Periphery Of City Research Articles

Spatiotemporal assessment of recreation ecosystem service flow from green spaces in Zhengzhou’s main urban area

This study investigates the urban recreation ecosystem services flow (RESF) to facilitate the matching of supply and demand, providing insights for urban layout optimization and enhancing human well-being. Based on a framework encompassing supply, demand, boundaries, direction, volume, and speed, we assess the RESF from green spaces in the main urban area of Zhengzhou City from 2010 to 2020. The findings indicate that: (1) Both supply and demand for recreation ecosystem services in the main urban area of Zhengzhou City have shown an increasing trend from 2010 to 2020, with demand concentrated in the city center. (2) A significant spatial mismatch exists between the supply and demand of recreation ecosystem services, with a severe undersupply in the city center and an oversupply mainly located in the city periphery. (3) The areas of bidirectional RESF have decreased. Areas with the highest inflow are typically large cold and hot-spot areas, while areas with the highest outflow are often large hot-spot areas. (4) The speed and boundaries of flows differ significantly across various modes of transportation. This research systematically evaluates the RESF and its spatiotemporal variations, providing decision support for optimizing urban layout and improving urban construction.

Afeto e cultura na construção política da Comunidade de Samba do Pagode da 27

This article aims to discuss the factors that drive and shape the political struggle of peripheral cultural collectives. To this end, it presents the results of my master’s research, completed in 2023. The ethnographic research was conducted with Pagode da 27, a samba community located in Grajaú, in the southernmost part of São Paulo. Contributing to the debate on peripheral cultural collectives and political agency in the peripheries of large Brazilian cities, the analysis reveals that the affective relationships among the members and their connection with the cultural practice of samba form the foundation of both community building and the political formation of the individuals and the collective. The research methodology involved observing the daily activities of the members and the practices related to the Pagode da 27 samba community, as well as conducting conversations, interviews, and analyzing the group’s songs.

THE ECONOMICS OF LOCATION AND SPACE: URBANISATION IN SOUTH ASIA

This article analyses the effects of the economics of location and space, in particular urbanisation in South Asia. The potential of urbanisation is used as a comparative term to join the more prosperous, industrialised nations with better living standards. The aim is to demonstrate the impact of urbanisation, climate change and urban biodiversity on sustainability, as well as their consequences in the suburbs and peripheries of large cities. The objectives of sustainable urban development and the green economy are similar, which is why the rapid urbanisation taking place in South Asia has brought to light the importance of urban green infrastructure and the green economy in terms of promoting long-term sustainability and solving environmental, social and economic problems. The research makes use of bibliographical and documentary research, as well as some normative provisions. It concludes that it is essential to plan cities and build sustainable communities in order to minimise the impact of urbanisation on environmental, social, economic and financial sustainability and, in particular, on people’s quality of life.

Microbiological Ecological Surveillance of Zoonotic Pathogens from Hamadryas Baboons in Southwestern Saudi Arabia.

This study investigates parasitic and bacterial pathogens present in Hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas) and humans in southwestern Saudi Arabia. Fecal samples were collected from Hamadryas baboons (n = 999) from three city peripheries and humans from city centers (n = 1998) and peripheries (n = 1998) of southwestern and eastern Saudi cities. Parasitic examinations and bacterial cultures were conducted on these samples. Key findings include the identification of various parasitic and bacterial pathogens, with notable prevalences of Staphylococcus aureus (71.37% in baboons, 71.51% in humans), Blastocystis hominis (42.24% in baboons, 17.85% in humans), Cryptosporidium spp. (40.14% in baboons, 12.6% in humans), hookworms (37.44% in baboons, 18.57% in humans), Strongyloides spp. (37.34% in baboons, 17.39% in humans), Enterobius vermicularis (36.34% in baboons, 11.18% in humans), and Campylobacter spp. (29.73% in baboons, 1.86% in humans). Additionally, the prevalences of these microorganisms in human populations coexisting with baboons in southwestern city peripheries were 75.47%, 25.22%, 23.62%, 26.33%, 22.22%, 15.11%, and 3.8%, respectively. To further characterize bacterial isolates, 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used, suggesting potential zoonotic and anthroponotic cycles. The results highlight significant pathogen prevalence among both baboons and human populations in proximity to baboon habitats, indicating a potential public health risk. However, shared environmental sources, such as contaminated water, were not thoroughly assessed and could play a role in pathogen transmission. The study's focus on 18 different parasitic and bacterial pathogens allowed for the targeting of prevalent and indicative markers of zoonotic and anthroponotic transmission. In conclusion, these baseline data are crucial for the design of advanced studies to further investigate the zoonotic and anthroponotic transmission dynamics and the environmental factors influencing pathogen prevalence.

