ABSTRACT Urban fragmentation is often seen as a failure of planning. This paper repositions it as a condition for civic infrastructure reuse and reactivation, using Kaohsiung, Taiwan, as a critical case. It reframes shi-jie neighbourhoods – originally school-based units – as morphogenetic seeds for multi-layered education infrastructure. Through arcaded corridors, inverted streets, and sunken railways, it proposes an ‘education belt’ linking institutions, mobility, and civic programmes across territorial scales. Drawing from Cedric Price’s flexible urbanism and the logic of the 15-Minute City, the study envisions a translatable model where learning and public life interweave as distributed civic systems.

ABSTRACT Avoiding exceeding planetary boundaries, while still achieving a decent standard of living for all is a global challenge represented in the so-called doughnut model. Policies for local mobility in line with the doughnut model, will lead to less and slower mobility for many people. This paper contributes to doughnut literature with insights regarding people’s visions of life with doughnut-inspired mobility and accessibility patterns as well as the preconditions required for visions of less and slower mobility to gain legitimacy. This matter was studied in workshops attended by Swedish citizens. Two preconditions are crucial to gain legitimacy. First, visions have to address issues of proximity, freedom, flexibility and spontaneity and a sense of community and second, visions must be tangible and more broadly focused on preferable visions of life and not just mobility.

ABSTRACT Public participation is essential to preserving cultural heritage and achieving heritage sustainability. Although external drivers such as policy, economy, and technology have been widely studied, internal motivations – particularly generational differences in heritage value perception – remain underexplored. This study adopts the Value – Attitude–Behaviour (VAB) hierarchy to examine how differences in heritage value perception influence place attachment and participation intention. Using a structured non-probability survey, the study finds that Gen-Z shows the highest participation intention, while Gen-Y is the lowest, reflecting differences in value perception and attachment: Gen-Z prioritises aesthetic and scientific values; Gen-Y shows weaker social and cultural value perceptions; Gen-X shows stronger emotional ties. Social and cultural values are the strongest predictors of participation, with historic value having the greatest indirect effect. These findings support generation-responsive, locally grounded, and inclusive heritage strategies that enhance social cohesion and sustainable urban development.

ABSTRACT This study examines whether the innovative city pilot policy launched by the Chinese government in 2008 has reduced or exacerbated urban carbon emissions. Using panel data from 269 cities in China (2007–2016) and applying a difference-in-differences approach, we find that the policy significantly increased carbon emissions. On average, annual per capita emissions in innovative cities reached 35,400 tons, compared to 19,100 tons in non-innovative cities, reflecting a 1.85% increase. These results suggest that while innovation-driven urban policies foster economic and technological progress, they may also intensify energy use and emissions, raising concerns about environmental effectiveness. Mechanism analysis indicates that impacts operate through innovation capacity, output levels, and development incentives. The findings highlight the importance of aligning innovation policies with sustainability goals. This study contributes by providing evidence on the unintended environmental effects of innovation pilots and offering policy insights for building innovative yet low-carbon cities in China.

ABSTRACT Large-scale government land acquisitions in Ghana continue to face significant challenges, despite the existence of regulatory frameworks, policy initiatives, and normative guidelines intended to govern the process. This study examines these challenges in four communities through the theoretical lenses of social contract and justice. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was employed, combining a cross-sectional survey of 324 landowners and users with interviews and focus group discussions involving key stakeholders. The analysis, using thematic, spatial, and descriptive techniques, revealed critical gaps in constitutional and institutional frameworks. The acquisition processes were marked by overlapping land claims, unclear boundaries, non-payment of compensation, and lack of resettlement, resulting in land-related disputes. These findings highlight the complexity and contested nature of land governance in Ghana. The study emphasizes the importance of clearly defined stakeholder roles and recommends the creation of a national governance body to oversee large-scale acquisitions, with attention to livelihoods and marginalized groups.

