Search results for: urban housing
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 4080

Search results for: urban housing

3720 Benefits of Shaping a Balance on Environmental and Economic Sustainability for Population Health

Authors: Edna Negron-Martinez

Abstract:

Our time's global challenges and trends —like those associated with climate change, demographics displacements, growing health inequalities, and increasing burden of diseases— have complex connections to the determinants of health. Information on the burden of disease causes and prevention is fundamental for public health actions, like preparedness and responses for disasters, and recovery resources after the event. For instance, there is an increasing consensus about key findings of the effects and connections of the global burden of disease, as it generates substantial healthcare costs, consumes essential resources and prevents the attainment of optimal health and well-being. The goal of this research endeavor is to promote a comprehensive understanding of the connections between social, environmental, and economic influences on health. These connections are illustrated by pulling from clearly the core curriculum of multidisciplinary areas —as urban design, energy, housing, and economy— as well as in the health system itself. A systematic review of primary and secondary data included a variety of issues as global health, natural disasters, and critical pollution impacts on people's health and the ecosystems. Environmental health is challenged by the unsustainable consumption patterns and the resulting contaminants that abound in many cities and urban settings around the world. Poverty, inadequate housing, and poor health are usually linked. The house is a primary environmental health context for any individual and especially for more vulnerable groups; such as children, older adults and those who are sick. Nevertheless, very few countries show strong decoupling of environmental degradation from economic growth, as indicated by a recent 2017 Report of the World Bank. Worth noting, the environmental fraction of the global burden of disease in a 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) report estimated that 12.6 million global deaths, accounting for 23% (95% CI: 13-34%) of all deaths were attributable to the environment. Among the environmental contaminants include heavy metals, noise pollution, light pollution, and urban sprawl. Those key findings make a call to the significance to urgently adopt in a global scale the United Nations post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs address the social, environmental, and economic factors that influence health and health inequalities, advising how these sectors, in turn, benefit from a healthy population. Consequently, more actions are necessary from an inter-sectoral and systemic paradigm to enforce an integrated sustainability policy implementation aimed at the environmental, social, and economic determinants of health.

Keywords: building capacity for workforce development, ecological and environmental health effects of pollution, public health education, sustainability

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3719 Identification of Parameters for Urban and Regional Level Infrastructure Development - A Theoretical Perspective: Case Study – Rail Based Mass Transit in Indian Cities

Authors: Chitresh Kumar, Santanu Gupta

Abstract:

The research work intends to understand the process of initiation, planning and development of capital-intensive urban area level infrastructure development in East Asian Cities (specific to Indian Cities). With the onset of emphasis on sustainable urban transport, self-financed urban local bodies, it has become of utmost important to identify infrastructure and projects on a priority basis, which provide optimal utility to the urban area. Through identification of Spatial, Demographic and Socio-Economic and Political Instability Parameters and their trends for the past 60 years at the urban area and state level, the paper attempts to identify the most suitable time period when initiation of the project would become economically and demographically viable for the city.

Keywords: urban planning, regional planning, mass transit, infrastructure development, spatial planning

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3718 Urban Roof Farming: A Smart City Solution Leading to Sustainability

Authors: Phibankhamti Ryngnga

Abstract:

It is a common phenomenon worldwide that farmland has been gradually converted for urban development particularly in the 21st century keeping in mind the population increase on the other hand. Since food demand and supply are not in equilibrium in urban set up, therefore, there is a need for alternative to feed the hungry urban settlers worldwide. In this regard, urban rooftop farming is the only way out to meet the growing demand for food production with the extra benefits of making our urban areas and cities greener and when the populace is exposed to nature and vegetation, it in turn provides an array of psychological benefits, from decreased anxiety to increased productivity. Bare roofs in cities absorb and then radiate heat — a phenomenon known as the “heat island effect. This increases energy usage and contributes to the poor air quality that often plagues big cities. But Urban rooftop farming do provide many solutions to help cool buildings, ultimately reducing carbon emissions, and by growing food in the communities they serve, rooftop farmers lessen the environmental impact of food transportation. This paper will emphasise the significance of Urban roof farming in the present century which in itself a multi-solution to various city problems.

Keywords: urban, roof farming, smart solution, sustainability

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3717 Research on Ecological Space Improvement Strategy from the Perspective of Urban Double Reform

Authors: Sisi Xia, Dezhuan Tao

Abstract:

Urban Double Reform is an effective means to improve the quality of ecological space, based on improving the living environment and urban functions and promoting the organic integration of the city and nature. This paper takes the design of Qinyang Wetland Park in Jiaozuo, Henan Province, as an example, attempting to closely link the ecological restoration of wetland with the urban culture and to extend the urban spirit of the ancient county of Qinyang while purifying the ecological water system. This design uses ecological technology to repair underwater forests and underwater turf, rapidly improving the quality of urban water without biological side effects. The ecological grass slope is used to create multiple bank forms, combining with a number of hydrophilic platforms to provide a good view of the public. Through the placement of ecological education bases, urban cultural exhibition halls, and other means, the cultural value of wetland parks will be enhanced, and the citizens will return to nature and experience the ecology and appreciate the charm of urban culture in the ecological space. Repair the ecosystem, sculpt the urban culture, let the public return to nature, experience the ecology, and experience the charm of urban culture in the ecological space.