Deep Learning for Urban Tree Canopy Coverage Analysis: A Comparison and Case Study

Urban tree canopy (UTC) coverage, or area, is an important metric for monitoring changes in UTC over large areas within a municipality. Several methods have been used to obtain these data, but remote sensing image classification is one of the fastest and most reliable over large areas. However, most studies have tested only one or two classification methods to accomplish this while using costly satellite imagery or LiDAR data. This study seeks to compare three urban tree canopy cover classifiers by testing a deep learning U-Net convolutional neural network (CNN), support vector machine learning classifier (SVM) and a random forests machine learning classifier (RF) on cost-free 2012 aerial imagery over a small southern USA city and midsize, growing southern USA city. The results of the experiment are then used to decide the best classifier and apply it to more recent aerial imagery to determine canopy changes over a 10-year period. The changes are subsequently compared visually and statistically with recent urban heat maps derived from thermal Landsat 9 satellite data to compare the means of temperatures within areas of UTC loss and no change. The U-Net CNN classifier proved to provide the best overall accuracy for both cities (89.8% and 91.4%), while also requiring the most training and classification time. When compared spatially with city heat maps, city periphery regions were most impacted by substantial changes in UTC area as cities grow and the outer regions get warmer. Furthermore, areas of UTC loss had higher temperatures than those areas with no canopy change. The broader impacts of this study reach the urban forestry managers at the local, state/province, and national levels as they seek to provide data-driven decisions for policy makers.

Effects of diverse vegetation assemblages on the thermal behavior of extensive vegetated roofs

Extensive vegetated roofs (EVRs) offer effective nature-based solutions to cities, mitigating thermal extremes induced by urbanization and climate change. A field experiment monitored EVR's thermal regulation in summer and winter. Two sites with contrasting microclimatic conditions in Córdoba city, Argentina, were compared: city center (Core of the urban heat island, UHI) and city periphery (Fringe of the UHI). Diverse plant assemblages constituted five treatments to evaluate plant and thermal performance. A Random Forest model analyzed the contributions of various factors to thermal benefits. All treatments showed > 60 % plant survival rates, and four treatments achieved > 90 % coverage. In winter, the assemblages, including succulents, herbs, and graminoids, offer effective thermal regulation. In summer, thermal performance differed between the two sites. At the Fringe, the native flora (herbaceous and graminoids) + herbaceous + succulents, and succulents + graminoids furnished outstanding thermal regulation. Conversely, at the Core, succulents outperformed. The coverage was the dominant variable for predicting thermal performance, followed by season and location. The findings provide the basis for designing EVRs to optimize thermal benefits.

Die „fünfte Suburbanisierung“ – Perspektiven suburbaner Raumentwicklung in den 2020er-Jahren

Germany is currently experiencing a renewed rise of suburbanisation and an associated increase in urban expansion in the peripheries of large cities. How this development—referred to below as the “fifth suburbanisation” in the history of this country—can be characterized in the light of earlier phases of intraregional deconcentration is the topic of this paper. The four historical reference phases are not to be understood as clearly distinguishable and successive developments. Their conceptualization is less temporal than structural-material, socio-spatial, institutional, cultural, economic and political-discursive. The focus is on characteristics of built environments typical of each phase, specific social and economic drivers, dominant housing and planning policies, socio-cultural meanings and values as well as social embedding and negotiation processes. Suburban development of the 2020s will take place in a socio-economically and institutionally changed process field, even though there is still little empirical evidence in this regard. Accordingly, this paper also aims to call for a discussion on new research desiderata and realistic policy designs for suburban spatial development in the 2020s. A historical contextualization of the current development and planning processes is considered essential.

