Case Study Locations Research Articles

Applying a Place Making Sustainable Centres Framework to Transit Activated Corridors in Australian cities

The future ability of urban centres in Australia and around the globe to adapt and respond to big challenges of climate change, economic development, and social inclusion, will depend on how well we integrate and embed them within these built environments. Such a complex agenda presents a major collective challenge for designers, planners and engineers to address with politicians, developers, financiers and community leaders. Refocusing design requires collaborative processes and co-creation in a design space currently dominated by siloed approaches to traffic management, transport planning, precinct design and engineering, architecture and landscaping. With the aim of bridging these silos, an interdisciplinary research team has synthesised and then applied a set of principles of design to a range of development scenarios with the aim of delivering sustainable urban centre outcomes. This paper uses the lens of the Theory of Urban Fabrics to present a place making Sustainable Centres Framework created by the authors, comprising 7 principles and 21 associated practices of design. This formed a critical first step for a national sustainable centres research project underway at the time. The paper then presents the findings of a two-phase investigative study to apply the framework to four place-oriented urban regeneration initiatives (i.e. case study sites) that were endeavouring to enable transit activated corridors with local micro-mobility linkages, in Townsville, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. The first phase of the study comprised a desk-based application of the Sustainable Centres Framework to the four sample urban fabric types observed the case study locations. The second phase involved detailed sense-checking of the framework in the one of the case study locations (Townsville), through stakeholder workshops. The findings provide insights into opportunities and considerations for managing the complexity of urban regeneration projects. The authors discuss the potential for the Framework to inform planning tools and decision support tools, and opportunities to further refine the Framework.

BIM-BASED ENERGY PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A BUILDING ENVELOPE IN SEMI-ARID CLIMATE ZONE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

ABSTRACT The BIM building envelope integrates a BIM building’s internal and external environments, improving energy efficiency and substantially lowering energy usage. This research aimed to assess the energy efficiency of typical building envelope materials in Iran. To do this, we used Autodesk RevitR to generate a generic model and DesignBuilderR to conduct an energy analysis. The BIM building envelope integrates a BIM building’s internal and external environments, improving energy efficiency. A BIM building envelope energy analysis was performed on 58 local wall constructions material in Iran. Then, the energy consumption of a BIM building’s HVAC system was then compared against the costs of all external wall alternatives to determine the optimal layer combination. Consequently, the energy simulation results demonstrated that the double external wall structure, 2AAC block core, with XPS (CFC) insulation exterior wall and the single external wall, PERLEX Ultra-Lightweight (PUW) wall performed better. In addition, the clay block wall is found to be the optimum solution for the case study location. The applicability of the proposed system is validated with a case study of a traditional residential building.

The Greentown Project: Building Evidence to inform Intervention Design for Juveniles Caught-up in Local Criminal Networks.

A small minority of juveniles are responsible for the majority of detected juvenile crime in Ireland. This situation presents significant policy concerns. The current paper, based on findings from a comparative analysis builds on a multi-step research design process to provide evidence-based knowledge to inform the design of a new targeted intervention. An initial social network analysis of national crime and intelligence data produced localized basic criminal network maps illustrating co-offending and intelligence relationships between adults and juveniles in specific Police sub-districts (Part 1). These network maps then provided an enquiry frame for interviews with members of the police forces in three case study locations (Part 2). A comparative analysis of the three studies (Part 3) identified diversity in network structure and inherent resilience. The analysis also identifies core similarities in juveniles' vulnerabilities and risks to recruitment. These factors are important considerations for an intervention seeking to disrupt networks and create safe "exit" environments for juveniles.

Sustainability of locally driven centres for those affected by dementia: a protocol for the get real with meeting centres realist evaluation

IntroductionImproving support for people with early to moderate dementia to live at home in their communities is a global public health goal. Community adult social care is not robust in...

Global decline in subsistence-oriented and smallholder fire use

Controlled fire use for hunting, gathering, smallholder agriculture and pastoralism shapes ecologies and enhances livelihoods worldwide. Yet, at global scale, we know little about how these practices influence human well-being, ecologies and wildfire risk. As a basis for global syntheses, we collated information from the literature about fire practices in 587 case study locations spanning the globe. Here, we assess the coverage and completeness of these data. Limited quantitative data, particularly, present a challenge for improved modelling of anthropogenic influences on fire regimes. We also analyse global trends in fire practices from these studies, finding evidence that subsistence-oriented fire practices have declined in recent decades, while market-oriented fire practices have increased. Implications of these changes can include reduced biodiversity in fire-dependent ecosystems, increased wildfire risk, reduced household income and loss of cultural identity. The case studies point to important drivers of changing fire practices, especially economic pressures and state governance. Controlled use of fire for subsistence and smallholder livelihoods has undoubtedly shaped ecosystems but we have limited research on the practices and extent. This analysis of nearly 600 case study locations finds fire use is changing in ways that could pose risks to smallholder livelihoods as well as wildlife and biodiversity.