Keywords: urban double reform, ecological space, improvement strategy, wetland park design

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3716 Addressing Urban Security Challenges in Nigeria through Neighborhood Renewal: A Reflection of Mokola World Bank Slum Upgrading Pilot Project

Authors: Tabiti S. Tabiti, A. M. Jinadu, Daramola Japheth

Abstract:

Urban insecurity is among the challenges militating against sustainable urban governance; in the first place it distorts the peace of urban areas making them unsafe. On the other hand it hinders the effective performance of urban functions. Urban security challenges manifest in different forms such as, street violence, theft and robbery, accidents of different types kidnapping, killings etc.. Efforts to address urban security challenges in Nigeria have been concentrated in legislative, law enforcement and the use of community vigilante groups. However in this study, the place of physical planning strategy through effective neighbourhood renewal as practiced in Mokola is presented as an effective complementary approach for addressing urban insecurity. On this backdrop, the paper recommends the need for gradual rehabilitation of urban slum neighborhoods by the state government in collaboration with World Bank and other development financiers. The local governments should be made autonomy in Nigeria so as to make them more responsible to the people. Other recommendations suggested in the paper include creating enabling environment that will promote economic empowerment and public enlightment on personal and community sanitation. It is certain that if these recommendations are adopted the challenge of urban insecurity will reduce significantly in Nigerian cities.

Keywords: neighbourhood renewal, pilot project, slum upgrading, urban security

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3715 Evaluating the Impact of Urban Green Spaces on Urban Microclimate of Lahore: A Rapidly Urbanizing Metropolis of the Punjab-Pakistan

Authors: Muhammad Nasar-U-Minallah, Dagmar Haase, Salman Qureshi, Safdar Ali Shirazi

Abstract:

Urban green spaces (UGS) play a key role in the urban ecology of an area since they provide significant ecological services to compensate for natural environment functions damaged by the rapid growth of urbanization. The transformation of urban green specs to impervious landscapes has been recognized as a key factor prompting the distinctive urban heat and associated microclimatic changes. There is no doubt that urban green spaces offer a range of ecosystem services that can help to mitigate the ill effects of urbanization, heat anomalies, and climate change. The present study attempts to appraise the impact of urban green spaces on the urban thermal environment for the development of the microclimatic conditions in Lahore, Pakistan. The influence of urban heat has been studied through Landsat 8 data. The land surface temperature (LST) of Lahore was computed through the Radiative transfer method (RTM). The spatial variation of land surface temperature is retrieved to describe their local heat effect on urban microclimate. The association between the LST, normalized difference vegetation index, and the normalized difference built-up index are investigated to explore the impact of the urban green spaces and impervious surfaces on urban microclimate. The results of this study show significant changes in (impervious land surface 18% increase) land use within the study area. However, conversion of natural green cover to commercial and residential uses considerably increases the LST. Furthermore, results show that green spaces were the major heat sinks while impervious landscapes were the major heat source in the study area. Urban green spaces reveal 1 to 3℃ lower LST associated with their surrounding urban built-up area. This study shows that urban green spaces will help to mitigate the effect of urban microclimate and it is significant for the sustainable urban environment as well as to improve the quality of life of the urban inhabitants.

Keywords: thermal environmental, urban green space, cooling effect, microclimate, Lahore

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3714 Research on Road Openness in the Old Urban Residential District Based on Space Syntax: A Case Study on Kunming within the First Loop Road

Authors: Haoyang Liang, Dandong Ge

Abstract:

With the rapid development of Chinese cities, traffic congestion has become more and more serious. At the same time, there are many closed old residential area in Chinese cities, which seriously affect the connectivity of urban roads and reduce the density of urban road networks. After reopening the restricted old residential area, the internal roads in the original residential area were transformed into urban roads, which was of great help to alleviate traffic congestion. This paper uses the spatial syntactic theory to analyze the urban road network and compares the roads with the integration and connectivity degree to evaluate whether the opening of the roads in the residential areas can improve the urban traffic. Based on the road network system within the first loop road in Kunming, the Space Syntax evaluation model is established for status analysis. And comparative analysis method will be used to compare the change of the model before and after the road openness of the old urban residential district within the first-ring road in Kunming. Then it will pick out the areas which indicate a significant difference for the small dimensions model analysis. According to the analyzed results and traffic situation, the evaluation of road openness in the old urban residential district will be proposed to improve the urban residential districts.

Keywords: Space Syntax, Kunming, urban renovation, traffic jam

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3713 Investor Psychology, Housing Prices, and Stock Market Response to Policy Decisions During the Covid-19 Recession in the United States

Authors: Ly Nguyen, Vidit Munshi

Abstract:

During the Covid-19 recession, the United States government has implemented several instruments to mitigate the impacts and revitalize the economy. This paper explores the effects of the various government policy decisions on stock returns, housing prices, and investor psychology during the pandemic in the United States. A numerous previous literature studies on this subject, yet very few focus on the context similar to what we are currently experiencing. Our monthly data covering the period from January 2019 through July 2021 were collected from Datastream. Utilizing the VAR model, we document a dynamic relationship between the market and policy actions throughout the period. In particular, the movements of Unemployment, Stock returns, and Housing prices are strongly sensitive to changes in government policies. Our results also indicate that changes in production level, stock returns, and interest rates decisions influence how investors perceived future market risk and expectations. We do not find any significant nexus between monetary and fiscal policy. Our findings imply that information on government policy and stock market performance provide useful feedback to one another in order to make better decisions in the current and future pandemic. Understanding how the market responds to a shift in government practices has important implications for authorities in implementing policy to avoid assets bubbles and market overreactions. The paper also provides useful implications for investors in evaluating the effectiveness of different policies and diversifying portfolios to minimize systematic risk and maximize returns.

