassroots and provide a cost-effective method for urban information production. This information can be used for e.g. potential design and implementation of early warning systems that cater for urbanization effects.

  2. SPATIALLY EXPLICIT MICRO-LEVEL MODELLING OF LAND USE CHANGE AT THE RURAL-URBAN INTERFACE. (R828012)

    Science.gov (United States)

    This paper describes micro-economic models of land use change applicable to the rural–urban interface in the US. Use of a spatially explicit micro-level modelling approach permits the analysis of regional patterns of land use as the aggregate outcomes of many, disparate...

  3. Sustainable Land Development In An Urban Context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kauko Tom

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available It can be argued that sustainable urban land development depends on the long-term viability and management success of local economic development. It can be further argued that here, economic sustainability is the key. This would furthermore signify a paradigm change to long-term administrative behavior (via an institutional approach, long-term market behavior (heterodox economics approach, and human behavior in actors’ consumption and location choices (behavioral approach. This article examines two criteria within this discourse: innovativeness and social cohesion. In doing so, it proposes a framework for empirical analysis where it is suggested that western, post-socialist and low developed cases choose different strategies due to their different starting points.

  4. Effects of Land-use/Land-cover and Climate Changes on Water Quantity and Quality in Sub-basins near Major US Cities in the Great Lakes Region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, L.; Al-Hamdan, M. Z.; Crosson, W. L.; Barik, M.

    2017-12-01

    Land-cover change over time to urbanized, less permeable surfaces, leads to reduced water infiltration at the location of water input while simultaneously transporting sediments, nutrients and contaminants farther downstream. With an abundance of agricultural fields bordering the greater urban areas of Milwaukee, Detroit, and Chicago, water and nutrient transport is vital to the farming industry, wetlands, and communities that rely on water availability. Two USGS stream gages each located within a sub-basin near each of these Great Lakes Region cities were examined, one with primarily urban land-cover between 1992 and 2011, and one with primarily agriculture land-cover. ArcSWAT, a watershed model and soil and water assessment tool used in extension with ArcGIS, was used to develop hydrologic models that vary the land-covers to simulate surface runoff during a model run period from 2004 to 2008. Model inputs that include a digital elevation model (DEM), Landsat-derived land-use/land-cover (LULC) satellite images from 1992, 2001, and 2011, soil classification, and meteorological data were used to determine the effect of different land-covers on the water runoff, nutrients and sediments. The models were then calibrated and validated to USGS stream gage data measurements over time. Additionally, the watershed model was run based on meteorological data from an IPCC CMIP5 high emissions climate change scenario for 2050. Model outputs from the different LCLU scenarios were statistically evaluated and results showed that water runoff, nutrients and sediments were impacted by LULC change in four out of the six sub-basins. In the 2050 climate scenario, only one out of the six sub-basin's water quantity and quality was affected. These results contribute to the importance of developing hydrologic models as the dependence on the Great Lakes as a freshwater resource competes with the expansion of urbanization leading to the movement of runoff, nutrients, and sediments off the

  5. Impacts of urbanization on national transport and road energy use: Evidence from low, middle and high income countries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Poumanyvong, Phetkeo; Kaneko, Shinji; Dhakal, Shobhakar

    2012-01-01

    Few attempts have been made to investigate quantitatively and systematically the impact of urbanization on transport energy use for countries of different stages of economic development. This paper examines the influence of urbanization on national transport and road energy use for low, middle and high income countries during 1975–2005, using the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology (STIRPAT) model. After controlling for population size, income per capita and the share of services in the economy, the main results suggest that urbanization influences national transport and road energy use positively. However, the magnitude of its influence varies among the three income groups. Changes in urbanization appear to have a greater impact on transport and road energy use in the high income group than in the other groups. Surprisingly, the urbanization elasticities of transport and road energy use in the middle income group are smaller than those of the low income group. This study not only sheds further light on the existing literature, but also provides policy makers with insightful information on the link between urbanization and transport energy use at the three different stages of development. - Highlights: ► Overall, urbanization increases national transport and road energy use. ► Urbanization elasticities of transport energy use differ across development stages. ► Urbanization elasticities in high-income group are higher than in other groups.

  6. Urban sprawl and its relationship with active transportation, physical activity and obesity in Canadian youth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seliske, Laura; Pickett, William; Janssen, Ian

    2012-06-01

    Urban sprawl is a potential environmental influence on youth overweight/obesity. However, little is known about the association between urban sprawl and behaviours that influence obesity such as active transportation and physical activity. The study population consisted of 7,017 respondents aged 12 to 19 to the 2007/2008 Canadian Community Health Survey, living in Canada's 33 census metropolitan areas (CMAs). Factor analysis was used to obtain an urban sprawl score for each CMA, incorporating dwelling density, percentage of single or detached dwelling units, and percentage of the population living in the urban core. Multi-level logistic regression examined whether urban sprawl was associated with frequent active transportation (30 or more minutes a day), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (60 or more minutes a day), and overweight/obesity. Urban sprawl was associated with active transportation among 12- to 15-year-olds, with the relative odds of engaging in at least 30 minutes of active transportation per day increasing by 24% (95% CI: 10-39%) for each standard deviation (SD) increase in the urban sprawl score. For the entire sample aged 12 to 19, higher urban sprawl was associated with MVPA (odds ratio per SD increase = 1.10, 95% CI: 1.01-1.20), but not with overweight/obesity (odds ratio per SD increase = 1.06, 95% CI: 0.94-1.18). Urban sprawl was associated with active transportation and MVPA in Canadian youth, although in the opposite direction to what has been reported in the literature for adults.

  7. [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.

  8. Remote sensing based approach for monitoring urban growth in Mexico city, Mexico: A case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obade, Vincent

    The world is experiencing a rapid rate of urban expansion, largely contributed by the population growth. Other factors supporting urban growth include the improved efficiency in the transportation sector and increasing dependence on cars as a means of transport. The problems attributed to the urban growth include: depletion of energy resources, water and air pollution; loss of landscapes and wildlife, loss of agricultural land, inadequate social security and lack of employment or underemployment. Aerial photography is one of the popular techniques for analyzing, planning and minimizing urbanization related problems. However, with the advances in space technology, satellite remote sensing is increasingly being utilized in the analysis and planning of the urban environment. This article outlines the strengths and limitations of potential remote sensing techniques for monitoring urban growth. The selected methods include: Principal component analysis, Maximum likelihood classification and "decision tree". The results indicate that the "classification tree" approach is the most promising for monitoring urban change, given the improved accuracy and smooth transition between the various land cover classes

  9. Measuring Health-related Transportation Barriers in Urban Settings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Locatelli, Sara M; Sharp, Lisa K; Syed, Saming T; Bhansari, Shikhi; Gerber, Ben S

    Access to reliable transportation is important for people with chronic diseases considering the need for frequent medical visits and for medications from the pharmacy. Understanding of the extent to which transportation barriers, including lack of transportation, contribute to poor health outcomes has been hindered by a lack of consistency in measuring or operationally defining "transportation barriers." The current study uses the Rasch measurement model to examine the psychometric properties of a new measure designed to capture types of transportation and associated barriers within an urban context. Two hundred forty-four adults with type 2 diabetes were recruited from within an academic medical center in Chicago and completed the newly developed transportation questions as part of a larger National Institutes of Health funded study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01498159). Results suggested a two subscale structure that reflected 1) general transportation barriers and 2) public transportation barriers.