Spatial analysis of outdoor wet bulb globe temperature under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios for 2041–2080 across a range of temperate to hot climates

Wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) is commonly used to assess human physical activity limits and risk exposure to heat-related injury. Using Australia as a case study location, rates of change in WBGT across a range of temperate to hot and dry to humid climates in response to selected projected climate scenarios were investigated. An established physics-based method for estimating WBGT using standard meteorological data was incorporated into a spatial modelling framework to map WBGT for a baseline period (1986–2005) for mid-summer daytime, mid-summer early morning and mid-winter daytime scenarios, under clear sky conditions and both light (0.5 ms−1) and moderate (3.0 ms−1) wind speeds at a nominal resolution of 0.05 decimal degrees. The resulting maps of WBGT revealed significant spatial variability in the range and pattern of increased WBGT across the three baseline scenarios in response to projected change under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 for 2041–2060 and 2061–2080 generated by the ACCESS1.0 climate model. Moderate wind speed scenarios produced significantly cooler WBGTs than the equivalent low wind speed scenarios, reducing mean modelled summer daytime WBGT by 3.2 °C, summer morning WBGT by 0.8 °C, and winter daytime WBGT by 3.0 °C. Projected future summer daytime WBGT under unshaded clear atmospheric conditions with light wind speeds can be expected to exceed the range of the commonly used heat categorisation system used to inform recommended restrictions on physical activity and regularly exceed 35 °C in northern Australia's equatorial and tropical climates by mid-century under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. Summer early morning WBGT and winter daytime WBGT were projected to reach heat categories that would result in recommended restrictions in physical activity continuously (across consecutive 24-h periods) in summer and intermittently (for at least part of the day) year-round by 2050 with more severe conditions by 2070 and/or under RCP8.5 scenarios. Investigations into physical activity limits beyond the current highest heat category and the efficacy of the employed methodology to estimate WBGT above 35 °C using standard meteorological data are required to prepare for the projected warmer climate.

Design and modeling of an on-site greywater treatment system for a hotel building

PurposeAs the United States is making a significant move toward rejoining the Paris Agreement on climate change, there is a high demand for sustainable solutions across various industries, including construction and hospitality sectors. The aim of this project was to design and model an on-site greywater treatment system for a hotel building for the effective reuse of sewage water. The study considered Los Angeles, California, as a case study location and referred to respective climate conditions and construction standards.Design/methodology/approachThis study considered various options of greywater treatment plants such as membrane bioreactor (MBR), sequencing batch reactor and reverse osmosis with upflow anaerobic sludge blanket which were carefully reviewed and modeled using the GPS-X software. The design and modeling results were verified by hand calculations and were followed by the estimation of capital and operational expenses required for the implementation of the plants.FindingsHaving relatively low capital and operational expenditure requirements as well as superior technical performance, the MBR plant proved to be the most effective solution for the considered location and standards and was recommended for use in hotel buildings.Practical implicationsDesigning and modeling several greywater treatment plants allowed selecting the most optimal option which in the long run will help to preserve the eco-system, stay compliant with the government laws and regulations and be financially sustainable.Originality/valueThe outcomes of the present study provide a detailed procedure for designing and modeling a greywater treatment plant for a hotel building that can be used for the localities with a similar climate. The most effective option selected as a result of cost-benefit analysis provides an efficient and viable solution for the relevant industry and the type of buildings.

A Systematic Review of Applications of Machine Learning Techniques for Wildfire Management Decision Support

Wildfires threaten and kill people, destroy urban and rural property, degrade air quality, ravage forest ecosystems, and contribute to global warming. Wildfire management decision support models are thus important for avoiding or mitigating the effects of these events. In this context, this paper aims at providing a review of recent applications of machine learning methods for wildfire management decision support. The emphasis is on providing a summary of these applications with a classification according to the case study type, machine learning method, case study location, and performance metrics. The review considers documents published in the last four years, using a sample of 135 documents (review articles and research articles). It is concluded that the adoption of machine learning methods may contribute to enhancing support in different fire management phases.