Keywords: Covid-19 recession, United States, government policies, investor psychology, housing prices, stock market returns

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3712 Spatial Differentiation Patterns and Influencing Mechanism of Urban Greening in China: Based on Data of 289 Cities

Authors: Fangzheng Li, Xiong Li

Abstract:

Significant differences in urban greening have occurred in Chinese cities, which accompanied with China's rapid urbanization. However, few studies focused on the spatial differentiation of urban greening in China with large amounts of data. The spatial differentiation pattern, spatial correlation characteristics and the distribution shape of urban green space ratio, urban green coverage rate and public green area per capita were calculated and analyzed, using Global and Local Moran's I using data from 289 cities in 2014. We employed Spatial Lag Model and Spatial Error Model to assess the impacts of urbanization process on urban greening of China. Then we used Geographically Weighted Regression to estimate the spatial variations of the impacts. The results showed: 1. a significant spatial dependence and heterogeneity existed in urban greening values, and the differentiation patterns were featured by the administrative grade and the spatial agglomeration simultaneously; 2. it revealed that urbanization has a negative correlation with urban greening in Chinese cities. Among the indices, the the proportion of secondary industry, urbanization rate, population and the scale of urban land use has significant negative correlation with the urban greening of China. Automobile density and per capita Gross Domestic Product has no significant impact. The results of GWR modeling showed that the relationship between urbanization and urban greening was not constant in space. Further, the local parameter estimates suggested significant spatial variation in the impacts of various urbanization factors on urban greening.

Keywords: China’s urbanization, geographically weighted regression, spatial differentiation pattern, urban greening

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3711 Methods of Livable Goal-Oriented Master Urban Design: A Case Study on Zibo City

Authors: Xiaoping Zhang, Fengying Yan

Abstract:

The implementation of the 'Urban Design Management Measures' requires that the master urban design should aim at creating a livable urban space. However, to our best knowledge, the existing researches and practices of master urban design not only focus less on the livable space but also face a number of problems such as paying more attention to the image of the city, ignoring the people-oriented and lacking dynamic continuity. In order to make the master urban design can better guide the construction of city. Firstly, the paper proposes the livable city hierarchy system to meet the needs of different groups of people and then constructs the framework of livable goal-oriented master urban design based on the theory of livable content and the ideological origin of people-oriented. Secondly, the paper takes the master urban design practice of Zibo as a sample and puts forward the design strategy of strengthening the pattern, improve the quality of space, shape the feature, and establish a series of action plans based on the strategy of urban space development. Finally, the paper explores the method system of livable goal-oriented master urban design from the aspects of safety pattern, morphology pattern, neighborhood scale, open space, street space, public interface, style feature, public participation and action plans.

Keywords: livable, master urban design, public participation, zibo city

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3710 3D Visualization for the Relationship of the Urban Rule and Building Form by Using CityEngine

Authors: Chin Ku, Han liang Lin

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The purpose of this study is to visualize how the rule related to urban design influences the building form by 3D modeling software CityEngine. In order to make the goal of urban design clearly connect to urban form, urban planner or designer should understand how the rule affects the form, especially the building form. In Taiwan, the rule pertained to urban design includes traditional zoning, urban design review and building codes. However, zoning cannot precisely expect the outcome of building form and lack of thinking about public realm and 3D form. In addition to that, urban design review is based on case by case, do not have a comprehensive regulation plan and the building code is just for general regulation. Therefore, rule cannot make the urban form reach the vision or goal of the urban design. Consequently, another kind of zoning called Form-based code (FBC) has arisen. This study uses the component of FBC which pertained to urban fabric such as street width, block and plot size, etc., to be the variants of building form, and find out the relationship between the rule and building form. There are three stages of this research, it will start from a field survey of Taichung City in Taiwan to induce the rule-building form relationship by using cluster analysis and descriptive Statistics. Second, visualize the relationship through the parameterized and codified process in CityEngine which is the procedural modeling, and can analyze, monitor and visualize the 3D world. Last, compare the CityEngine result with real world to examine how extent do this model represent the real world appearance.

Keywords: 3D visualization, CityEngine, form-based code, urban form

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3709 On Figuring the City Characteristics and Landscape in Overall Urban Design: A Case Study in Xiangyang Central City, China

Authors: Guyue Zhu, Liangping Hong

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Chinese overall urban design faces a large number of problems such as the neglect of urban characteristics, generalization of content, and difficulty in implementation. Focusing on these issues, this paper proposes the main points of shaping urban characteristics in overall urban design: focuses on core problems in city function and scale, landscape pattern, historical culture, social resources and modern city style and digs the urban characteristic genes. Then, we put forward “core problem location and characteristic gene enhancement” as a kind of overall urban design technical method. Firstly, based on the main problems in urban space as a whole, for the operability goal, the method extracts the key genes and integrates into the multi-dimension system in a targeted manner. Secondly, hierarchical management and guidance system is established which may be in line with administrative management. Finally, by converting the results, action plan is drawn up that can be dynamically implemented. Based on the above idea and method, a practical exploration has been performed in the case of Xiangyang central city.