  10. Contributions of Local Farming to Urban Sustainability in the Northeast United States

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Goldstein, Benjamin Paul; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Fernandez, John E.

    2017-01-01

    Food consumption is an important contributor to a city’s environmental impacts (carbon emissions, land occupation, water use, etc.) Urban farming (UF) has been advocated as a means to increase urban sustainability by reducing food-related transport and tapping into local resources. Taking Boston...... land occupation/capita/annum) under optimal production scenarios, informing future evidence-based urban design and policy crafting in the region. Notwithstanding UF’s marginal environmental gains, UF could help Boston meet national nutritional guidelines for vegetable intake, generate an estimated $160...... million U.S. in revenue to growers and act as a pedagogical and community building tool, though these benefits would hinge on large-scale UF proliferation, likely undergirded by environmental remediation of marginal lands in the city....

  11. Urbanization in the US: land use trends, impacts on forest area, projections, and policy considerations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ralph Alig

    2010-01-01

    Since World War II, socio-economic drivers of US urbanization such as population totals and personal income levels have increased substantially. Human land use is the primary force driving changes in forest ecosystem attributes including forest area, which is the focus of this paper. The percentage of the US population residing in urban areas is higher than that in...

  12. Meter-scale Urban Land Cover Mapping for EPA EnviroAtlas Using Machine Learning and OBIA Remote Sensing Techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pilant, A. N.; Baynes, J.; Dannenberg, M.; Riegel, J.; Rudder, C.; Endres, K.

    2013-12-01

    US EPA EnviroAtlas is an online collection of tools and resources that provides geospatial data, maps, research, and analysis on the relationships between nature, people, health, and the economy (http://www.epa.gov/research/enviroatlas/index.htm). Using EnviroAtlas, you can see and explore information related to the benefits (e.g., ecosystem services) that humans receive from nature, including clean air, clean and plentiful water, natural hazard mitigation, biodiversity conservation, food, fuel, and materials, recreational opportunities, and cultural and aesthetic value. EPA developed several urban land cover maps at very high spatial resolution (one-meter pixel size) for a portion of EnviroAtlas devoted to urban studies. This urban mapping effort supported analysis of relations among land cover, human health and demographics at the US Census Block Group level. Supervised classification of 2010 USDA NAIP (National Agricultural Imagery Program) digital aerial photos produced eight-class land cover maps for several cities, including Durham, NC, Portland, ME, Tampa, FL, New Bedford, MA, Pittsburgh, PA, Portland, OR, and Milwaukee, WI. Semi-automated feature extraction methods were used to classify the NAIP imagery: genetic algorithms/machine learning, random forest, and object-based image analysis (OBIA). In this presentation we describe the image processing and fuzzy accuracy assessment methods used, and report on some sustainability and ecosystem service metrics computed using this land cover as input (e.g., carbon sequestration from USFS iTREE model; health and demographics in relation to road buffer forest width). We also discuss the land cover classification schema (a modified Anderson Level 1 after the National Land Cover Data (NLCD)), and offer some observations on lessons learned. Meter-scale urban land cover in Portland, OR overlaid on NAIP aerial photo. Streets, buildings and individual trees are identifiable.

  13. Rural Districts between Urbanization and Land Abandonment: Undermining Long-Term Changes in Mediterranean Landscapes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ilaria Zambon

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The present study investigates changes in the rural landscapes of a Mediterranean country (Greece over a long time period (1970–2015 encompassing economic expansions and recessions. Using a spatial distribution of 5 basic agricultural land-use classes (arable land, garden crop, vineyards, tree crop and fallow land derived from official statistics at 6 years (1970, 1979, 1988, 1997, 2006, 2015, a quantitative analysis based on correlation and multivariate techniques was carried out to identify recent changes in the Greek agricultural landscape at prefectural level during different economic waves. Empirical results evidenced both intuitive and counter-intuitive landscape transformations, including: (i a progressive, spatially-homogeneous reduction of cropland; (ii a (more or less rapid decrease in the surface of high-input crops, including arable land, horticulture and vineyards; (iii a parallel increase in the surface of tree crops, especially olive; (iv a spatially-heterogeneous decrease of fallow land concentrated in metropolitan and tourism districts, especially in the last decade; and, finally, (v increasingly diversified landscapes in rural, accessible areas close to the sea coast. Based on a correlation analysis with background socioeconomic indicators, our findings reflect the multiple impacts of urbanization and land abandonment on the composition and diversity of rural landscapes. Changes in agricultural land-use were moulded by multiple drivers depending on latent transformations in rural systems and inherent conflicts with expanding urban regions. Together with market conditions and the Common Agricultural Policy subsidy regime, social contexts and the economic cycle are important when identifying long-term changes in agricultural landscapes, especially in transitional socio-ecological systems.

  14. Shenzhen Comprehensive Transport System Planning:An Exploration of Sustainable Urban Transport Development on Condition of Limited Resources

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2010-01-01

    With "integration" as the direction,Shenzhen Comprehensive Transport Planning integrates the plan,construction and management of all kinds of transport mode in the transport system,and integrates the transport with the social,economic and environment development.The planning specifies the strategic targets,key indicators,development strategies as well as major policies of the comprehensive transport system,which explores an alternative way for the sustainable urban transport development under the condition of limited resources in Shenzhen.

  15. What is The Role of Land Value in The Urban Corridor?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rakhmatulloh, A. R.; Buchori, I.; Pradoto, W.; Riyanto, B.; Winarendri, J.

    2018-02-01

    The high movement causes traffic congestion and indicates high movement intensity along the corridor. The higher attraction of the land use will encourage the higher attraction of movement and economic values in the location. This attraction is also affected by the high mobility in the corridor supported by available transport infrastructure. Thus this causes land values become increase significantly. Land use along the corridor can be seen as commercial function because this activity is able to survive in the premium location. The purpose of this research is to identify the effect of land use change toward land values in the commercial corridor. This research used positivistic method with descriptive analysis. The result shows that the land values change in commercial use in the corridor has different pattern of land use change pattern according to physical condition and land use which causes highly economic attraction. The new commercial land is influenced by the distance to city centre or CBD (Central Business District). Land use and public facilities that have local and city scope services do not give the significant impact to land values change.

  16. EnviroAtlas - Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN - Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data (2010)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN EnviroAtlas Meter-scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) data were generated from four-band (red, green, blue, and near infrared) aerial...

  17. Increasing the availability of urban passenger transport on objective ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Increasing the availability of urban passenger transport on objective control data ... mathematical modeling, probability theory and mathematical statistics, expert ... intended for development of methods and means of operative management of ...

  18. Impact of urbanization on the sediment yield in tropical watershed using temporal land-use changes and a GIS-based model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bello Al-Amin D.

