City Perspective Research Articles

Leveraging City Cameras for Human Behavior Analysis in Urban Parks: A Smart City Perspective

Urban parks enhance urban life by providing essential spaces for recreation, relaxation, and social interaction. However, there is a lack of understanding of how park settings influence usage patterns by socio-demographic characteristics. This study seeks to address this gap by exploring the association between park characteristics and gendered usage patterns across different times of the day. We employed big data analytics and computer vision techniques to analyze human behavior in two urban parks. These parks have comparable environments characterized by shared features, including paths, playgrounds, seating, lawns, greenery, and amenities. One is designed as a linear park, while the other is trapezoid-shaped. The distribution of facilities varies within the parks’ spaces. The key innovation of this approach lies in the use of computer vision for spatial analysis based on user-specific characteristics, particularly gender. City surveillance cameras are leveraged to gather extensive data on park usage. A comparative evaluation of the two urban parks includes a detailed examination of temporal and spatial usage patterns, offering new insights into the dynamics of urban park utilization. Findings reveal specific park features, such as playgrounds and paths, showed varying levels of utilization by different genders, highlighting the importance of tailored urban design. Males favored open lawns with dog facilities, whereas females preferred areas near playgrounds. The application of smart city technologies, such as city cameras, sets the stage for future directions in urban planning and design, highlighting opportunities to integrate advanced analytics into planning practices.

Exploring the research evolution and global perspectives of water-sensitive cities: a comprehensive bibliometric analysis using CiteSpace and VOSviewer

Exploring the research evolution and global perspectives of water-sensitive cities: a comprehensive bibliometric analysis using CiteSpace and VOSviewer

What makes a city breastfeeding friendly? A qualitative analysis of interviews with breastfeeding women from Europe and Asia.

The warm chain of support is the continuous enabling environment from the mother's first contact with healthcare professionals during early pregnancy, birth and immediate post-partum period, her transition from healthcare facility to home, through to work and the community at large. A breastfeeding-friendly city should be able to support a breastfeeding journey across the warm chain. To determine breastfeeding women's perspective of an ideal breastfeeding-friendly city. Between September 2021 and January 2022, twenty-two women who were breastfeeding or had ever breastfed in the last 5 years from Ireland and Malaysia were interviewed. A set of selection criteria was applied to ensure representation of a range of the characteristics known to be associated with breastfeeding success: diverse age groups, birth and breastfeeding experiences, culture and socioeconomical background. One-on-one semi-structured online interviews were conducted by the first author. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke's Thematic Analysis framework. One overarching theme of breastfeeding at the front and centre of the city, and three major themes were developed: 1. mothers feel supported when breastfeeding is prioritised; 2. when breastfeeding is visible in the environment, it becomes normalized; 3. there is a need to have seamless breastfeeding support across the continuum of the warm chain, and at all levels of society. The findings demonstrated the importance of prioritized, and continuous support throughout the breastfeeding journey. The hopes and aspirations of a breastfeeding-friendly city expressed here would be useful for cities to consider when developing or implementing breastfeeding support programmes as well as guide development of indicators of a breastfeeding-friendly city.

Factors influencing the purchase intention of ethanol blended fuel in India: a sustainable cities perspective

Factors influencing the purchase intention of ethanol blended fuel in India: a sustainable cities perspective

A city perspective on the arduous task of emission-growth balance: decoupling and decomposition analysis in Chinese cities.

Decoupling economic growth and carbon emissions is essential to a sustainable high-quality development. As a small unit of the engine of development, more research has begun to focus on city-level issues. In order to fill the gaps in the decoupling research at the city level covering the whole nationwide, this paper applied the bottom-up method to calculate 282 cities' carbon emissions according to China's city-level panel data of terminal energy consumption, and combined Tapio decoupling with LMDI decomposition model to analyze cities' decoupling status and its driving factors. The results reflect that (1) strong decoupling, weak decoupling, expansive coupling, and expansive negative decoupling were the main decoupling states of Chinese cities and the strong decoupling cities were mainly clustered in the southwestern area. (2) The COE effect, ES effect, and EI effect were negative in most cities, promoting the realization of strong decoupling in most cities, but the contribution of COE effect and ES effect to the decoupling effect was relatively small. (3) The nature differences of ES effect and EI effect were the crucial reason for the significant differences in the degree of decoupling among different types of cities, especially the differences of EI effect in both SD cities and WD cities during 2005 to 2010 and 2010 to 2015. Based on the findings, some common but differentiated recommendations are provided for promoting the decarbonization of the economy in Chinese cities.