Keywords: city characteristics, overall urban design, planning implementation, Xiangyang central city

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3708 Urban Enclaves Caused by Migration: Little Aleppo in Ankara, Turkey

Authors: Sezen Aslan, N. Aydan Sat

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The society of 21st century constantly faces with complex otherness that emerges in various forms and justifications. Otherness caused by class, race or ethnicity inevitably reflects to urban areas, and in this way, cities are diversified into totally self-centered and closed-off urban enclaves. One of the most important dynamics that creates otherness in contemporary society is migration. Immigration on an international scale is one of the most important events that have reshaped the world, and the number of immigrants in the world is increasing day by day. Forced migration and refugee statements constitute the major part of countries' immigration policies and practices. Domestic problems such as racism, violence, war, censorship and silencing, attitudes contrary to human rights, different cultural or religious identities cause populations to migrate. Immigration is one of the most important reasons for the formation of urban enclaves within cities. Turkey, which was used to face a higher rate of outward migration, has begun to host immigrant groups from foreign countries. 1980s is the breaking point about the issue as a result of internal disturbances in the Middle East. After Iranian, Iraqi and Afghan immigrants, Turkey faces the largest external migration in its story with Syrian population. Turkey has been hosting approximate three million Syrian people after Syrian Civil War which started in 2011. 92% of Syrian refugees are currently living in different urban areas in Turkey instead of camps. Syrian refugees are experiencing a spontaneous spatiality due to the lack of specific settlement and housing policies of the country. This spontaneity is one of the most important factors in the creation of urban enclaves. From this point of view, the aim of this study is to clarify processes that lead the creation of urban enclaves and to explain socio-spatial effects of these urban enclaves to the other parts of the cities. Ankara, which is one of the most registered Syrian hosting Province in Turkey, is selected as a case study area. About 55% of the total Syrian population lives in the Altındağ district in Ankara. They settled specifically in two neighborhoods in Altındağ district, named as Önder and Ulubey. These neighborhoods are old slum areas, and they were evacuated due to urban renewal on the same dates with the migration of the Syrians. Before demolition of these old slums, Syrians are settled into them as tenants. In the first part of the study, a brief explanation of the concept of urban enclave, its occurrence parameters and possible socio-spatial threats, examples from previous immigrant urban enclaves caused internal migration will be given. Emergence of slums, planning history and social processes in the case study area will be described in the second part of the study. The third part will be focused on the Syrian refugees and their socio-spatial relationship in the case study area and in-depth interviews with refugees and spatial analysis will be realized. Suggestions for the future of the case study area and recommendations to prevent immigrant groups from social and spatial exclusion will be discussed in the conclusion part of the study.

Keywords: migration, immigration, Syrian refugees, urban enclaves, Ankara

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3707 Assessing the Plant Diversity's Quality, Threats and Opportunities for the Support of Sustainable City Development of the City Raipur, India

Authors: Katharina Lapin, Debashis Sanyal

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Worldwide urban areas are growing. Urbanization has a great impact on social and economic development and ecosystem services. This global trend of urbanization also has significant impact on habitat and biodiversity. The impact of urbanization on the biodiversity of cities in Europe and North America is well studied, while there is a lack of data from cities in currently fast growing urban areas. Indian cities are expanding. The scientific community and the governmental authorities are facing the ongoing urbanization process as an opportunity for the environment. This case study supports the evaluation of urban biodiversity of the city Raipur in the North-West of India. The aim of this study is to assess the overview of the environmental and ecological implications of urbanization. The collected data and analysis was used to discuss the challenges for the sustainable city development. Vascular plants were chosen as an appropriate indicator for the assessment of local biodiversity changes. On the one hand, the vegetation cover is sensible to anthropogenic influence, and in the other hand, the local species composition is comparable to changes at the regional and national scale, using the plant index of India. Further information of abiotic situation can be gathered with the determination of indicator species. In order to calculate the influence of urbanization on the native plant diversity, the Shannon diversity index H´ was chosen. The Pielou`s pooled quadrate method was used for estimating diversity when a random sample is not expected. It was used to calculate the Pilou´s index of evenness. The estimated species coverage was used for calculating the H´ and J. Pearson correlation was performed to test the relationship between urbanization pattern and plant diversity. Further, a SWOT analysis was used in for analyzing internal and external factors impinging on a decision making process. The city of Raipur (21.25°N 81.63°E) has a population of 1,010,087 inhabitants living in an urban area of 226km², in the district of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Within the last decade, the urban area of Raipur increased. The results show that various novel ecosystems exist in the urban area of Raipur. The high amount of native flora is mainly to find at the shore of urban lakes and along the river Karun. These areas of high Biodiversity Index are to protect as urban biodiversity hot spots. The governmental authorities are well informed about the environmental challenges for the sustainable development of the city. Together with the scientific community of the Technical University of Raipur many engineering solutions are discussed for implementation of the future. The case study helped to point out the importance environmental measures that support the ecosystem services of green infrastructure. The fast process of urbanization is difficult to control. Uncontrolled creation of urban housing leads to difficulties in unsustainable use of natural resources. This is the major threat for the urban biodiversity.

