Abstract
Cities are centres of economic growth with fascinating dynamics, including persistent urbanisation that encroaches adjacent arable lands to build urban physical features and sustain services offered by urban ecosystems. Even though industrial revolution, economic dynamics, and environmental changes affect spatial feasibility for housing, complex urban growth is always followed by the development of environmentally friendly cities. However, with such quality having multiple facets, it is necessary to assess and map liveable areas from a more comprehensive and objective perspective. This study aimed to assess, map and identify the biophysical quality of an urban environment using a straightforward technique that allows rapid assessment for early detection of changes in the quality. It proposed a multi-index approach termed the urban biophysical environmental quality (UBEQ) based on spectral characteristic of remote sensing data for residential areas calculated using various data derived from remote sensing. Statistical analyses were performed to test data reliability and normality. Further, many indices were analysed, then employed as indicators in UBEQ modelling and tested with sensitivity and factor analysis to obtain the best remote sensing index in the study area. Based on PCA Results, it was found that the built-up land index and vegetation index mainly contributed to the UBEQ index. The generated model had 86.5% accuracy. Also, the study area, Semarang City, had varying UBEQ index values, from high to low levels.
Highlights
Urbanisation affects population growth, causes functional shifts in land use and urban climate change and degrades water and air quality (Yuan & Bauer 2007)
The index selected as the representative of medium-resolution built-up land is NDBI
NDBI is the most suitable index to identify built-up land and assess the urban biophysical environmental quality (UBEQ) or liveability at the research location based on the transformation index
Summary
Urbanisation affects population growth, causes functional shifts in land use and urban climate change and degrades water and air quality (Yuan & Bauer 2007). Within the context of rapid global urbanisation, participatory urban spatial planning plays an essential role in preventing uncontrolled city expansion, dealing with segregation and reducing carbon emission in cities (Psaltoglou & Calle 2018). Goal No 11.7 mentions that by 2030 regional governments must have provided universal access to green, public open spaces that are safe, inclusive, and accessible. To support such planning, it is imperative that actual steps to create a sustainable green environment be taken according to the ecological resilience of an urban biophysical environment to climate change (SDG 13). SDG 13 document deals with increased resilience, adaptive capacity and risks arising as an effect of climate change and disasters in all countries, as well as education improvement, awareness enhancement, human resource capacity, and the role of institutions in the mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning of climate change
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