Dispossession and beyond: Politics of rural land conversion in China's tourism villages

Across the peripheries of global South cities, projects to convert rural land for development purposes have brought dramatic impact on rural communities and environments. Many of these initiatives involve aggregating land, mobilizing investments, and resettling populations, with direct implications for villagers’ land rights and livelihoods. In existing studies, rural land conversions have often been examined through frameworks of “land grabbing” and “dispossession”. This paper argues for the need to go beyond these frameworks in conceptualizing the varied pathways and outcomes of rural land takings. It presents a comparative case study of two villages in China, whose land has been redeployed for tourism development. In one village, state-led expropriation led to the loss of land rights and the resettlement of villagers in new housing complexes. In another, villagers held onto land ownership and their property but saw intra-community inequalities amplified as residents were differentially incorporated into the tourism economy. By demonstrating how the nuanced mechanisms of land conversion could facilitate variegated livelihood and distributive outcomes between and within communities, this paper problematizes universalist conceptualizations of dispossession and calls for theorizing both “with” and “beyond” dispossession to account for the multifaceted dynamics of land development in global South contexts.

Increase in Abandoned Farmland at the Outer Fringes of Local Cities: Decreased Expectations of Conversion, Delays in Land Consolidation, and Vanishing Part-time Farmers

Increase in Abandoned Farmland at the Outer Fringes of Local Cities: Decreased Expectations of Conversion, Delays in Land Consolidation, and Vanishing Part-time Farmers

Electoral dynamics, the construction of a common sense and national urban policies: The case of the radical right vote in the 2002 French presidential election

The main theories of urban governance analysis do not take a significant interest in elections. As a result, the existing literature has seldom meaningfully engaged with electoral dynamics. This article seeks to put electoral dynamics at the centre of urban governance analysis. We examine the case of France and its Politique de la Ville, the national urban policy targeted towards the banlieues – the working-class neighbourhoods at the periphery of French cities. We aim to explain how a major reform of this policy in 2003 came about in the aftermath of the 2002 French presidential election, where a radical right candidate progressed to the second round of the election for the first time in history. By taking Gramsci’s notion of ‘common sense’ as a starting point and dwelling on critical approaches to electoral processes, this article examines the construction of the discourse on the banlieues during the campaign through analysing the media and political debates. It shows how this discourse shaped the interpretation of the election’s outcome and provided a political opportunity to justify a major reform of the policy. We conclude by calling for a more careful examination of electoral dynamics, and deconstruction of the common sense discourses underpinning their interpretation.

Material subjects: Wetland enclosure and the making of a speculative peasantry in peri-urban Vientiane

Peri-urbanization in Asia, which is driven by state-led mega-projects, has incorporated peasants on the fringes of cities into the urban fabric through land dispossession and displacement. This paper enriches ongoing debates on peasant experiences in urbanization, with a focus on the role of non-human nature. We apply an urban political ecology analysis that dialectically integrates analyses of political–economic forces and materiality, showing how they mediate peasant dispossession and post-agrarian subjectivities. Drawing on research conducted on the eastern fringe of Vientiane, Laos, where a stretch of agrarian wetland lay, we demonstrate how partial real estate enclosures transformed the ecology of the entire area. Altered flows of water engineered by state officials and project developers constrained agricultural production and peasant livelihoods. The drainage and filling of land combined with a burgeoning property market left landowners with little option but to treat their land as real estate. By engaging in land deals and micro-level property development, these former peasants actively integrated themselves into the emerging urban economy, albeit with uneven success. Our research highlights how the intersection of material nature with the forces and influences of state and capital mediates wetland enclosure, peri-urbanization, and the production of post-agrarian subjectivities.