Keywords: India, novel ecosystems, plant diversity, urban ecology

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3706 Grand Paris Residential Real Estate as an Effective Hedge against Inflation

Authors: Yasmine Essafi Zouari, Aya Nasreddine

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Following a long inflationary period from the post-war era to the mid-1980s (+10.1% annually), France went through a moderate inflation period between 1986 and 2001 (+2.1% annually) and even lower inflation between 2002 and 2016 (+1.4% annually). In 2022, inflation in France increased rapidly and reached 4.5% over one year in March, according to INSEE estimates. Over a long period, even low inflation has an impact on portfolio value and households’ purchasing power. In such a context, inflation hedging should remain an important issue for investors. In particular, long-term investors, who are concerned with the protection of their wealth, seek to hold effective hedging assets. Considering a mixed-asset portfolio composed of housing assets (residential real estate in 150 Grand Paris communes) as well as financial assets, and using both correlation and regression analysis, results confirm the attribute of the direct housing investment as an inflation hedge especially particularly against its unexpected component. Further, cash and bonds were found to provide respectively a partial and an over hedge against unexpected inflation. Stocks act as a perverse hedge against unexpected inflation and provide no significant positive hedge against expected inflation.

Keywords: direct housing, inflation, hedging ability, optimal portfolio, Grand Paris metropolis

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3705 Public Participation as a Social Inclusion Tool in the Urban Planning Process: A Case Study of Abuja, Nigeria

Authors: Nwachi Prosper Louis, Cynthia Ogonna Ikesee

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The urban planning system of cities varies by country, but in general, it is an instrument for establishing long-term sustainable frameworks and plans for social, institutional and economic development. There is limited knowledge, development, and implementation of effective and sustainable urban planning structures and plans that encourage social inclusion in most communities. This has led to social, economic and environmental deficiencies resulting in community isolation and segregation in class, ethnicity, and race. Encouraging public participation in the urban planning process is one of the instruments that cities can utilise to achieve better social inclusion outcomes. This paper explores how public participation can be used as a social inclusion tool in the urban planning process to achieve better outcomes in Abuja urban planning system. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of this approach. Also, a conceptual model was developed which evaluates the relationship between public participation and social inclusion outcomes in the urban planning process. It was seen that every community has its peculiar way of life and challenges, and an understanding of these social societal needs is paramount in the urban planning process. Therefore, the involvement of the public in identifying their needs, selecting priorities and identifying strategies offer better chances for developing solutions that are sustainable, feasible and implementable.

Keywords: public participation, social inclusion, urban planning, urban planning process

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3704 Predicting the Areal Development of the City of Mashhad with the Automaton Fuzzy Cell Method

Authors: Mehran Dizbadi, Daniyal Safarzadeh, Behrooz Arastoo, Ansgar Brunn

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Rapid and uncontrolled expansion of cities has led to unplanned aerial development. In this way, modeling and predicting the urban growth of a city helps decision-makers. In this study, the aspect of sustainable urban development has been studied for the city of Mashhad. In general, the prediction of urban aerial development is one of the most important topics of modern town management. In this research, using the Cellular Automaton (CA) model developed for geo data of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and presenting a simple and powerful model, a simulation of complex urban processes has been done.

Keywords: urban modeling, sustainable development, fuzzy cellular automaton, geo-information system

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3703 Application of RayMan Model in Quantifying the Impacts of the Built Environment and Surface Properties on Surrounding Temperature

Authors: Maryam Karimi, Rouzbeh Nazari

Abstract:

Introduction: Understanding thermal distribution in the micro-urban climate has now been necessary for urban planners or designers due to the impact of complex micro-scale features of Urban Heat Island (UHI) on the built environment and public health. Hence, understanding the interrelation between urban components and thermal pattern can assist planners in the proper addition of vegetation to build-environment, which can minimize the UHI impact. To characterize the need for urban green infrastructure (UGI) through better urban planning, this study proposes the use of RayMan model to measure the impact of air quality and increased temperature based on urban morphology in the selected metropolitan cities. This project will measure the impact of build environment for urban and regional planning using human biometeorological evaluations (Tmrt). Methods: We utilized the RayMan model to estimate the Tmrt in an urban environment incorporating location and height of buildings and trees as a supplemental tool in urban planning and street design. The estimated Tmrt value will be compared with existing surface and air temperature data to find the actual temperature felt by pedestrians. Results: Our current results suggest a strong relationship between sky-view factor (SVF) and increased surface temperature in megacities based on current urban morphology. Conclusion: This study will help with Quantifying the impacts of the built environment and surface properties on surrounding temperature, identifying priority urban neighborhoods by analyzing Tmrt and air quality data at the pedestrian level, and characterizing the need for urban green infrastructure cooling potential.