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Abundant rainfall areas promote sediment yield at both sub-watershed and watershed scale due to soil erosion and increase siltation of river channel, but it can be curtailed through planned urbanization. The urbanization of Skudai watershed is analysed from historical and future perspective. A GIS-based model (Hydrological Simulation Programme-FORTRAN-HSPF is used to modelled sediment flow using basin-wide simulation, and the output result is utilized in evaluating sediment yield reduction due to increased urbanization by swapping multiple temporal land-use of decadent time-steps. The analysis indicates that sediment yield reduces with increase urban built-up and decrease forest and agricultural land. An estimated 12 400 tons of sediment will be reduced for every 27% increase in built-up areas under high rainfall condition and 1 490 tons at low rainfall. The sensitivity analysis of land-use classes shows that built-up, forest and barren are more sensitive to sediment yield reduction compared to wetland and agricultural land at both high and low rainfall. The result of the study suggests that increased urbanization reduced sediment yield in proportion to the rainfall condition and can be used as an alternative approach for soil conservation at watershed scale independent of climate condition.

  19. An initial analysis of LANDSAT 4 Thematic Mapper data for the classification of agricultural, forested wetland, and urban land covers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quattrochi, D. A.; Anderson, J. E.; Brannon, D. P.; Hill, C. L.

    1982-01-01

    An initial analysis of LANDSAT 4 thematic mapper (TM) data for the delineation and classification of agricultural, forested wetland, and urban land covers was conducted. A study area in Poinsett County, Arkansas was used to evaluate a classification of agricultural lands derived from multitemporal LANDSAT multispectral scanner (MSS) data in comparison with a classification of TM data for the same area. Data over Reelfoot Lake in northwestern Tennessee were utilized to evaluate the TM for delineating forested wetland species. A classification of the study area was assessed for accuracy in discriminating five forested wetland categories. Finally, the TM data were used to identify urban features within a small city. A computer generated classification of Union City, Tennessee was analyzed for accuracy in delineating urban land covers. An evaluation of digitally enhanced TM data using principal components analysis to facilitate photointerpretation of urban features was also performed.

  20. Rapid urbanization and the need for sustainable transportation policies in Jakarta

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rukmana, D.

    2018-03-01

    Not only is Jakarta the largest metropolitan area in Southeast Asia, it is the also one of the most dynamic, though beset with most of the urban problems experienced in twenty-first century Southeast Asia. Batavia, colonial capital of the Netherland Indies in the first half of the 20th century was a small urban area of approximately 150,000 residents. In the second half, Batavia became Jakarta, the 28 million megacity capital of independent Indonesia. Among many urban problems, one major problem plagued Jakarta in the last two decades is traffic congestions. This paper discusses the extent to which rapid urbanization in Jakarta has contributed to the need for sustainable transportation policies in Jakarta. The development of MRT could be viable solutions to alleviate the acute traffic jams in Jakarta. Jakarta will need to implement other innovative sustainable transportation policies including promoting active live through more walking and bicycling, carpool matching services, shuttle services, telecommuting and downzoning in downtown areas.

  1. 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.

  2. Impacts of Changing Climate, Hydrology and Land Use on the Stormwater Runoff of Urbanizing Central Florida

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huq, E.; Abdul-Aziz, O. I.

    2017-12-01

    We computed the historical and future storm runoff scenarios for the Shingle Creek Basin, including the growing urban centers of central Florida (e.g., City of Orlando). Storm Water Management Model (SWMM 5.1) of US EPA was used to develop a mechanistic hydrologic model for the basin by incorporating components of urban hydrology, hydroclimatological variables, and land use/cover features. The model was calibrated and validated with historical streamflow of 2004-2013 near the outlet of the Shingle Creek. The calibrated model was used to compute the sensitivities of stormwater budget to reference changes in hydroclimatological variables (rainfall and evapotranspiration) and land use/cover features (imperviousness, roughness). Basin stormwater budgets for the historical (2010s = 2004-2013) and future periods (2050s = 2030-2059; 2080s = 2070-2099) were also computed based on downscaled climatic projections of 20 GCMs-RCMs representing the coupled model intercomparison project (CMIP5), and anticipated changes in land use/cover. The sensitivity analyses indicated the dominant drivers of urban runoff in the basin. Comparative assessment of the historical and future stormwater runoff scenarios helped to locate basin areas that would be at a higher risk of future stormwater flooding. Importance of the study lies in providing valuable guidelines for managing stormwater flooding in central Florida and similar growing urban centers around the world.

  3. EnviroAtlas - Cleveland, OH - Meter-Scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) Data (2011 and 2013)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Cleveland, OH EnviroAtlas Meter-scale Urban Land Cover (MULC) dataset comprises 2,737 km2 around the city of Cleveland and portions of surrounding counties. The...

  4. Delineating Urban Fringe Area by Land Cover Information Entropy—An Empirical Study of Guangzhou-Foshan Metropolitan Area, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Junyi Huang

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Rapid urbanization has caused many environmental problems, such as the heat island effect, intensifying air pollution, pollution from runoff, loss of wildlife habitat, etc. Accurate evaluations of these problems demand an accurate delineation of the spatial extent of the urban fringe. Conceptual and analytical ambiguity of the urban fringe and a general lack of consensus among researchers have made its measurement very difficult. This study reports a compound and reliable method to delineate the urban fringe area using a case study. Based on the 'fringe effect' theory in landscape ecology, the existing land cover information entropy model for defining the urban fringe is renewed by incorporating scale theory, cartography and urban geography theory. Results show that the urban fringe area of Guangzhou and Foshan metropolitan area covers an area of 2031 km2, and it occupies over 31% of the total study area. Result evaluation by industry structure data shows satisfactory correspondence with different land cover types. This paper reports the method and outcome of an attempt to provide an objective, repeatable and generally applicable method for mapping its spatial extent from remote sensing imageries, and could be beneficial to relevant urban studies and urban fringe management projects.

  5. Model architecture of intelligent data mining oriented urban transportation information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Bogang; Tao, Yingchun; Sui, Jianbo; Zhang, Feizhou

    2007-06-01

    Aiming at solving practical problems in urban traffic, the paper presents model architecture of intelligent data mining from hierarchical view. With artificial intelligent technologies used in the framework, the intelligent data mining technology improves, which is more suitable for the change of real-time road condition. It also provides efficient technology support for the urban transport information distribution, transmission and display.

  6. Optimal Decision Fusion for Urban Land-Use/Land-Cover Classification Based on Adaptive Differential Evolution Using Hyperspectral and LiDAR Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanfei Zhong

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Hyperspectral images and light detection and ranging (LiDAR data have, respectively, the high spectral resolution and accurate elevation information required for urban land-use/land-cover (LULC classification. To combine the respective advantages of hyperspectral and LiDAR data, this paper proposes an optimal decision fusion method based on adaptive differential evolution, namely ODF-ADE, for urban LULC classification. In the ODF-ADE framework the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI, gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM and digital surface model (DSM are extracted to form the feature map. The three different classifiers of the maximum likelihood classifier (MLC, support vector machine (SVM and multinomial logistic regression (MLR are used to classify the extracted features. To find the optimal weights for the different classification maps, weighted voting is used to obtain the classification result and the weights of each classification map are optimized by the differential evolution algorithm which uses a self-adaptive strategy to obtain the parameter adaptively. The final classification map is obtained after post-processing based on conditional random fields (CRF. The experimental results confirm that the proposed algorithm is very effective in urban LULC classification.