ABSTRACT Improving walking and biking for recreation contributes to enhancing public health. Despite the importance of social and physical variables in promoting walking and biking as recreational activities, few studies have looked at how these domains simultaneously influence these activities. This study aims to investigate the links between walking and cycling as recreational activities and the individual, social, and built environmental factors in the medium-sized southern city of Temuco. The objectives were examined utilising a quantitative method and three types of regression analysis. Despite a finding that people’s attitudes towards cycling are more positive than those towards walking or using a private car, just a small portion of respondents reported using bicycles for recreation. The results show that several factors are related to walking and cycling as recreational activities, such as age, encouragement, companionship, lifestyle, and safety. Urban policymakers may use these findings to promote walking and cycling for recreation.

ABSTRACT The suburbs of southern Europe are often overlooked in urban studies. However, they play a crucial role in metropolitan development. This article examines the structural invisibility of suburban areas, using the urbanisation of Quinta da Piedade in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA) as an example. Unlike the orderly suburban developments of northern Europe, Quinta da Piedade reflects a fragmented urbanisation process with fragile governance, weak mobility and a decline in the public environment. Using a multiscale analytical approach, this research demonstrates the need for strategic reform in response to spatial fragmentation. The study argues that these issues are indicative of broader systemic dysfunction and political neglect. It promotes a shift towards regenerative suburbanism, prioritising spatial rehabilitation and better governance. By framing Lisbon’s suburban periphery as a place of crisis and potential for transformation, this article contributes to the discussion on suburban marginality and suggests paths for policy and planning reform.

ABSTRACT Today, walkability is a priority in urban planning worldwide due to its positive impact on promoting sustainable cities. Although numerous studies have assessed walkability using various indices, they do not capture pedestrian needs, nor account for spatial variations, nor integrate key methodological considerations from the field of walkability. The novelty of this study is the development of the Contextualized Spatial Network – Based Walkability (CSNW) index to objectively measure walkability at multiple levels (area, route, and location) using a geographic information system – based. It follows a structured methodology, starting with the identification of relevant walkability factors through literature review and expert surveys. To operationalise the CSNW index, the analytic hierarchy process is used to assign weights. Results indicate that accessibility and traffic safety are the most influential factors determining walkability, and pleasurability is the least. Further, the index’s thematic maps reveal significant disparities in walkability levels for different urban segments.

ABSTRACT While spatial analysis has provided great insights into the expansion of built-up areas, changes within built-up areas have mostly been ignored. As a result, the amount of change within existing urban areas and the change processes they represent remain unknown. Even so, such changes can have important implications for urban sustainability. Here, we use very-high-resolution imagery to analyse different types of building-level changes in Nairobi, Kenya, between 2010 and 2021. Specifically, we manually map whether buildings appeared, persisted, changed, were replaced, or removed, and link these changes to urban development processes. We find that removal, replaced, and renewal combined make up as much as 29% of the total mapped building area in 2010. These changes highlight intricate patterns of urban change, driven by processes such as slum formalisation, rezoning and urban renewal. Our approach provides a generalisable framework for analysing urban change within built-up areas.

ABSTRACT In urbanising areas, siloed planning for water supply, sanitation, and solid waste management impedes sustainable development. This study examines barriers to integrating services in urban Uganda, focusing on Wobulenzi and Kakooge with different service models. A mixed-method approach using qualitative and quantitative data was applied. Document reviews and interviews with 48 stakeholders were conducted. The Problem-Driven Political Economy Analysis framework was used with thematic analysis and quantitative assessment of political economy attributes. Findings showed fragmented institutions, insufficient resources, and poor coordination hinder integration. Small towns face financial constraints, technological gaps, and political interference. Key attributes influencing integration include implementation dynamics (19/20), accountability (12/20), and collaboration (10/20). An enabling political economy is crucial for integrated services in urban Uganda. Addressing fragmented governance through policies, coordination, decentralisation, capacity building, and financing is essential. Realigning resource planning can enable strategic solutions, promote service integration, and ensure sustainable WASH and SWM services.