Keywords: built environment, urban planning, urban cooling, extreme heat

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3702 Self-Help Adaptation to Flooding in Low-Income Settlements in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Authors: Nachawit Tikul

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This study aimed to determine low-income housing adaptations for flooding, which causes living problems and housing damage, and the results from improvement. Three low-income settlements in Chiang Mai which experienced different flood types, i.e. flash floods in Samukeepattana, drainage floods in Bansanku, and river floods in Kampangam, were chosen for the study. Almost all of the residents improved their houses to protect the property from flood damage by changing building materials to flood damage resistant materials for walls, floors, and other parts of the structure that were below the base of annual flood elevation. They could only build some parts of their own homes, so hiring skilled workers or contractors was still important. Building materials which have no need for any special tools and are easy to access and use for construction, as well as low cost, are selected for construction. The residents in the three slums faced living problems for only a short time and were able to cope with them. This may be due to the location of the three slums near the city where assistance is readily available. But the housing and the existence in the slums can endure only the regular floods and residence still have problems in unusual floods, which have been experienced 1-2 times during the past 10 years. The residents accept the need for evacuations and prepare for them. When faced with extreme floods, residence have evacuated to the nearest safe place such as schools and public building, and come back to repair the houses after the flood. These are the distinguishing characteristics of low-income living which can withstand serious situations due to the simple lifestyle. Therefore, preparation of living areas for use during severe floods and encouraging production of affordable flood resistant materials should be areas of concern when formulating disaster assistance policies for low income people.

Keywords: flooding, low-income settlement, housing, adaptation

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3701 Evaluation of Urban-Rural Integration of Characteristic Towns in Yunnan Province

Authors: Huang Yong, Chen Qianting, Zhao Shurong

Abstract:

In order to identify the role and effect of Characteristic Towns as an important means to promote urban-rural integration, this paper uses Flow Theory and complex network analysis methods to jointly construct the identification path of urban-rural integration capabilities of Characteristic Towns. Take the National Characteristic Towns of Yunnan Province as the empirical objects to identify their role laws. The study found that in the implementation of the National Characteristic Town Project in Yunnan Province, (1) the population is more susceptible to the impact of the Characteristic Town Project than the technical elements, but the stability is poor; (2) The flow capacity of urban and rural technical elements is weak, and the quality of the enterprise cooperation network in general; (3) Compared with the batch of Characteristic Towns in 2016, its ability to promote urban-rural integration is higher in 2017; (4) The role of the Characteristic Town Project on urban-rural integration focuses on the improvement of the number of urban and rural flow elements. This paper analyzes the mode of the role of Characteristic Towns on urban-rural integration from the perspective of ‘flow,’ establishes a research paradigm for evaluating the role of Characteristic Towns in urban-rural integration capabilities, and builds a path for the application of Characteristic Towns to support the realization of urban-rural integration goals.

Keywords: characteristic town, urban-rural integration, flow theory, complex network analysis

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3700 Empirical Modeling and Spatial Analysis of Heat-Related Morbidity in Maricopa County, Arizona

Authors: Chuyuan Wang, Nayan Khare, Lily Villa, Patricia Solis, Elizabeth A. Wentz

Abstract:

Maricopa County, Arizona, has a semi-arid hot desert climate that is one of the hottest regions in the United States. The exacerbated urban heat island (UHI) effect caused by rapid urbanization has made the urban area even hotter than the rural surroundings. The Phoenix metropolitan area experiences extremely high temperatures in the summer from June to September that can reach the daily highest of 120 °F (48.9 °C). Morbidity and mortality due to the environmental heat is, therefore, a significant public health issue in Maricopa County, especially because it is largely preventable. Public records from the Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) revealed that between 2012 and 2016, there were 10,825 incidents of heat-related morbidity incidents, 267 outdoor environmental heat deaths, and 173 indoor heat-related deaths. A lot of research has examined heat-related death and its contributing factors around the world, but little has been done regarding heat-related morbidity issues, especially for regions that are naturally hot in the summer. The objective of this study is to examine the demographic, socio-economic, housing, and environmental factors that contribute to heat-related morbidity in Maricopa County. We obtained heat-related morbidity data between 2012 and 2016 at census tract level from MCDPH. Demographic, socio-economic, and housing variables were derived using 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-year estimate from the U.S. Census. Remotely sensed Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 8 OLI satellite images and Level-1 products were acquired for all the summer months (June to September) from 2012 and 2016. The National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2016 percent tree canopy and percent developed imperviousness data were obtained from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). We used ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis to examine the empirical relationship between all the independent variables and heat-related morbidity rate. Results showed that higher morbidity rates are found in census tracts with higher values in population aged 65 and older, population under poverty, disability, no vehicle ownership, white non-Hispanic, population with less than high school degree, land surface temperature, and surface reflectance, but lower values in normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and housing occupancy. The regression model can be used to explain up to 59.4% of total variation of heat-related morbidity in Maricopa County. The multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) technique was then used to examine the spatially varying relationships between heat-related morbidity rate and all the significant independent variables. The R-squared value of the MGWR model increased to 0.691, that shows a significant improvement in goodness-of-fit than the global OLS model, which means that spatial heterogeneity of some independent variables is another important factor that influences the relationship with heat-related morbidity in Maricopa County. Among these variables, population aged 65 and older, the Hispanic population, disability, vehicle ownership, and housing occupancy have much stronger local effects than other variables.