  7. Energy-urban transition: The Mexican case

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paez, Armando

    2010-01-01

    In this paper I present a study regarding the institutional conditions of Mexican cities based on a post-petroleum urban model that considers transport, architecture, urban planning and land use, renewable energy sources, energy saving and efficiency, and urban metabolism issues. The model was constructed with recommendations of authors and organizations that have analysed the energy dimension of cities under an energy-availability, environmental or petroleum-independent view. To make the study I sent a questionnaire to some local governments of all the country. The information indicates that Mexican cities do not have institutional conditions to manage the urban-energy transition that signify the end of cheap oil and the peak of world oil production.

  8. Impacts from Land Use Pattern on Spatial Distribution of Cultivated Soil Heavy Metal Pollution in Typical Rural-Urban Fringe of Northeast China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Wenbo; Wang, Dongyan; Wang, Qing; Liu, Shuhan; Zhu, Yuanli; Wu, Wenjun

    2017-03-22

    Under rapid urban sprawl in Northeast China, land conversions are not only encroaching on the quantity of cultivated lands, but also posing a great threat to black soil conservation and food security. This study's aim is to explore the spatial relationship between comprehensive cultivated soil heavy metal pollution and peri-urban land use patterns in the black soil region. We applied spatial lag regression to analyze the relationship between PLI (pollution load index) and influencing factors of land use by taking suburban cultivated land of Changchun Kuancheng District as an empirical case. The results indicate the following: (1) Similar spatial distribution characteristics are detected between Pb, Cu, and Zn, between Cr and Ni, and between Hg and Cd. The Yitong River catchment in the central region, and the residential community of Lanjia County in the west, are the main hotspots for eight heavy metals and PLI. Beihu Wetland Park, with a larger-area distribution of ecological land in the southeast, has low level for both heavy metal concentrations and PLI values. Spatial distribution characteristics of cultivated heavy metals are related to types of surrounding land use and industry; (2) Spatial lag regression has a better fit for PLI than the ordinary least squares regression. The regression results indicate the inverse relationship between heavy metal pollution degree and distance from long-standing residential land and surface water. Following rapid urban land expansion and a longer accumulation period, residential land sprawl is going to threaten cultivated land with heavy metal pollution in the suburban black soil region, and cultivated land irrigated with urban river water in the suburbs will have a higher tendency for heavy metal pollution.

  9. Impacts from Land Use Pattern on Spatial Distribution of Cultivated Soil Heavy Metal Pollution in Typical Rural-Urban Fringe of Northeast China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Wenbo; Wang, Dongyan; Wang, Qing; Liu, Shuhan; Zhu, Yuanli; Wu, Wenjun

    2017-01-01

    Under rapid urban sprawl in Northeast China, land conversions are not only encroaching on the quantity of cultivated lands, but also posing a great threat to black soil conservation and food security. This study’s aim is to explore the spatial relationship between comprehensive cultivated soil heavy metal pollution and peri-urban land use patterns in the black soil region. We applied spatial lag regression to analyze the relationship between PLI (pollution load index) and influencing factors of land use by taking suburban cultivated land of Changchun Kuancheng District as an empirical case. The results indicate the following: (1) Similar spatial distribution characteristics are detected between Pb, Cu, and Zn, between Cr and Ni, and between Hg and Cd. The Yitong River catchment in the central region, and the residential community of Lanjia County in the west, are the main hotspots for eight heavy metals and PLI. Beihu Wetland Park, with a larger-area distribution of ecological land in the southeast, has low level for both heavy metal concentrations and PLI values. Spatial distribution characteristics of cultivated heavy metals are related to types of surrounding land use and industry; (2) Spatial lag regression has a better fit for PLI than the ordinary least squares regression. The regression results indicate the inverse relationship between heavy metal pollution degree and distance from long-standing residential land and surface water. Following rapid urban land expansion and a longer accumulation period, residential land sprawl is going to threaten cultivated land with heavy metal pollution in the suburban black soil region, and cultivated land irrigated with urban river water in the suburbs will have a higher tendency for heavy metal pollution. PMID:28327541

  10. An Overview of Problems and Solutions for Urban Freight Transport in Brazilian Cities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leise K. Oliveira

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Urban freight transport is a challenge for Brazilian cities due to the lack of adequate planning for freight flow movement. Public managers also show negligence and a lack of awareness when dealing with urban logistics. Decision-support data on urban freight transport are still scarce, despite being of fundamental value to economic development. With this in mind, this paper presents problems and solutions regarding urban freight transport in Brazilian cities. Data were obtained through a survey conducted in nine cities and analysed by means of descriptive statistics and the successive intervals method. Additionally, a cluster analysis was performed to identify patterns regarding the typical characteristics of each city in order to compare and generalise the perception of retailers regarding problems and solutions at the national level. The results indicate divergent opinions among retailers from different cities, even from cities with similar socioeconomic profiles and urban dynamics. The municipalities which demonstrated the most similarities were (i Betim and Niteroi, in the Southeast of Brazil; (ii Palmas and Quixada, in the North and Northeast, respectively; and (iii Palmas and Caruaru, also in the North and Northeast. The results reinforce the importance of studying the local context and involving stakeholders in the process of planning urban logistics solutions.

  11. Role of Urbanization, Land-Use Diversity, and Livestock Intensification in Zoonotic Emerging Infectious Diseases

    OpenAIRE

    Saksena, Sumeet; Fox, Jefferson; Epprecht, Michael; Tran, Chinh; Castrence, Miguel; Nong, Duong; Spencer, James; Lam, Nguyen; Finucane, Melissa; Duc Vien, Tran; Wilcox, Bruce

    2014-01-01

    Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) continue to significantly threaten human and animal health. While there has been some progress in identifying underlying proximal driving forces and causal mechanisms of disease emergence, the role of distal factors is most poorly understood. This article focuses on analyzing the statistical association between highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 and urbanization, land-use diversity and poultry intensification. A special form of the urban transiti...

  12. Assessing the Impacts of Chinese Sustainable Ground Transportation on the Dynamics of Urban Growth: A Case Study of the Hangzhou Bay Bridge

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qing Zheng

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Although China has promoted the construction of Chinese Sustainable Ground Transportation (CSGT to guide sustainable development, it may create substantial challenges, such as rapid urban growth and land limitations. This research assessed the effects of the Hangzhou Bay Bridge on impervious surface growth in Cixi County, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China. Changes in impervious surfaces were mapped based on Landsat images from 1995, 2002, and 2009 using a combination of multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis (MESMA and landscape metrics. The results indicated that the area and density of impervious surfaces increased significantly during construction of the Hangzhou Bay Bridge (2002–2009. Additionally, the bridge and connected road networks promoted urban development along major roads, resulting in compact growth patterns of impervious surfaces in urbanized regions. Moreover, the Hangzhou Bay Bridge promoted the expansion and densification of impervious surfaces in Hangzhou Bay District, which surrounds the bridge. The bridge also accelerated socioeconomic growth in the area, promoting rapid urban growth in Cixi County between 2002 and 2009. Overall, the Hangzhou Bay Bridge is an important driver of urban growth in Cixi County, and policy suggestions for sustainable urban growth should be adopted in the future.