Enhancing bird habitat networks in metropolitan areas: Resilience assessment and improvement strategies – A case study from Shanghai

Constructing bird habitat networks (BHNs) is crucial for maintaining the health and service equilibrium of urban ecosystems, especially in large metropolitan areas where the pressure of urbanization is intense. However, most existing BHNs fail to account for the dynamic changes and unique requirements of local species, leading to homogenized construction outcomes and ecological corridor objectives. This study employs a comprehensive approach to identify bird habitat patches using multiple high-quality sources, then utilize circuit theory and complex network theory to construct and assess the resilience of BHN. Our key findings showed: (1)93 bird habitat sources were identified, predominantly situated in the continuous green spaces of southern and southeastern Shanghai, whereas habitat sources in the city center and other densely built-up areas are more dispersed, highlighting them as prime targets for future ecological restoration efforts. (2) The distribution of bird habitat corridors exhibits significant spatial heterogeneity, with primary corridors predominantly spanning the southwestern and eastern parts of the study area, while secondary corridors are more abundant in the western and northern parts, forming a denser network, whereas the central area shows fewer and more isolated corridors. (3) The decline in structural and functional resilience was notably more rapid under targeted attacks than under random attacks, underscoring the need to prioritize crucial bird habitat sources on the city's periphery, especially near highly urbanized areas, in urban planning and biodiversity conservation efforts to sustain ecological balance and biodiversity. These insights provide a crucial scientific basis for urban planners, emphasizing the integration of biodiversity conservation into urban development strategies by optimizing ecological sources and corridors to balance development with ecological preservation.

Public safety considerations constraint the conservation of large old trees and their crucial ecological heritage in urban green spaces

Large old trees in urban public green spaces deliver a diversity of values essential for human well-being, including biodiversity conservation. Yet, the conservation of large old trees bearing key wildlife microhabitats interferes with safety considerations. This intuitive notion, however, is backed by an insufficient and scattered body of evidence. Here, we empirically examined this process using data on 5974 trees across 510 sample plots, organized as quintuplets within 102 sample sites, including urban parks, cemeteries, recreational forests, and historic reserves in the urban agglomeration of Kraków, Poland. Our analyses demonstrate that trees situated in areas frequently visited by people, or those near walking paths, benches, or playgrounds, have elevated accident hazards and, therefore, necessitate intensive tree surgeries (pruning and logging) to remain harmless. Large old trees, which bear the most diverse microhabitats and pose greater risks when they collapse, are especially affected by these measures. Accordingly, we found that the co-occurrence of large trees with elevated accident hazards results in significant losses of dead and sloped trees, and trees with cavities, injuries, crown deadwood, fungal fruiting bodies, or epiphytes, particularly in parks and, to a lesser extent, in recreational forests. Apparently, some tree-related microhabitats, such as injuries, cavities, and microsoils, also emerge in risky spots after pruning. Our findings underscore that the conservation of large old trees and their ecological functions faces significant challenges due to safety considerations. To address conservation challenges and harmonize human coexistence with biodiversity, we recommend enhancing environmental awareness and reevaluating arboricultural and planning policies. This would involve establishing strategic and pocket reserves on city peripheries and interiors, allowing larger older trees to thrive and develop important microhabitats without compromising public safety. Otherwise, we risk losing many large old trees and/or their superior value for wildlife, which will regenerate over decades, if not centuries.