Keywords: census, empirical modeling, heat-related morbidity, spatial analysis

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3699 Urban Planning Compilation Problems in China and the Corresponding Optimization Ideas under the Vision of the Hyper-Cycle Theory

Authors: Hong Dongchen, Chen Qiuxiao, Wu Shuang

Abstract:

Systematic science reveals the complex nonlinear mechanisms of behaviour in urban system. However, in China, when the current city planners face with the system, most of them are still taking simple linear thinking to consider the open complex giant system. This paper introduces the hyper-cycle theory, which is one of the basis theories of systematic science, based on the analysis of the reasons why the current urban planning failed, and proposals for optimization ideas that urban planning compilation should change, from controlling quantitative to the changes of relationship, from blueprint planning to progressive planning based on the nonlinear characteristics and from management control to dynamically monitor feedback.

Keywords: systematic science, hyper-cycle theory, urban planning, urban management

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3698 Strategies for Community Openness and Social Integration in Urban Villages in Chinese County Cities - Based on a Multi-Case Study in Chongqing

Authors: Ren Guangchun

Abstract:

The village in the city is surrounded by formal cities but retains distinct social and morphological characteristics of the countryside, and has the ability of self-growth. County is the basic unit of urban-rural integration development, and urban village is the key focus of integration. At present, the flow of urban and rural factors in Chongqing does not match the development needs of urban villages. Based on the multi-case study of Chongqing 's districts and counties, this paper studies the characteristics of its geospatial advantages, composite functions, open spatial structure, pluralistic social structure, and reciprocity. From the aspects of community governance, social relations and space construction, this paper analyzes the dilemma of lack of subjectivity and social atomization faced by the interaction between urban villages and cities, and explores the strategies of community opening and social integration in urban villages, so as to present diversified landscapes and value spaces.

Keywords: gated community, open community, city update, Urban village

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3697 Assessment of Sustainable Sanitation Systems: Urban Slums

Authors: Ali Hamza, Bertug Akintug

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Having an appropriate plan of sanitation systems is one of the critical issues for global urban slums. Poor sanitation systems in urban slums outcomes an enhanced vulnerability of severe diseases, low hygiene and environmental risks within our environment. Mentioning human excreta being one of the most highly risked pollutants among all the other major contributors of sanitation pollutants is increasing public health risks and amounts of pollution loads within the slum environment. Higher population growth, urge of urbanization and illegal status of urban slums makes it impossible to increase the level of performance of sanitation systems in urban slums. According to Sustainable Sanitation Alliance, design parameters for sanitation systems were set up to ensure sustainable environment. This paper reviews the characteristics of human excreta at present, treatment technologies, and procedures of processes that can be adopted feasibly in the urban slums. Keeping these factors as our significant concern of study, assessment of sustainable sanitation systems is done using sanitation chain concept in accordance to the pre-determined sustainability indicators and criteria which reflect the potential and feasible application of waterless sanitation systems bringing sustainable sanitation systems in urban slums.

Keywords: human excreta, sanitation chain, sustainable sanitation systems, urban slums

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3696 Promising Anti-Displacement Practices for High Cost Cities

Authors: Leslie M. Mullins

Abstract:

In the face of dramatically shifting demographic trends and macroeconomic pressures on affordable housing in high-cost cities, municipalities and developers have been forced to develop new models of sustainable development that integrates elements of substantial rehabilitation and new construction while controlling for relocation and mass displacement. Community development partners in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California are starting to prioritize anti-displacement strategies when rehabilitating severely neglected public housing developments. This study explored the community-driven efforts to transform four dilapidated public housing sites (N=2,600 households) into thriving mixed-income housing communities. Eight interviews were conducted with frontline workers (property managers and service providers), who directly worked with residents throughout critical stages of the relocation and leasing process. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by a systematic procedure for qualitative analysis to identify key themes on the topics of interest. Also, an extensive literature analysis was conducted to determine promising practices throughout the industry. This study highlighted that resident’s emotional attachment to their homes (regardless of the deteriorating conditions of their unit) could both a) impede the relocation process and substantially impact the budget and timeline, while b) simultaneously providing a basis for an enhanced sense of belonging and community cohesion. This phenomenon often includes the welcoming of new residents and cultures. Resident centered workshops, healing centered rituals, and extensive 'hands-on' guidance was highlighted as promising practices that resulted in residential retention rates that were two to three times the national average and positively impacted the overall project’s budget and timeline.

Keywords: anti-displacement strategies, community based practices, community cohesion, cultural preservation, healing-centered, public housing, relocation, trauma-informed

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3695 Reducing Defects through Organizational Learning within a Housing Association Environment

Authors: T. Hopkin, S. Lu, P. Rogers, M. Sexton

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Housing Associations (HAs) contribute circa 20% of the UK’s housing supply. HAs are however under increasing pressure as a result of funding cuts and rent reductions. Due to the increased pressure, a number of processes are currently being reviewed by HAs, especially how they manage and learn from defects. Learning from defects is considered a useful approach to achieving defect reduction within the UK housebuilding industry. This paper contributes to our understanding of how HAs learn from defects by undertaking an initial round table discussion with key HA stakeholders as part of an ongoing collaborative research project with the National House Building Council (NHBC) to better understand how house builders and HAs learn from defects to reduce their prevalence. The initial discussion shows that defect information runs through a number of groups, both internal and external of a HA during both the defects management process and organizational learning (OL) process. Furthermore, HAs are reliant on capturing and recording defect data as the foundation for the OL process. During the OL process defect data analysis is the primary enabler to recognizing a need for a change to organizational routines. When a need for change has been recognized, new options are typically pursued to design out defects via updates to a HAs Employer’s Requirements. Proposed solutions are selected by a review board and committed to organizational routine. After implementing a change, both structured and unstructured feedback is sought to establish the change’s success. The findings from the HA discussion demonstrates that OL can achieve defect reduction within the house building sector in the UK. The paper concludes by outlining a potential ‘learning from defects model’ for the housebuilding industry as well as describing future work.