  13. Urban expansion and transportation : the impact of urban form on commuting patterns on the city fringe of Beijing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zhao, Pengjun; Lue, Bin; de Roo, Gert

    2010-01-01

    A key issue in the development of China's growing megacities in the transport-related environmental costs due to rapid urban expansion. In light of this issue, the authors examine the impact of urban form on commuting patterns on the city fringe of Beijing. Based on household-survey data, the

  14. Urban development and transport disadvantage: Methodology to evaluate social transport needs in Latin American cities

    OpenAIRE

    Lizarraga, Carmen; Jaramillo, Ciro; Grindlay, Alejandro L.

    2011-01-01

    This article examines the theoretical framework for accessibility, social exclusion and provision of public transport. The socio-economic and urban characteristics of Latin American cities require the creation of specific indices to determine social needs for public transport. In the article an index of social transport needs is drawn up. It can be used to highlight a problem which is severely affecting wide groups in Latin America who suffer social exclusion aggravated by a deficient provisi...

  15. The evolution of urban sprawl: evidence of spatial heterogeneity and increasing land fragmentation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Irwin, Elena G; Bockstael, Nancy E

    2007-12-26

    We investigate the dynamics and spatial distribution of land use fragmentation in a rapidly urbanizing region of the United States to test key propositions regarding the evolution of sprawl. Using selected pattern metrics and data from 1973 and 2000 for the state of Maryland, we find significant increases in developed and undeveloped land fragmentation but substantial spatial heterogeneity as well. Estimated fragmentation gradients that describe mean fragmentation as a function of distance from urban centers confirm the hypotheses that fragmentation rises and falls with distance and that the point of maximum fragmentation shifted outward over time. However, rather than outward increases in sprawl balanced by development infill, we find substantial and significant increases in mean fragmentation values along the entire urban-rural gradient. These findings are in contrast to the results of Burchfield et al. [Burchfield M, Overman HG, Puga D, Turner MA (2006) Q J Econ 121:587-633], who conclude that the extent of sprawl remained roughly unchanged in the Unites States between 1976 and 1992. As demonstrated here, both the data and pattern measure used in their study are systematically biased against recording low-density residential development, the very land use that we find is most strongly associated with fragmentation. Other results demonstrate the association between exurban growth and increasing fragmentation and the systematic variation of fragmentation with nonurban factors. In particular, proximity to the Chesapeake Bay is negatively associated with fragmentation, suggesting that an attraction effect associated with this natural amenity has concentrated development.

  16. Change in Urban Land Use and Associated Attributes in the Upper San Francisco Estuary, 1990-2006

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David M. Stoms

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Land use is an ultimate driver of many of the stressors on the Upper San Francisco Estuary, but the magnitude and pattern of land use change has not been analyzed. This paper attempts to fill this knowledge gap through a screening-level risk assessment. Urban land use was compared within hydrodynamic subregions in 1990, 2000, and 2006. Ancillary data were then used to quantify secondary measures such as impervious cover, housing density, road density and road crossings. Despite the rapid growth of the Bay Area, Sacramento, and Stockton metropolitan areas, the percentage of urban area and rates of change in the subregions are generally low to moderate when compared to other estuaries in the United States. The spatial data sets used in this analysis have been posted online to a public repository to be used by other researchers.

  17. A novel land use approach for assessment of human health: The relationship between urban structure types and cardiorespiratory disease risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Réquia Júnior, Weeberb João; Roig, Henrique Llacer; Koutrakis, Petros

    2015-12-01

    Extensive evidence shows that in addition to lifestyle factors, environmental aspects are an important risk factor for human health. Numerous approaches have been used to estimate the relationship between environment and health. For example, the urban characteristics, especially the types of land use, are considered a potential proxy indicator to evaluate risk of disease. Although several studies have used land use variables to assess human health, none of them has used the concept of Urban Morphology by Urban Structure Types (USTs) as indicators of land use. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between USTs and cardiorespiratory disease risks in the Federal District, Brazil. Toward this end, we used a quantile regression model to estimate risk. We used 21 types of UST. Income and population density were used as covariates in our sensitivity analysis. Our analysis showed an association between cardiorespiratory diseases risk and 10 UST variables (1 related to rural area, 6 related to residential area, 1 recreational area, 1 public area and 1 commercial area). Our findings suggest that the conventional land use method may be missing important information about the effect of land use on human health. The use of USTs can be an approach to complement the conventional method. This should be of interest to policy makers in order to enhance public health policies and to create future strategies in terms of urban planning, land use and environmental health. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. The multi-level perspective and the scope for sustainable land use planning in Chiang Mai city

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sangawongse, S.; Sengers, F.H.; Raven, R.P.J.M.

    2012-01-01

    This paper examines stability and change in land use and urban planning in Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand. Inappropriate land use zoning, lack of enforcement of city planning, lack of public transportation and many unresolved problems (e.g. frequent floods, traffic congestion) are indicative

  19. Construction Land Expansion and Transfer of Gravity Center from 1984 to 2016 : A study on Beijing - Tianjin - Hebei Urban Agglomeration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lv, Jinxia; Jiang, Weiguo

    2017-04-01

    With the economic development and technological innovation, urban planning and construction has already broken through the shackles of the natural conditions such as topography and geomorphology, and the social factors such as politics and location have been affected by the urbanization process in the process of urbanization. At the same time, the synergies between urban development and local economy, national policy, industrial distribution and so on are also paid more attention. As the third pole of Chinese economy after the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Metropolis Circle has attracted extensive attention on experts and scholars in its urban development and location. In recent years, studies on urban development have not only analyzed the spatial characteristics of urban or urban agglomerations, but also discussed the relationship between urban development and certain elements or phenomena. This paper presents a multi-threshold and multi-feature extraction method for building land using the optical characteristics of different landforms, based on Landsat remote sensing images from 1984 to 2016. The method selected Automated Water Extraction Index (AWEI), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Soil Extraction Index (SOEI) and Normalized Difference Built-up Index (BUEI) to extract the construction land. It is an example study area of Beijing to extract the construction land in 30 years and to do a examine research. Using the ArcGIS software to calculate, we can get the coordinates of the city center of gravity in Beijing in various years. It can be seen that the center of gravity of built-up area and the movement of the center of gravity in Beijing. The results showed that the construction land in Beijing has an increasing tendency in recent 30 years. The main characteristic of expansion is the way of high-speed outward development. From 1984 to 1999, the center of gravity of the city shifted to the northeast, and

  20. Using historical data to measure transportation infrastructure constraints on land use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1998-06-01

    This study had three goals: (1) To develop a method for reversing the planning process, such that we begin with transportation system usage and conclude with transportation system usage and conclude with an indication of land use; (2) To validate thi...