A renewable energy based waste-to-energy system with hydrogen options

A pressurized gasification combined system is studied in a novel integration with geothermal energy to produce hydrogen-enriched syngas. This system utilizes dewatered sludge, which leaves the biological wastewater treatment facility during the wastewater treatment process and is used as a feedstock to produce hydrogen as a useful output. The hydrogen produced is transformed in a proton-exchange fuel cell to electricity for community use. This system also incorporates a wind farm with a hydrogen storage system to meet societies’ energy need when the energy demand fluctuates. The integrated system is then analyzed with thermodynamic-based energy and exergy approaches. The Greater Toronto area is chosen as the case study location and comprehensive thermodynamic analysis and simulation are completed on the Aspen Plus and Engineering Equation Solver softwares while the annual wind speed data are obtained from the RETScreen software. The daily total energy delivered to the community from this proposed system is recorded to be 2.1 GWh. In addition, the hydrogen production ratio at the gasification system is observed to be 0.12 through the sludge utilization where the energy and exergy efficiencies of the integrated gasification combined cycle were calculated to be 24% and 28%, in this order. The highest energy and exergy efficiency with 38.6% and 42.2%, respectively, are observed in January where the wind farm operated at a capacity of 41.7% and the average wind speed was 6.3 m/s for Greater Toronto Area. The overall energy and exergy efficiencies of this waste-to-energy system are calculated as 32.7% and 36.6%, respectively.

Mapping Agricultural Drainage Extent in the U.S. Corn Belt: The Value of Multiple Methods

Highlights A new 30 m resolution drainage extent dataset is explorable through an online web interface. Alternative methods of mapping drainage extent have advantages in different locations. Multiple drainage extent datasets provide tools for improved hydrology assessment in the Corn Belt. Abstract. Artificial drainage is essential to agricultural productivity in much of the Midwest, and has an important impact on hydrology and water quality. Planners, engineers, resource professionals, and others who are interested in Corn Belt hydrology would benefit from increased understanding of existing drainage installations. The objective of this work is to increase access to and understanding of options for estimating subsurface/surface drainage extent and the advantages and disadvantages of different methods to benefit data users who need to know what products are appropriate for their specific application. This includes creating an online accessible drainage estimate data layer for the entire Corn Belt region; comparing three different drainage extent products for this region and investigating the various applications of these three products in four case study locations in Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, and Minnesota. Results show how different drainage datasets can be utilized depending on the nature of the research question and conditions of the investigation. Keywords: Agricultural drainage extent, Geospatial analysis, Tile drainage.

Machine Learning as a Downscaling Approach for Prediction of Wind Characteristics under Future Climate Change Scenarios

Assessment of climate change impacts on wind characteristics is crucial for the design, operation, and maintenance of coastal and offshore infrastructures. In the present study, the Model Output Statistics (MOS) method was used to downscale a Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) with General Circulation Model (GCM) results for a case study in the North Atlantic Ocean, and a supervised machine learning method (M5’ Decision Tree model) was developed for the first time to establish a statistical relationship between predicator and predicant. To do so, the GCM simulation results and altimeter remote sensing data were employed to examine the capabilities of the M5’DT model in predicting future wind speed and identifying spatiotemporal trends in wind characteristics. For this purpose, three classes of M5′ models were developed to study the annual, seasonal, and monthly variations of wind characteristics. The developed decision tree (DT) models were employed to statistically downscale the Beijing Normal University Earth System Model (BNU‐ESM) global climate model output. The M5′ models are calibrated and successfully validated against the GCM simulation results and altimeter remote sensing data. All the proposed models showed firm outputs in the training section. Predictions from the monthly model with a 70/30 training to test ratio demonstrated the best model performance. The monthly prediction model highlighted the decreasing trend in wind speed relative to the control period in 2030 to 2040 for the case study location and across all three future climate change scenarios tested within this study. This reduction in wind speed reduces wind energy by 13% to 19%.

The Relevance of Skilled In-water Guides in Swim-With Wildlife Tours

Commercial in-water interactions (IWIs) with wildlife may hold potential risks for their participants. Precautionary mechanisms for mitigating such risk factors are crucial for safe human–wildlife encounters. One of those tools is the provision of skilled in-water guides, yet across the industry it is not a standard practice. This article communicates the relevance of in-water guides for the safety and well-being of tour participants, substantiated by semistructured interview data obtained in three case study locations in the South Pacific. Participants interacting with humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), New Zealand fur seals (Arctocephalus forsteri), and bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) reported various benefits from the presence of in-water guides, including anxiety relief, elevated confidence and perception of safety, and obtainment of information on animal behavior. Apart from tourist safety, a deployment of in-water guides would also constitute an effective way of managing inappropriate tourist behavior. Hence, the results of this study strongly suggest the inclusion of in-water guides in commercial operations for tourist safety and management in future licensing schemes.