Keywords: defects, new homes, housing association, organizational learning

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3694 The Role of Urban Design in Creating Cohesive and People’s Public Spaces

Authors: Hazem Abuorf

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From the perspective of viewing urban design as the architecture of public spaces, the latter has many advantages; for example, in achieving attractive and vibrant public spaces, ensuring safety and amenity, supporting a strong sense of place and local character. Besides all advantages, such spaces nevertheless trigger numerous dilemmas, how to design urban spaces preserving the quality of life in the long term while equally achieving cohesion between new urban developments and the already existing urban structure without causing a split in history through the cause of functional and aesthetic degradation. Analysis of this article seeks to propose a methodology deemed essential for assessing and stimulating design criteria of the public spaces when rehabilitating urban sites. The method’s utility is shown by analyzing rehabilitation projects in Gaza Strip, whose design of the public spaces has mainly focused on the physical aspect ignoring the place’s local identity, users’ needs, and history. The proposed methodology serves as a guide for municipal authorities and technical teams to deal with interventions that would rework the role of urban design towards making sense of place.

Keywords: urban design, public realm, rehabilitation projects, quality of life

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3693 The Practice of Integrating Sustainable Elements into the Housing Industry in Malaysia

Authors: Wong Kean Hin, Kumarason A. L. V. Rasiah

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A building provides shelter and protection for an individual to live, work, sleep, procreate or engage in leisurely activities comfortably. Currently, a very popular term related to building was often stated by many parties, which is sustainability. A sustainable building is environmental friendly, healthy to the occupants, as well as efficient in electricity and water. This particular research is important to any parties that are involved in the construction industry. This research will provide the awareness and acceptability of Malaysian public towards sustainable residential building. It will also provide the developers about which sustainable features that the people usually want so that the developers can build a sustainable housing that suits the needs of people. Then, propose solutions to solve the difficulties of implementing sustainability in Malaysian housing industry. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used throughout the process of data collection. The quantitative research method was distribution of questionnaires to 100 Malaysian public and 50 individuals that worked in developer companies. Then, the qualitative method was an interview session with experienced personnel in Malaysian construction industry. From the data collected, there is increasingly Malaysian public and developers are aware about the existence of sustainability. Moreover, the public is willing to invest on sustainable residential building with minimum additional cost. However, there is a mismatch in between sustainable elements provided by developers and the public needs. Some recommendations to improve the progression of sustainability had been proposed in this study, which include laws enforcement, cooperation between the both government sector with private sector, and private sector with private sector, and learn from modern countries. These information will be helpful and useful for the future of sustainability development in Malaysia.

Keywords: acceptability, awareness, Malaysian housing industry, sustainable elements, green building index

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3692 The Design of Imaginable Urban Road Landscape

Authors: Wang Zhenzhen, Wang Xu, Hong Liangping

Abstract:

With the rapid development of cities, the way that people commute has changed greatly, meanwhile, people turn to require more on physical and psychological aspects in the contemporary world. However, the current urban road landscape ignores these changes, for example, those road landscape elements are boring, confusing, fragmented and lack of integrity and hierarchy. Under such current situation, in order to shape beautiful, identifiable and unique road landscape, this article concentrates on the target of imaginability. This paper analyses the main elements of the urban road landscape, the concept of image and its generation mechanism, and then discusses the necessity and connotation of building imaginable urban road landscape as well as the main problems existing in current urban road landscape in terms of imaginability. Finally, this paper proposes how to design imaginable urban road landscape in details based on a specific case.

Keywords: identifiability, imaginability, road landscape, the image of the city

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3691 Analyzing of the Urban Landscape Configurations and Expansion of Dire Dawa City, Ethiopia Using Satellite Data and Landscape Metrics Approaches

Authors: Berhanu Keno Terfa

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To realize the consequences of urbanization, accurate, and up-to-date representation of the urban landscape patterns is critical for urban planners and policymakers. Thus, the study quantitatively characterized the spatiotemporal composition and configuration of the urban landscape and urban expansion process in Dire Dawa City, Ethiopia, form the year 2006 to 2018. The integrated approaches of various sensors satellite data, Spot (2006) and Sentinel 2 (2018) combined with landscape metrics analysis was employed to explore the pattern, process, and overall growth status in the city. The result showed that the built-up area had increased by 62% between 2006 and 2018, at an average annual increment of 3.6%, while the other land covers were lost significantly due to urban expansion. The highest urban expansion has occurred in the northwest direction, whereas the most fragmented landscape pattern was recorded in the west direction. Overall, the analysis showed that Dire Dawa City experienced accelerated urban expansion with a fragmented and complicated spatiotemporal urban landscape patterns, suggesting a strong tendency towards sprawl over the past 12 years. The findings in the study could help planners and policy developers to insight the historical dynamics of the urban region for sustainable development.

Keywords: zonal metrics, multi-temporal, multi-resolution, urban growth, remote sensing data

Procedia PDF Downloads 164