  1. Peri-urban futures: Scenarios and models for land use change in Europe

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    on a pan-European level Has a conclusive didactic approach + text structure (e.g. inserts, boxes ...) Presently, peri-urbanisation is one of the most pervasive processes of land use change in Europe with strong impacts on both the environment and quality of life. It is a matter of great urgency...... to determine strategies and tools in support of sustainable development. The book synthesizes the results of PLUREL, a large European Commission funded research project (2007-2010). Tools and strategies of PLUREL address main challenges of managing land use in peri-urban areas. These results are presented...

  2. Sustainable Urban Development and Land Use Change—A Case Study of the Yangtze River Delta in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haiyan Zhang

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper introduces a sustainability assessment method for the rapidly urbanizing Yangtze River Delta in China addressing the role of land use pattern. We first calculated the sustainability component scores of 16 cities in the area in 2000 and 2005. The results showed that socioeconomic and environmental conditions improved while the performance of resource-use degraded from 2000 to 2005. We then made a spatial analysis of land use change (LUC using geographic information systems during 1990–2000. We found that diverse spatiotemporal transformation occurred among the cities and identified urban development cluster patterns and profiles based on development density. Finally, we examined the impact of LUC on sustainable urban development (SUD. Using regression techniques, we demonstrated that urbanization, infrastructure development, industrial structure and income significantly affected environmental performance and resource-use. These results suggest a moderate pace of LUC with steady economic growth being key to SUD.

  3. Regional transportation and land use decision making in metropolitan regions : findings from four case studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-02-01

    "Throughout the United States, metropolitan regions face increasingly complex issues related to transportation and : land use. The diffuse nature of decision making creates a need to better coordinate land use and transportation to : address issues s...

  4. An empirical study of direct rebound effect for passenger transport in urban China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, H.; Zhou, P.; Zhou, D.Q.

    2012-01-01

    Transport sector accounts for about 8% of total energy consumption in China and this share will likely increase in the visible future. Improving energy efficiency has been considered as a major way for reducing transport energy use, whereas its effectiveness might be affected by the rebound effect. This paper estimates the direct rebound effect for passenger transport in urban China by using the linear approximation of the Almost Ideal Demand System model and simulation analysis. Our empirical results reveal the existence of direct rebound effect for passenger transport in urban China. A majority of the expected reduction in transport energy consumption from efficiency improvement could be offset due to the existence of rebound effect. We have further investigated the relationship between the magnitude of direct rebound effect and households' expenditure. It was found that the direct rebound effect for passenger transport tends to decline with the increase of per capita household consumption expenditure. - Highlights: ► The magnitude of direct rebound effect for urban passenger transport in China is 96%. ► The rebound effect in China could be larger than that in developed countries. ► The rebound effect in China declined with the increase of per capita expenditure.

  5. Travel and urban form in the Greater Copenhagen region

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick

    of the economic upturn – with a later point in time where the financial crisis had radically changed the economic climate. It follows from the specificity of the historical events that an analysis of what happened to urban form and transport over the financial crisis is to be seen as a case study......Research into the associations between urban form and travel in the capital areal has focussed on subcenters and the stability of urban form correlates over time. A trend towards de-concentration and formation of subcenters in metropolitan areas has been acknowledged for decades. Studies have...... analyzed the new urban structure by identifying subcenters and their land value impacts. Others have focused on subcenters as a location attribute or ‘intervention’ that affects travel patterns and therefore may be employed in the context of urban and transportation demand management. The research has...

  6. Factors Influencing Land Development and Redevelopment during China’s Rapid Urbanization: Evidence from Haikou City, 2003–2016

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tao Zhou

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Land development and redevelopment (LDR is essential to economic growth and the advancement of urbanization in urban China. Moreover, various factors affect LDR. Based on an investigation, during 2003–2016, which involves 420 parcels within a 2-km section of the Nandu River, Haikou city, this paper employs a logistic model, so as to judge the impact of LDR on these parcels, and then with an improved hedonic model, it sets out to explore the LDR influencing factors. Specifically, the results show that the impact mechanism of LDR in China is different from countries where economy is the main influencing force. Moreover, China’s urban land development results from the cooperation and competition between local government and enterprises, with a particular focus on multiple political and economic factors. Hence, the paper innovatively incorporates quantifiable political and property factors that significantly influence the results. Finally, the paper tries to explain the variance from macro-level government and micro-level enterprises perspectives. In conclusion, China’s land development requires cooperation among the government and enterprises, in order to improve the economic, social, and environmental benefits of land use.

  7. Is urbanization eco-friendly? An energy and land use cross-country analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Long, X.; Ji, Xi; Ulgiati, S.

    2017-01-01

    Urbanization imposes complicated and heterogeneous impacts on ecosystems. With the purpose of reflecting the comprehensive influence of urbanization on the ecosystem, we choose the ecological footprint to represent the ecosystem's integrated change and distinguish low-income, middle-income and high-income countries to reflect the nonlinear impact. This paper uses both static and dynamic STIRPAT (Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology) models to analyze 72 countries at different income levels during the 1980–2008 period. The results show that the overall ecological elasticity of urbanization at the global level is negative. Specifically, results suggest urbanization, associated to increased income, to have eco-friendly potential in terms of decreased ecological footprint. To explain such results, this paper answers two questions: Why does urbanization show ecological protection effects? Why does a more pronounced protection effect seem associated to increased income levels? Improved market mechanism, increased resource use efficiency as well as increased environmental awareness in urban areas associated to increased income levels are likely to support an eco-friendly urbanization process. Burden-shift to low-income countries also needs to be taken into account, in order to avoid policies that increase wellbeing locally at the expenses of far-away areas. - Highlights: • Ecological effects of urbanization are estimated. • Ecological footprint is used to represent the integrated change related to energy and land use. • Static and dynamic STIRPAT models are employed for regression. • The reasons for the ecological protection effect of urbanization are analyzed. • The heterogeneity of urban structure and function across income levels is discussed.

  8. Understanding the role of land use in urban stormwater quality management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goonetilleke, Ashantha; Thomas, Evan; Ginn, Simon; Gilbert, Dale

    2005-01-01

    Urbanisation significantly impacts water environments with increased runoff and the degradation of water quality. The management of quantity impacts are straight forward, but quality impacts are far more complex. Current approaches to safeguard water quality are largely ineffective and guided by entrenched misconceptions with a primary focus on 'end-of-pipe' solutions. The outcomes of a research study presented in the paper, which investigated relationships between water quality and six different land uses offer practical guidance in the planning of future urban developments. In terms of safeguarding water quality, high-density residential development which results in a relatively smaller footprint would be the preferred option. The research study outcomes bring into question a number of fundamental concepts and misconceptions routinely accepted in stormwater quality management. The research findings confirmed the need to move beyond customary structural measures and identified the key role that urban planning can play in safeguarding urban water environments.

  9. Temporal Changes of Land Use Capability Classification Depending on the Urban Development: Case Study of Trabzon Province

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colak, H. E.; Memisoglu, T.