Digitization of social welfare entities and its importance for the effective implementation of social services in the public management system

Background: For almost a decade, before the Covid-19 pandemic forcefully highlighted the importance of this area, the digital future of Europe had been the main focus of European Union politicians and senior officials. In February 2020, the European Commission published the communication “Shaping Europe’s Digital Future,” which outlines the European Union's digital transformation strategy. Research objectives: This article aims to identify the information and communication technology tools used by a public entity providing social services such as a Social Assistance Centre (SAC). The SAC is the basic organizational entity implementing social policy goals in the social welfare subsystem, functioning in every municipality in Poland. Research design and methods: The research method used in this article was a case study. Results: The implementation of digital tools into the OPS enabled the entity to identify problems in real time and respond to them faster, make more accurate decisions faster and more efficiently, and access a huge amount of data that improved the analyses carried out. Conclusions: The use of modern technologies in organizations providing social services contributes to a better use of available resources. In the broader perspective of city, regional, or national governance, the use of ICT provides new evidence for the design of community-based public policies and their adaptation to new realities, enables reforming the operation of public organizations, and increases the transparency of public sector activities.

From digital cities to smart homes: how does smart older adults care affect the life satisfaction of older adults?—Evidence from CLASS 2020

China faces a growing challenge in providing adequate age-friendly care services due to a rapidly aging population. Smart older adults care (SOAC), developed under the concepts of age-friendly cities and communities (AFCC) and smart healthy age-friendly environments (SHAFE), aims to address this imbalance between service demand and supply. This study explored the impact of SOAC on the life satisfaction of older adults in China using a multi-level Logit model and data from CLASS 2020. The analysis considered both family and city perspectives. Our findings revealed significant positive effects on life satisfaction from the family perspective when SOAC offered high accessibility, application, and expansibility. Digital ability also plays a significant moderation role in this pathway of influence. For the city perspective, a positive correlation was found between digital urban service and life satisfaction, while the digital urban governance showed a negative correlation. Finally, the study identified a link between SOAC and improved life satisfaction, facilitated by a greater sense of gain from internet convenience.

Second-Look Needle Arthroscopy After Prior Surgical Treatment for Cartilage Lesions of the Ankle: The Amsterdam and New York City Perspectives.

The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate the quality of the reparative cartilage during second-look needle arthroscopy following talar osteoperiostic grafting from the iliac crest (TOPIC) or autologous osteochondral transplantation (AOT) procedure for the management of large osteochondral lesions (OCLs) of the talus. Prospective case series. Patients who underwent second-look needle arthroscopy following either TOPIC or AOT procedure were prospectively recruited when they needed a second look. The primary outcome was the assessment of the quality of the reparative cartilage via second-look needle arthroscopy scored by the International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) score. The secondary outcomes were the number and nature of needle arthroscopy interventions and complications associated with these interventions. Five patients underwent second-look needle arthroscopy following TOPIC procedure and 11 patients underwent second-look in-office needle arthroscopy following AOT. The mean ICRS in the TOPIC cohort was 9.4 ± 1.0 at a mean time of 24.4 months following the index procedure. The mean ICRS in the AOT cohort was 10.6 ± 1.3 at a mean time of 58.8 months following the index procedure. No complications were observed in either cohort. This study demonstrated that TOPIC and AOT lead to adequate-looking quality reparative cartilage at short-term to mid-term follow-ups. However, further studies with larger patient cohorts and longer follow-ups are warranted. Furthermore, second-look needle arthroscopy is a safe and viable minimally invasive procedure that can effectively evaluate the quality of reparative cartilage following surgical intervention for OCLs of the talus.

Integration of BIM and GIS for the Digitization of the Built Environment

The integration of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a growing reality in the building production sector. Through this integration, it is possible to improve the efficiency of management, maintenance, use and planning of conservation operations, providing an integrated and dynamic vision of the built environment. Simultaneous exchange of BIM-GIS elements in a shared environment facilitates information access and optimizes processes like requalification, activity planning, safety and sustainable urban design. Two alternative strategies are proposed for the multidisciplinary approach, using advanced technologies to acquire, process and manage detailed and georeferenced data. The first one is an open-source environment to guarantee flexibility, customization and accessibility. The second option, in a closed-source environment, provides advanced functionalities and dedicated support. Both require careful planning, detailed analysis and collaboration between the disciplines of architecture, engineering and geoinformatics. The study transcends theoretical analysis by exploring practical implications for real-world systems integration, examining their advantages, limitations and potential synergies in terms of flexibility, security and sustainability. This will enable a more efficient and comprehensive management of the architectural heritage and the built environment, contributing to its preservation and enhancement in the context of the digital transition in a future perspective of smart cities.