What are the Essentials for Community Resilience against Recurring Floods?

<p class='IJASEITAbtract'>Flood has become the recurring and prominent disaster risk in Indonesia's Capital Region, Jakarta. Heavy rain intensity merged with urban development issues, including urbanization, land subsidence, and water recharge land conversion causes the widening of flooded areas across Jakarta, Bekasi, Tangerang, and Depok. This causes the need for communities at risk to catch up in their institutional and non-institutional capacity to cope with the flood impacts during the rainy season each year. Thus, communities have learned to depend less on institutional capacities and invest in community resilience instead. This study assesses the community flood resilience factors found in current literature and compares them with the findings from community cases Kampung Melayu and Kebon Baru Urban Communities (Kelurahan) in Jakarta. This paper aims to validate and contrasts the key contributing factors to community resilience based on the literature and findings from flood-prone communities in two urban communities in Jakarta. Community resilience data were collected through town watching, interviews, and community engagement observation in two months. The study found that prominent factors for resilience within the community in these case study locations are leadership, activism, and volunteerism through periodic capacity building and community engagement activities across all sectors. Moreover, there is a need for mutual acknowledgment between community grassroots organizations and government authorities to enhance and accelerate resilience building.

Design of a Photovoltaics Stand-Alone System for a Residential Load in Bunaken Island Using HOMER

The purpose of this study is to design a Photovoltaics (PV) stand-alone system for a residential load in Bunaken Island using HOMER (Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources). Bunaken Island, the case study location, is a popular tourist spot in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. This island is facing the issue of limited access to electrical energy from the grid. The design and techno-economic analysis in Bunaken island leveraged HOMER software. This software was developed by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Furthermore, the results suggested that the techno-economical PV stand-alone system in Bunaken Island could be developed as alternative energy to support electricity as energy security issued for Indonesia.

Demystifying the Geography of Urbanization in Indonesia (Case Study: Southeast Sulawesi Province)

What is a city? How can we define the boundaries of a city? Despite being the popular subject of research in rapid urbanization, the discussion of the spatial dimension of urbanization is still few in Indonesia. This paper aims to make the geography of urbanization in Indonesia clearer and easier to understand by applying the degree of urbanization (DEGURBA/DoU) methodology. The case study location proposed is Southeast Sulawesi province (SSP)which has distinctive urbanization trajectories with rapid urbanization trends and a relatively stable rural population, but a lack of research regarding its urbanization patterns. This research used Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) data as the primary source to conduct spatial analysis to produce the degree of urbanization with complementary national statistical and spatial data to compare with the current conventional classification methodology. The findings show that based on DoU, 39.87% of the SSP population live in urban centers, 22.58% in urban cluster/periurban, and 37.56%. SSP has a total of 49 urban units with 6 urban centers/cities, and 43 urban clusters/towns. By testing the rank-size distribution of SSP’s urban units, it shows that SSP’s urban systems pattern satisfy Zipf’s law with R2 = .9885, and the slope of the fitted line is -0.9554. Based on this result, currently, SSP has 4 medium cities, 2 small cities, 21 large towns, and 20 small towns. In addition, the DoU also has an opportunity to understand how should urban areas be governed and managed, and by whom. Despite the Greater Kendari Urban Area has not yet fulfilled the national’s Metropolitan population threshold (1 million pop), the urban management and development should be conducted more collaboratively with neighboring regencies such as Konawe and South Konawe. The advantages are shown by these findings highlight the importance of scaling up this research to a national scale and using finer and nationally available data.

Dronar—Geoforensic Search Sonar from a Drone

Lightweight sonar devices may be tethered to an unmanned aerial vehicle or drone and quickly deployed over water for real-time imaging in 2D and the on site creation of geolocated, interactive bathymetric maps without the need for a boat. We show how such data is useful in the preliminary stages of water searches, by providing geophysicists, hydrologists and divers with spatial depth information, the distribution of dive and equipment hazards such as entanglement objects (weed, discarded items) and sediment types. One bathymetry case study location is described in detail, with a further two summarized to demonstrate reconnaissance surveys. Limitations of drone-based sonar surveys are outlined, including dense water weed cover; limits on flight times and adverse weather conditions.