    2017-11-01

    Achieving high efficiency by taking advantage of agricultural land at a high level allows the continued vitality of the soil and also contributes to the country's economy. The land with the most fertilizer from agricultural land is generally the first class agricultural land (I.) followed by second (II.) and third class (III.) agricultural lands. It is accepted that all these lands are considered to be protected and various restrictions have been introduced to these lands. Soil conservation, use and development of balanced is possible to be defined in detail by exploiting the developing science and technology possibilities, determination well-defined properties and the implementation of policies by making the necessary plans. For this reason, Trabzon province is selected as the pilot region land use capability of agricultural land classes (especially urban-rural area and plateau) ongoing changes in the past years until today are examined depending on the land use first, second and third class. In this context, satellite images for 2002, 2005, 2009 and 2017 and land use data including the non-agricultural use of the province of Trabzon has been discussed and the temporal changes of agricultural areas depending on land use capability have been examined using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). In all the productive areas of Trabzon Province, the increase in urban-rural development has been examined in detail because of especially the creation of planned areas and the occurrence of construction needs. This study is a small-scale case study and the results are examined and analyzed using GIS.

  10. Detecting the effect of urban land use on extreme precipitation in the Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rahimpour Golroudbary, Vahid; Zeng, Y.; Mannaerts, C.M.; Su, Z.

    2017-01-01

    A notable increase in heavy precipitation has been observed over the Netherlands in recent decades. The aim of this study was to assess the influences of urban land use on these extreme precipitation patterns. Significant differences between an earlier multi-decadal period and a recent period were

  11. On Assessment and Estimation of Potential Losses due to Land Subsidence in Urban Areas of Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abidin, Hasanuddin Z.; Andreas, Heri; Gumilar, Irwan; Sidiq, Teguh P.

    2016-04-01

    Land subsidence is natural-anthropogenic hazard affecting several large urban areas in Indonesia, i.e. Jakarta, Bandung and Semarang. Geodetic based results from various techniques (e.g. Leveling, GPS and InSAR) show that land subsidence rates in all three cities generally have spatial and temporal variations, and their magnitude is in average about 5-10 cm/year. The impacts of subsidence in those cities can be seen in the field in various forms such as cracking of permanent constructions and roads, tilting of houses and buildings, 'sinking' of houses and buildings, changes in river canal and drain flow systems, wider expansion of coastal and/or inland flooding areas, and increased inland sea water intrusion. These impacts can be categorized into infrastructure, environmental, economic, and social impacts. The potential losses due to land subsidence in urban areas are actually quite significant. Related infrastructural, social and environmental costs due to direct and indirect impacts of land subsidence are economically quite significant, and can not be underestimated in sustainable urban development. The planning, development and maintenance costs of building and infrastructures in the affected areas are usually much higher than the normal situation. The collateral impact of coastal subsidence in Jakarta and Semarang, in the form of coastal flooding during high tides is also quite damaging. This repeated coastal flooding in several areas along the coast will deteriorate the structure and function of building and infrastructures, badly influences the quality of the living environment and life (e.g. health and sanitation condition), and also disrupts economic and social activities in the affected areas. As in the case of Bandung, inland subsidence also has a quite significant impact on inland flooding phenomena, since it will theoretically lead to expanded coverage and deeper water depth of flooded (inundated) areas. Since the direct and indirect impacts of

  12. Urban Expansion and the Loss of Prime Agricultural Lands in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    T. Mitchell Aide Tania del Mar López

    2001-01-01

    In many countries where the economy has shifted from mainly agricultural to industrial, abandoned agricultural lands are lost to urbanization. For more than 4 centuries the Puerto Rican economy depended almost entirely on agriculture, but sociopolitical changes early in the 20th century resulted in a shift to industry. This shift in the economy, and an increase in...

  13. Succeeding criteria of community based on land transportation infrastructure for Johor innovation valley development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redzuan, Amir A.; Aminudin, Eeydzah; Zakaria, Rozana; Ghazali, Farid Ezanee Mohamed; Baharudin, Nur Azwa Amyra; Siang, Lee Yong

    2017-10-01

    Developing countries around the world have developed innovative centre, or known as innovation hub, to meet the demand of today's changing global competitive environment. The shift of economic sector from manufacturing to services has allowed numerous regions and cities around the world to undergo major structural changes. In Malaysia, Skudai area is on its way of becoming a community-based innovation hub under the Johor State Economic Growth Strategic Plan called Johor Innovation Valley (JIV). Towards this new-city concept, land transportation infrastructure is among the most important network in being a linkage to the source of contribution in enhancing the local innovative environment. This paper highlights the requirement of land transportation infrastructure criteria that would be effective in making Skudai a community-based innovation hub. Data were collected through survey questionnaires involving stakeholders with the knowledge of land transportation infrastructure who also lives within the area. Descriptive analysis was employed with further rank breakdown using Average Index analysis. The findings distinguish the differences between each criteria of land transportation infrastructure. Change in traffic system, easier accessibility to one place to another and attraction to outside investor are among the impacts of growth of JIV. This paper concluded that selected requirement of land transportation infrastructure criteria is necessary for future contribution towards the growth of the JIV.

  14. Evaluating the effects of urbanization and land-use planning using ground-water and surface-water models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunt, R.J.; Steuer, J.J.

    2001-01-01

    Why are the effects of urbanization a concern? As the city of Middleton, Wisconsin, and its surroundings continue to develop, the Pheasant Branch watershed (fig.l) is expected to undergo urbanization. For the downstream city of Middleton, urbanization in the watershed can mean increased flood peaks, water volume and pollutant loads. More subtly, it may also reduce water that sustains the ground-water system (called "recharge") and adversely affect downstream ecosystems that depend on ground water such as the Pheasant Branch Springs (hereafter referred to as the Springs). The relation of stormwater runoff and reduced ground-water recharge is complex because the surface-water system is coupled to the underlying ground-water system. In many cases there is movement of water from one system to the other that varies seasonally or daily depending on changing conditions. Therefore, it is difficult to reliably determine the effects of urbanization on stream baseflow and spring flows without rigorous investigation. Moreover, mitigating adverse effects after development has occurred can be expensive and administratively difficult. Overlying these concerns are issues such as stewardship of the resource, the rights of the public, and land owners' rights both of those developing their land and those whose land is affected by this development. With the often- contradictory goals, a scientific basis for assessing effects of urbanization and effectiveness of mitigation measures helps ensure fair and constructive decision-making. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the City of Middleton and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, completed a study that helps address these issues through modeling of the hydrologic system. This Fact Sheet discusses the results of this work.

  15. Associations between land use and Perkinsus marinus infection of eastern oysters in a high salinity, partially urbanized estuary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gray, Brian R.; Bushek, David; Drane, J. Wanzer; Porter, Dwayne

    2009-01-01

    Infection levels of eastern oysters by the unicellular pathogen Perkinsus marinus have been associated with anthropogenic influences in laboratory studies. However, these relationships have been difficult to investigate in the field because anthropogenic inputs are often associated with natural influences such as freshwater inflow, which can also affect infection levels. We addressed P. marinus-land use associations using field-collected data from Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, USA, a developed, coastal estuary with relatively minor freshwater inputs. Ten oysters from each of 30 reefs were sampled quarterly in each of 2 years. Distances to nearest urbanized land class and to nearest stormwater outfall were measured via both tidal creeks and an elaboration of Euclidean distance. As the forms of any associations between oyster infection and distance to urbanization were unknown a priori, we used data from the first and second years of the study as exploratory and confirmatory datasets, respectively. With one exception, quarterly land use associations identified using the exploratory dataset were not confirmed using the confirmatory dataset. The exception was an association between the prevalence of moderate to high infection levels in winter and decreasing distance to nearest urban land use. Given that the study design appeared adequate to detect effects inferred from the exploratory dataset, these results suggest that effects of land use gradients were largely insubstantial or were ephemeral with duration less than 3 months.