Analysis of Spatiotemporal Changes and Multi-scale Socio-economic Driving Factors of PM2.5 and Ozone in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Its Surroundings

Based on PM2.5 and O3 remote sensing concentration data in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and its surrounding areas from 2015 to 2020, we used trend analysis, geographic detectors, and a geographically and temporally weighted regression model to explore the spatiotemporal characteristics and key driving socio-economic factors of multi-scale PM2.5 and O3 concentrations. The results indicated that： ① The changing slope of PM2.5 concentration ranged from -12.93 to 0.43 μg·（m3·a）-1, and the changing slope of O3 concentration ranged from 0.70 to 14.90 μg·（m3·a）-1. The decreasing slope of PM2.5 concentration was the largest in winter, and the increasing slope of O3 concentration was the largest in summer. ② The concentrations of PM2.5 and O3 were spatially correlated, and the H-H concentrations of PM2.5 were located in the southern Hebei Province and the northern Henan Province. The spatial clustering pattern of O3 changed greatly. ③ From the perspective of urban agglomeration, the GDP, population density, and civilian car ownership had a strong explanatory power for PM2.5, while GDP, urbanization rate, and civilian car ownership had a strong explanatory power for O3. The dominant interaction factors of 2016 and 2020 were the population density∩the proportion of the secondary industry and urbanization rate∩road network density, respectively. ④ From the perspective of single city, population density, industrial nitrogen oxide emissions, and electricity consumption had mainly positive effects on PM2.5 and O3 pollution and became the socio-economic driving factors that need to be focused on to control PM2.5 and O3 co-pollution.

Career success and geographical location: A systematic review and future research agenda

AbstractGeographical location sets the broad scene for people's access to knowledge and resources that are critical for career progression. Acknowledging the importance of location and following calls for a contextualized approach to career studies, an increasing body of literature on career success has incorporated geographical considerations over the past decades. However, this literature remains fragmented across disciplines, and a comprehensive understanding of how location influences individual success is lacking. This gap limits researchers’ ability to explain, predict and interpret the role of geographical location in career success. This gap also impedes a clear understanding of multi‐level influences that shape career outcomes, as location is a critical aspect of the macro context. We conducted a systematic review of 99 empirical studies published from 1970 to 2024, using a multi‐disciplinary, multi‐method and multi‐faceted approach. We developed an integrative model that illuminates how factors embedded in geographical context affect multiple aspects of career success through imprinting, (de)mobilizing and contingency mechanisms. Our review advances knowledge of career success from proximal to distal contexts and offers a shifting perspective of city and national career actors. In addition, it extends several streams of theory and scholarship by revealing the cross‐level effects on individual outcomes. We propose a future research agenda and provide suggestions for general career actors, companies and policymakers.

Exploring the short-term effects of extreme temperatures on tuberculosis incidence in Shantou, China: a Coastal City perspective.

Coastal cities, due to their proximity to coastlines and unique climatic conditions, face growing challenges from extreme temperature events associated with climate change. Research on the impact of extreme temperatures on tuberculosis (TB) in these cities is limited, and findings from different regions lack consensus. This study focuses on Shantou, a coastal city in China, to investigate the influence of extreme temperatures on TB within this distinctive geographical context. Distributed Lag Non-Linear Models (DLNM) were employed to evaluate the effect of extreme temperatures on TB incidence risk in Shantou, a coastal city in China, spanning from 2014 to 2021. Daily TB case data were provided by the Shantou Tuberculosis Prevention and Control Institute. Daily meteorological information was sourced from the Reliable Prognosis website, while daily air pollutant data were obtained from the China Air Quality Online Monitoring and Analysis Platform. The study revealed a significant association between extreme temperatures and TB incidence, with the impact peaking at a lag of 27 days after exposure. Notably, extreme cold temperatures led to a temporary decrease in TB incidence with a lag of 1-2 days. Subgroup analysis indicated that males had a notably higher risk of TB under extreme temperature conditions compared to females. Additionally, individuals aged 65 years and above showed a significant cumulative effect in such conditions. This research enhances our comprehension of the effects of extreme temperatures on TB in coastal cities and carries substantial public health implications for TB prevention in China.