New Regression models for Estimation daily temperature of Karachi and its Neural Network analysis

&lt;p&gt;This study presents the determination of the average daily temperature distribution for Karachi city. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) has been used to predict the average daily temperature of 2018, 2019, and 2020. Two regression models (linear and non-linear) were also developed. These models are based on relative humidity and dew points. Karachi's six-year environmental datasets were used for the case study location and to establish temperature distribution models. In ANN three years, temperature data (2015-2017) was used to train and validate the NN model. The same data was used to find the regression coefficients of each model. Both models and NN are then used to estimate the average daily temperature of years 2018-2020. The statistical errors are also calculated for comparison and to evaluate the performance of both models; an excellent agreement was found between recorded and ANN estimates. Both regression models predict average daily temperature with reasonable uncertainties. However, the non-linear regression model predictions are better. The results show that the models provide a good prediction of temperature distribution.&lt;/p&gt;&#x0D;

Containing a sustainable urbanized environment through SuDS devices in management trains

Generating an effective and efficient sustainable drainage philosophy is imperative in alleviating the risk of flooding in a complex UK climate that is categorised by excessive rainfall. The Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) approach offers a revolutionary change in using heightened flow rates and large capacities of water to our advantage, while also disguising the attenuated water into the urbanized environment. This research explores the result of integrating several SuDS devices in management trains with the sole purpose of significantly reducing overall water quantity. It will compare and contrast and prove how SuDS is more dependable than the conventional pipe-based drainage system that is characterized by its ability to remove water to the outflow quickly. Furthermore, in order to determine how a SuDS device is implemented into the natural environment, a case study was conducted at a residential area in Gibside View, Winlaton in Gateshead. The research exhibits how the newly implemented Detention basin had to be retrofitted into the already inadequate drainage system that once lived there; all in thought of alleviating the significant flooding events that were once reported to have occurred prior. As a verification method in terms of effectiveness, a questionnaire was conducted through convenient and purposive sampling at the Case Study location; data was accumulated door-to-door inside a 300 m radius of the detention basin and received about 180 valid responses. The results showed persistence of respondents who detailed flooding events prior to installing the Detention basin, who then recognised a fundamental change in the minimization of water quantity and flooding issues. The results of this research showed why Detention Basins continue to be identified as one of the most successful water reduction-based SuDS devices available for development nationwide implementation.

Detecting anchored fish aggregating devices (AFADs) and estimating use patterns from vessel tracking data in small-scale fisheries

Monitoring the use of anchored fish aggregating devices (AFADs) is essential for effective fisheries management. However, detecting the use of these devices is a significant challenge for fisheries management in Indonesia. These devices are continually deployed at large scales, due to large numbers of users and high failure rates, increasing the difficulty of monitoring AFADs. To address this challenge, tracking devices were attached to 34 handline fishing vessels in Indonesia over a month period each. Given there are an estimated 10,000–50,000 unlicensed AFADs in operation, Indonesian fishing grounds provided an ideal case study location to evaluate whether we could apply spatial modeling approaches to detect AFAD usage and fish catch success. We performed a spatial cluster analysis on tracking data to identify fishing grounds and determine whether AFADs were in use. Interviews with fishers were undertaken to validate these findings. We detected 139 possible AFADs, of which 72 were positively classified as AFADs. Our approach enabled us to estimate AFAD use and sharing by vessels, predict catches, and infer AFAD lifetimes. Key implications from our study include the potential to estimate AFAD densities and deployment rates, and thus compliance with Indonesia regulations, based on vessel tracking data.

Exploring the trend of walkability measures by applying hierarchical clustering technique

IntroductionOver the last two decades, many walkability attributes and variables have been considered in the evaluation of walkability scores with various methods and approaches. This study investigates the recent trend of walkability measures in terms of the scale of analysis, the case study location, the type of measurements, the data collection tool, the analysis method, and the research field. MethodsIn a review of existing literature, this paper analyzes and compares the walkability studies over the past two decades. A total of 75 articles from 40 journals and conference proceedings were selected through a systematic and sequential procedure. In order to explore the research trend among the reviewed articles, we applied a hierarchical clustering technique. A meta-analysis was performed to systematically assess the results of previous walkability studies to derive conclusions about the future direction of research. ResultsThe result of this review reveals that recent walkability studies in North America have prevailed in a street-level microscopic analysis while the others in Asia and Europe have focused on both large and small-scale walkability analysis. Advanced images and instrument audit tools are being applied nowadays in addition to traditional physical audit tools for measuring walkability. In recent years, urban design qualities objectively measuring at a street level (e.g., comfort/convenience, aesthetics, sidewalk design, etc.) have been widely used in determining walkability in lieu of the traditionally used attributes (e.g., roadway level of service). ConclusionThis study presents a future direction for walkability studies along with the recent trend in walkability measures and data analysis. Walkability studies have attracted significant attention more recently than in previous years. The recent trend of automated and systematic walkability data collection will eventually enable detailed analysis at a large scale and contribute to advancing walkability studies.