Research on spatiotemporal patterns and influencing factors of county-level urban shrinkage in urbanizing China

County-level cities, as small-scale urban units in China's urban system, have shrunk due to uneven urban development in urbanizing China. This research constructed a framework for understanding China's county-level urban shrinkage. It defined county-level cities and measured shrinkage using the city shrinkage model, explored the spatiotemporal patterns combined with shrinking degrees and trajectories, and analysed the shrinking types based on city and city periphery perspectives. Then, the influencing factors were identified via the OLS regression model. Taking 2846 county-level cities as research units, the results showed that 180 and 1050 county-level cities shrunk in 2000–2010 and 2010–2020, respectively. Slight and moderate shrinkage dominated, but the proportions of high and severe shrinkage noticeably increased. In terms of shrinking trajectory, recent shrinkage was the main shrinking type. The spatial extent of shrinking county-level cities increased dynamically; the northeast, north, central and northwest regions were core agglomerations, and the east region emerged as an added agglomeration during 2010–2020. Absolute shrinkage became the main shrinking type significantly driven by "city–city" and "off-site urbanization" migration. Urbanization level, economic development, ageing degree, etc., were factors causing shrinkage. This study contributes to advancing understanding among scholars and Chinese policymakers about county-level urban shrinkage in urbanizing China.

RESIDUALIZED PUBLIC HOUSING IN ROMANIA: Peripheralization of ‘the Social’ and the Racialization of ‘Unhouseables’

AbstractThis study analyzes public housing residualization as a multiscalar phenomenon, providing specific details about how it happened in a Central and East European context via the marketization of the housing system, the peripheralization of ‘the social’ and the racialization of ‘unhouseables’. It employs secondary statistical data, interviews, and document analyses to examine the endemic features of global capitalism within Romania's housing regime. The study shows that the dismantlement of the state‐socialist establishment has resulted in a lower social rental rate than in core capitalist countries. It observes that when the public housing stock has generally been depleted, newly established social housing is relocated to the peripheries of cities as a nonmarketable component of the dualist public housing sector. In Baia Mare, the municipality has created social housing enclaves for vulnerable groups associated with dangerous behavior by excluding them from other forms of public housing, whereas in Cluj‐Napoca, it has attempted to exclude marginalized people from public housing by turning it into a site of class warfare. In both cases, the housing stock under scrutiny is associated with the racialized Roma ethnicity. The approach adopted in the study enables the residualization of public housing to be addressed across the peripheralization–racialization nexus.

Rural Botanical Knowledge in Urbanity: Restructurings and Resignifications in the Peripheries of a Patagonian City in Argentina

The botanical knowledge of Mapuche people settled on the peripheries of Esquel city (Argentine Patagonia) was compared with that of urban residents in order to know their particularities, and to understand how rural–urban (rurban) hybridization resignifies their practices and medicinal plants richness for better adaptation to city life. Interviews were conducted with a sample of 79 patients attending primary health care centers (33 rurban Mapuches, 46 urban), and data were qualitative–quantitatively analyzed. Rurban residents cite similar plant richness to that of urban ones (∼69 species), though they are different in composition. Local medicinal flora provides responses to diseases with a similar incidence in both groups, but each group addresses them based on the resources it recognizes as most effective and accessible. The rurban system is flexible facing the challenge that life in the city implies, evidencing the incorporation and replacement of native resources by exotic ones as an expression of restructuring processes and cultural diversification. These changes allow for recreation of memory about the importance of medicinal plants, and adjustment of therapeutic practices to a present time, having different needs from those of rurality. Urban residents incorporate plants from Mapuche pharmacopoeia, some of which are on visualization, evidencing bidirectional resource and ethnobotanical knowledge transference between groups. As a conclusion, this case study points out the importance of recognizing rurbanity as a starting point for the establishment of public policies that improve governance and access to health for Mapuche migrants in the city.

Mapping urban well-being with Quality Of Life Index (QOLI) at the fine-scale of grid data

Accessibility of transport infrastructure, commercial amenities, recreational facilities, and green spaces is widely recognised as crucial to the well-being of urban residents. However, these features are often unevenly distributed across the geographical boundaries of a city, leading to disparities in the local quality of life. This study focuses on the city of Warsaw, Poland, and uses the aforementioned characteristics and the framework of the '15-min city' concept to construct a grid-level urban Quality of Life Index (QOLI) that facilitates comparisons between the city’s districts and local neighbourhoods. The results of our study reveal a “high-inside, low-outside” pattern of quality of life, characterised by higher standards of living in the central districts and lower standards at the city's periphery.