Air Pollution and Urban Economic Growth: A Study Based on Dynamic Models

<p class="Paragraph"><span lang="EN-US">With China's economic growth, the issue of air pollution has become increasingly prominent. As the core of political and economic development, 184 major cities in China face severe air pollution and significant environmental pressures due to high population density. Consequently, China has established key urban environmental monitoring stations in these cities to monitor pollution emissions in real time. This paper utilizes panel data from 184 Chinese cities spanning 2012-2022 and employs dynamic GMM models, fixed effects models, and mediation effect models to empirically examine the impact of air pollution on urban environmental pollution and its mediation mechanisms. From the perspective of cities with different income levels, a dynamic GMM model is established to determine the correlation between air pollution and various factors influencing urban economic growth. The study finds that air pollution significantly reduces economic growth in Chinese cities at the 1 per cent level, with each unit increase in air pollution reducing economic growth in Chinese cities by 0.84 units. Urbanization and human capital are identified as two crucial channels through which air pollution affects the economic development of Chinese cities. The negative impact of air pollution on economic growth is more pronounced in larger cities compared to smaller ones, and the adverse effects of haze pollution become increasingly significant over time. Therefore, policymakers should take the cultivation and application of new quality productivity as a key strategy to enhance the quality of economic development, and realise a win-win situation between economic growth and environmental protection through scientific and technological innovation and industrial restructuring. This will not only help alleviate the air pollution problem, but also inject new momentum into the high-quality development of China’s economy.</span></p>

Second-Look Needle Arthroscopy after Prior Surgical Treatment for Cartilage Lesions of the Ankle: The Amsterdam and New York City Perspectives

Category: Ankle; Sports Introduction/Purpose: The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate the quality of the reparative cartilage during second-look needle arthroscopy following talar osteoperiostic grafting from the iliac crest (TOPIC) and autologous osteochondral transplantation (AOT) procedures for the management of large osteochondral lesions (OCLs) of the talus. Methods: Patients who underwent second-look needle arthroscopy following either TOPIC or AOT procedure were prospectively recruited. The primary outcome was the assessment of the quality of the reparative cartilage via second-look needle arthroscopy scored by the International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) score. The secondary outcomes were the number and nature of ad-hoc needle arthroscopy interventions and complications associated with these interventions. Results: Five patients underwent second-look needle arthroscopy following TOPIC procedure and 11 patients underwent second-look in-office needle arthroscopy following AOT. The mean ICRS in the TOPIC cohort was 9.4 ± 1.0 at a mean time of 24.4 months following the index procedure. The mean ICRS in the AOT cohort was 10.6 ± 1.3 at a mean time of 58.8 months following the index procedure. No complications were observed in either cohort. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that AOT and TOPIC lead to high-quality reparative cartilage at short-term to mid-term follow-ups, but further studies with larger patient cohorts and longer follow-ups are warranted. Furthermore, second-look needle arthroscopy is a safe and viable minimally invasive procedure that can effectively evaluate the quality of reparative cartilage following surgical intervention for OCLs of the talus. In addition to arthroscopic evaluation of the reparative cartilage, this procedure has therapeutic capabilities and can resect bony and soft tissue sources of anterior ankle impingement.

Editorial: Towards 2030: a sustainable cities perspective on achieving sustainable development goal 13 – climate action

Editorial: Towards 2030: a sustainable cities perspective on achieving sustainable development goal 13 – climate action

Towards coordination of spatial relations: Understanding Chinese mega-regionalization from a secondary city perspective

Mega-regional planning in China is expected to tackle intra-regional unevenness, namely the development gap between regional core cities and the surrounding secondary cities. However, mega-regionalization processes seem to further increase the centrality of cores and push secondary cities towards greater polarization and peripheralization, as they lose socioeconomic vitality, industrial capacity, and political voice. To reflect on why mega-regions are not fulfilling their role of rebalancing regional urban systems, we conceptualize mega-regionalization as a mechanism to coordinate spatial relations within a territory and build a novel framework to analyze the relations between core and secondary cities. First, we show that visions of mega-regional planning regarding core-secondary relations pursue goals of morphological polycentricity, flow multi-directionality, and functional complementarity. Then, we use thematic analysis to evaluate the policy orientations of mega-regional planning to achieve these goals and extract three policy themes governing core-secondary spatial relations - coexistence, connectivity, and cooperation. These can systematically redefine mega-regional planning mechanisms by giving a central role to the spatial relations between core and secondary cities. Emphasizing spatial relations to conceptualize mega-regional governance allows a novel reflection on the challenges of unevenness grounded in the perspective of secondary cities. This deepens our understanding of governance mismatches that keep ideal visions and policy orientations misaligned when seen from secondary cities. Place, priority, and actor mismatches limit the potential of mega-regionalization to respond to their challenges. This research provides a relational understanding of mega-regions, calling for more attention to secondary cities, and the development of more balanced and sustainable mega-regions.