  16. Diversity and biotic homogenization of urban land-snail faunas in relation to habitat types and macroclimate in 32 central European cities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horsák, Michal; Lososová, Zdeňka; Čejka, Tomáš; Juřičková, Lucie; Chytrý, Milan

    2013-01-01

    The effects of non-native species invasions on community diversity and biotic homogenization have been described for various taxa in urban environments, but not for land snails. Here we relate the diversity of native and non-native land-snail urban faunas to urban habitat types and macroclimate, and analyse homogenization effects of non-native species across cities and within the main urban habitat types. Land-snail species were recorded in seven 1-ha plots in 32 cities of ten countries of Central Europe and Benelux (224 plots in total). Each plot represented one urban habitat type characterized by different management and a specific disturbance regime. For each plot, we obtained January, July and mean annual temperature and annual precipitation. Snail species were classified into either native or non-native. The effects of habitat type and macroclimate on the number of native and non-native species were analysed using generalized estimating equations; the homogenization effect of non-native species based on the Jaccard similarity index and homogenization index. We recorded 67 native and 20 non-native species. Besides being more numerous, native species also had much higher beta diversity than non-natives. There were significant differences between the studied habitat types in the numbers of native and non-native species, both of which decreased from less to heavily urbanized habitats. Macroclimate was more important for the number of non-native than native species; however in both cases the effect of climate on diversity was overridden by the effect of urban habitat type. This is the first study on urban land snails documenting that non-native land-snail species significantly contribute to homogenization among whole cities, but both the homogenization and diversification effects occur when individual habitat types are compared among cities. This indicates that the spread of non-native snail species may cause biotic homogenization, but it depends on scale and

  17. Hyperspectral Sensor Data Capability for Retrieving Complex Urban Land Cover in Comparison with Multispectral Data: Venice City Case Study (Italy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Federico Santini

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available This study aims at comparing the capability of different sensors to detect land cover materials within an historical urban center. The main objective is to evaluate the added value of hyperspectral sensors in mapping a complex urban context. In this study we used: (a the ALI and Hyperion satellite data, (b the LANDSAT ETM+ satellite data, (c MIVIS airborne data and (d the high spatial resolution IKONOS imagery as reference. The Venice city center shows a complex urban land cover and therefore was chosen for testing the spectral and spatial characteristics of different sensors in mapping the urban tissue. For this purpose, an object-oriented approach and different common classification methods were used. Moreover, spectra of the main anthropogenic surfaces (i.e. roofing and paving materials were collected during the field campaigns conducted on the study area. They were exploited for applying band-depth and sub-pixel analyses to subsets of Hyperion and MIVIS hyperspectral imagery. The results show that satellite data with a 30m spatial resolution (ALI, LANDSAT ETM+ and HYPERION are able to identify only the main urban land cover materials.

  18. Economic Growth and Expansion of China’s Urban Land Area: Evidence from Administrative Data and Night Lights, 1993–2012

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Gibson

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available The relationship between economic growth, expansion of urban land area and the broader issue of cultivated land conversion in China has been closely examined for the late 1980s and 1990s. Much less is known about recent urban expansion and if the effects of economic growth on this expansion have changed over time. This paper updates estimates of urban expansion for China and examines the relationship with city economic growth for 1993–2012. To see if patterns are robust to different types of evidence, administrative data on the area of 225 urban cores are compared to estimates of brightly lit areas from remotely sensed night lights. The trend annual expansion rate in lit area is 8% and was significantly faster in the decade to 2002 than in the most recent decade. Expansion is slower according to administrative data, at just 5% per annum, with no change in unconditional expansion rates between decades, while conditional expansion rates have declined. The elasticity of area with respect to city economic output is about 0.3. Over time, expansion of urban land area is becoming less responsive to the growth of the local non-agricultural population.

  19. Urban slum structure: integrating socioeconomic and land cover data to model slum evolution in Salvador, Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hacker, Kathryn P; Seto, Karen C; Costa, Federico; Corburn, Jason; Reis, Mitermayer G; Ko, Albert I; Diuk-Wasser, Maria A

    2013-10-20

    The expansion of urban slums is a key challenge for public and social policy in the 21st century. The heterogeneous and dynamic nature of slum communities limits the use of rigid slum definitions. A systematic and flexible approach to characterize, delineate and model urban slum structure at an operational resolution is essential to plan, deploy, and monitor interventions at the local and national level. We modeled the multi-dimensional structure of urban slums in the city of Salvador, a city of 3 million inhabitants in Brazil, by integrating census-derived socioeconomic variables and remotely-sensed land cover variables. We assessed the correlation between the two sets of variables using canonical correlation analysis, identified land cover proxies for the socioeconomic variables, and produced an integrated map of deprivation in Salvador at 30 m × 30 m resolution. The canonical analysis identified three significant ordination axes that described the structure of Salvador census tracts according to land cover and socioeconomic features. The first canonical axis captured a gradient from crowded, low-income communities with corrugated roof housing to higher-income communities. The second canonical axis discriminated among socioeconomic variables characterizing the most marginalized census tracts, those without access to sanitation or piped water. The third canonical axis accounted for the least amount of variation, but discriminated between high-income areas with white-painted or tiled roofs from lower-income areas. Our approach captures the socioeconomic and land cover heterogeneity within and between slum settlements and identifies the most marginalized communities in a large, complex urban setting. These findings indicate that changes in the canonical scores for slum areas can be used to track their evolution and to monitor the impact of development programs such as slum upgrading.

  20. Land-Use Regression Modelling of Intra-Urban Air Pollution Variation in China: Current Status and Future Needs

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    Baihuiqian He

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Rapid urbanization in China is leading to substantial adverse air quality issues, particularly for NO2 and particulate matter (PM. Land-use regression (LUR models are now being applied to simulate pollutant concentrations with high spatial resolution in Chinese urban areas. However, Chinese urban areas differ from those in Europe and North America, for example in respect of population density, urban morphology and pollutant emissions densities, so it is timely to assess current LUR studies in China to highlight current challenges and identify future needs. Details of twenty-four recent LUR models for NO2 and PM2.5/PM10 (particles with aerodynamic diameters <2.5 µm and <10 µm are tabulated and reviewed as the basis for discussion in this paper. We highlight that LUR modelling in China is currently constrained by a scarcity of input data, especially air pollution monitoring data. There is an urgent need for accessible archives of quality-assured measurement data and for higher spatial resolution proxy data for urban emissions, particularly in respect of traffic-related variables. The rapidly evolving nature of the Chinese urban landscape makes maintaining up-to-date land-use and urban morphology datasets a challenge. We also highlight the importance for Chinese LUR models to be subject to appropriate validation statistics. Integration of LUR with portable monitor data, remote sensing, and dispersion modelling has the potential to enhance derivation of urban pollution maps.