Social mechanisms for the development of irregular human settlements in Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico

The work presents partial results of a research carried out by the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, oriented to the analysis of urban growth that develops on the periphery of cities through informal and illegal land occupation processes. The analysis aims to address the social practices and mechanisms that the population exercises to satisfy their land and housing needs, taking the city of Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico as a case study. The results show that the State and real estate developers express their interest in developing the city in a formal way, in which they satisfy the needs of the population with high economic resources and leave aside the poorest population, who practice social actions for the development of irregular human settlements.

An emerging aeroallergen in Europe: Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima [Mill.] Swingle) inventory and pollen concentrations – Taking a metropolitan region in Germany as an example

Urban areas are often hotspots for the dissemination of non-native (invasive) plant species, some of which release (potentially) allergenic pollen. Given the high population density in cities, a considerable number of people can be regularly and potentially intensively exposed to the pollen from these plants. This study delves into the Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima, [Mill.] Swingle), native to East Asia, which is known for its high invasiveness in temperate regions worldwide, particularly favoring urban colonization. This study explores the botanical and aerobiological dimensions of this species using the central European metropolitan region of Berlin, Germany, as a case study, and provides a comprehensive global overview of allergological insights.The number of Ailanthus trees decreased markedly from the center to the periphery of Berlin City, following a temperature gradient. The same spatial trend was mirrored by airborne Ailanthus pollen concentrations measured with volumetric spore traps (Hirst-type) at five sites using seven traps. Ailanthus pollen was most abundant around midday and in the afternoon, with concentrations tenfold higher at street level than at roof level. The Ailanthus flowering period in June and July coincided well with the pollen season. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study to investigate Ailanthus altissima pollen production. On average, 5539 pollen grains were found per anther. A literature review on the allergy relevance of Ailanthus altissima pollen indicates the high allergenic potential of pollen from this species.Considering the anticipated expansion of suitable habitats for Ailanthus owing to global warming and the allergological significance of its pollen, it is recommended to include Ailanthus pollen in routine pollen monitoring, particularly in areas colonized by this species. This comprehensive study provides new insights into a pollen taxon whose significance as an emerging aeroallergen should be factored into plant selection and greenspace management in all temperate regions.

Roaming Dogs, Intense Brown Dog Tick Infestation, and Emerging Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in Tijuana, México.

A two decades-long epidemic of Rocky Mountain spotted fever in northern México reached the U.S. border city of Tijuana in 2021. Cases were near the city periphery in marginalized areas, some lacking infrastructure such as streets or utilities. We worked in the three census areas where human cases were reported and in 12 additional control Áreas Geoestadisticas Básicas. There were dogs, the primary tick host and Rickettsia rickettsii reservoir, in 76% of homes, with 2.2 owned dogs per home on average, approximately equal numbers of roaming dogs were seen, and 46.2% of owned dogs were allowed to roam in the street. Sixty-eight percent of people had heard of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), and 35% self-reported tick infestation, including 19% of homes without dogs. Ticks appeared to move among houses of adjacent neighbors. Of 191 examined dogs, 61.8% were tick-infested, with 6-fold increased odds if they were allowed to roam. Although no dogs were Rickettsia polymerase chain reaction-positive, we found one R. rickettsii- and 11 Rickettsia massiliae-infected ticks. The rickettsial IgG seroprevalence by immunofluorescence antibody assay was 76.4%, associated with unhealthy body condition, adults, dogs with >10 ticks, more dogs being seen in the area, and dogs being permitted in the street. Insufficient medical and canine management resources have contributed to a case fatality rate of RMSF that has exceeded 50% in areas. High canine seroprevalence suggests risks to people and dogs; unfortunately, herd immunity is impeded by high turnover in the canine population owing to the birth of puppies and high death rates. Binational One Health workers should monitor disease spread, enact canine population management and tick eradication, and provide prevention, diagnostic, and treatment support.