Patronage loss and bicycles: Factors influencing mode transition from a strategic digital city perspective

Patronage loss and bicycles: Factors influencing mode transition from a strategic digital city perspective

Evaluation of the Spatial Pattern of Fitness and Leisure Venues at the City Scale

Reasonable layout of fitness and leisure places is an important part of the implementation of the national fitness strategy. The analysis of the spatial pattern and influence mechanism of fitness and leisure places from the perspective of city has certain guiding significance for optimizing urban planning and construction and rationally allocating sports resources. This paper uses kernel density, buffer zone, inverse distance interpolation, Kriging interpolation, geographical detector and other geographical spatial analysis methods to analyze the spatial distribution pattern and distribution causes of five types of fitness and leisure places in counties (cities, districts) under the jurisdiction of Jinhua City. It is found that the overall spatial distribution characteristics of fitness and leisure places in Jinhua City are ' core-periphery ', and different forms of fitness and leisure places show different distribution characteristics. The spatial pattern of fitness and leisure places in Jinhua City has the characteristics of relying on traffic arteries and high-density population areas, and has a positive correlation with the spatial layout of housing prices. Jinhua fitness and leisure places generally have good traffic accessibility.

Exploring New Avenues in Sustainable Urban Development: Ecological Carbon Dynamics of Park City in Chengdu

The close relationship between land use and carbon stock is crucial for regional carbon balance, territorial and spatial planning, and the sustainable development of ecosystems. As a pioneer of Park Cities, Chengdu plays a vital role in Chinese cities. To investigate the impact of Park City construction on carbon stock, this study adopted a new perspective, the Park City perspective, using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) model to analyze the spatial and temporal differences in carbon stock. Additionally, we used Geographic Detector to analyze the driving factors of carbon stock in Chengdu. Based on the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals (peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060), we simulated the carbon stock in Chengdu for the years 2030 and 2060. Simultaneously, combining the Future Land Use Simulation (FLUS) model, we simulated the changing trends of carbon stock in Chengdu under three scenarios: the natural development scenario (NDS), cultivated land protection scenario (CLDS), and Park City scenario (PCS). The results show the following: (1) After the construction of the Park City, the quality of forest land improved, resulting in an increase in forest carbon stock by 1.19 × 106 tons. (2) Compared to the scenario without Park City construction, the implementation of the Park City led to a total carbon stock increase of 3.75 × 105 tons, with forest carbon stock increasing by 7.48 × 105 tons. (3) The PCS is the most conducive to achieving the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, with the highest carbon stock. (4) Carbon stock is mainly driven by socio-economic factors. Land use/land cover (LULC) has the greatest explanatory power, with a q value of 0.9. The Park City is of great significance for an increase in carbon stock in Chengdu.

Does a compact city really reduce consumption-based carbon emissions? The case of South Korea

Evidence to prove that compact cities, the core of smart growth strategies, are the vision for carbon-neutral cities has been insufficiently explored because analyses have not distinguished between production- and consumption-based carbon emissions. Empirically analyzing the relationship with compact cities by estimating the final demand and investigating carbon emissions generated from the consumption of goods is essential. This study estimated consumption-based carbon emissions in South Korea using nighttime satellite imagery. Subsequently, using spatial analysis, K-means clustering analysis, and a regression model, we comprehensively confirmed whether a compact city to reduce consumption-based carbon emissions should be pursued. The results showed that (1) based on the clustering analysis, consumption-based carbon emissions were the lowest in clusters with the most desirable development form from a compact city perspective; and (2) the OLS regression analysis showed that the higher the complex land use (diversity), population density (density), congestion frequency intensity (transit access), green area ratio (environment), and agricultural area ratio (environment), the lower the consumption-based carbon emissions. However, the results confirmed that the greater the Vehicle Kilometers Traveled (street accessibility) and the poorer the accessibility of high-speed rail, the higher the consumption-based carbon emissions. Therefore, we recommend pursuing a compact city to reduce consumption-based carbon emissions.