Civic Facilities Research Articles

Urban Livability and Vertical Inclusion: Exploring Mixed-Use Development Strategies in Khulna, Bangladesh

As urban populations expand and future needs evolve amidst limited land availability, rethinking traditional planning and construction approaches becomes imperative. Architect Frank Schlesinger advocates for urban environments that embrace mixed- use complexes, conceptualizing urban land as dynamic, three-dimensional blocks accommodating diverse functions above, at, and below ground levels. Shopping facilities, pivotal in urban landscapes, reflect regional and temporal variations in consumer behavior. Integrating public and private amenities is essential for cultivating a thriving urban ecosystem. However, rigid block structures in current city master plan to constrain diversity and livability, are exacerbated by inadequate setbacks that challenge urban identity. In Khulna, bustling daytime cores contrast with deserted evenings and holidays, reflecting segregated land uses that hinder societal inclusivity. Despite demand, office and commercial spaces often remain vacant. This study employs a mixed-method approach, combining quantitative surveys with qualitative methods such as interviews and observational studies. It aims to address critical local issues including land scarcity, traffic management, vertical development challenges, and the provision of sophisticated services to enhance urban comfort. By exploring innovative configurations of civic facilities, both horizontally and vertically, the study seeks to demonstrate how integrating functions can create cohesive and vibrant urban environments. Ultimately, the adoption of vertically integrated spaces holds promise for fostering inclusivity and sustainability in Khulna’s urban fabric.

Nuclear Challenges of Neglected Lessons of Chornobyl

The article is dedicated to the analysis of new nuclear challenges resulting from Russia’s nuclear blackmail and attacks at civic nuclear facilities in Ukraine. It is shown that Russia’s actions concerning civic nuclear facilities correspond to the criteria of nuclear terrorism and demonstrate the violation of the internationally accepted principles of non-proliferation and nuclear taboo. This attitude to potentially dangerous objects and behavior is rooted in the non-acceptance of the post-Chornobyl safety culture. For the Russian Federation, it is the exploitation of human fears of new nuclear disasters and radiation pollution. European and global communities in close cooperation with the Ukrainian authority, scientists, and civic society urgently need to work out efficient instruments to translate and convert nuclear fear and concern into efficient actions for the enforcement of international legislation in the sphere of nuclear safety and terrorism prevention and the empowerment of international institutions and organizations. Translated article was published for Czech readers in Ekolist (with small changes): https://ekolist.cz/cz/publicistika/eseje/jaderne-vyzvy-a-ignorovani-zkusenosti-z-cernobylu

Waqf for accelerating socioeconomic development: a proposed model with focus on Pakistan

PurposeThe unique institution of waqf that was ignored during the colonization of the Muslim areas has to be revived to play its role in shared growth, social inclusion and cohesion in society. This research paper aims to explore the role of waqf as an instrument for a sustainable growth system and to suggest a model for socioeconomic development in an economy like that of Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative research is based on analytical methods to arrive at the frameworks and a model that could facilitate the revival of waqf for community development/social inclusion in economies like that of Pakistan.FindingsAs most of the OIC member states like Pakistan are facing serious financial problems due to debt servicing obligations, promoting Waqf for various socioeconomic and cultural functions is a vital requirement for such economies. The inability of the state institutions in providing necessary civic, health and education facilities to the public is causing serious harm to the balance of the society. It requires promoting a formal system of charity and using FinTech for waqf-based donations and financing the micro businesses. The perpetuity complimented by the profitability of the waqf properties makes the waqf institutions sustainable and effective when compared to individual charities.Research limitations/implicationsThis is conceptual research discussing the potential of waqf in light of its historical role. Researchers may undertake empirical studies on awqaf operations in various jurisdictions and their role in the empowerment of the poor.Practical implicationsThe research will provide the researchers with insight into the potential of waqf as a tool for community development. Besides, it will enable policymakers and implementation authorities to socialize charity for sustained benefits and welfare.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first major research that discusses the role of waqf in economies facing budgetary and trade deficits in the eradication of poverty and the promotion of social and economic entrepreneurship in realizing the community development targets for the economies like that of Pakistan.

Assessment of Public concerns and Behaviours towards Scientific Solid Waste Management in Kanpur City (U.P.), India

The study evaluates household civic amenities, behaviour, and perspective on the management of garbage and trash in different zones of Kanpur city, using primary data collected through interviews with 622 randomly selected households. The study calculates Household Amenities Index, Behaviour Index and Pollution Perception Index, based on variables: toilet facilities, drinking water sources, ways of discarding garbage and readiness to pay for pickup.The study finds that zone 6 residents are more diligent in scientific waste management, and there is high pollution in the city centre due to poor management and lack of civic facilities. The finding would guide effective solid waste management policies.

The ‘perimeter’ prisoners of Russian secret cities: the case of ZATO Krasnoyarsk-26

Since the 1930s, the Gulag system of labour camps was a driving force behind the main geopolitical projects of the Soviet Union, playing a critical role in mega-infrastructural projects to colonise hitherto unexploited territories. Among these was the network of secret cities built at the dawn of the Cold War. Whilst outwardly appearing like ordinary cities — with their green boulevards, central squares, and civic facilities — they were fully controlled and managed by the state; over decades elite scientists and technicians were brought together in these new settlements to work and live in total dedication to the Soviet atomic bomb project. These secret cities were known as Zakrytoye Administrativno-Territorial’noye Obrazovaniye [Closed Administrative-Territorial Formations], abbreviated as ZATOs. The research campuses, production and test zones, and civic and residential districts of the ZATOs were secured with walls, fences, watchtowers, and checkpoints. Beyond the secured perimeters, which still exist to regulate access to and from the outside world, lies the governmental and legislative apparatus which shaped the ZATOs’ economic, social, and psychological characteristics. For the inhabitants of ZATOs, the perimeter symbolised their connection to a higher purpose and would later evoke feelings of nostalgia and a sense of protection. Focusing primarily on one of these settlements, namely ZATO Krasnoyarsk-26, this paper links the story of the imprisoned labourers who constructed the ZATOs to that of the civilians who surrendered their liberty for a loftier cause. It will reveal a tight correlation between the Gulag infrastructure and the spatial arrangement of ZATOs showing how, in many aspects, ZATOs took on characteristics of carceral isolation, coercion, and immobility that are still relevant when addressing their contemporary condition.

Causes of houseless in-migration in Kanpur city, India

The present study aims to analyse the settlement and migration status of the houseless popula-tion and the reasons for their in-migration to Kanpur city. The study is based on a primary source of data generated through a comprehensive field survey in the city carried out in 2012.The study reveals that more than seventy percent of houseless people have their places of origin in the rural areas of the country and it is because of that that more than ninety percent of houseless persons are recorded as migrants in the city. The economic reasons, by far, predominate among the pull factors of houseless in-migration operating in the city in comparison to social and biological pull factors, as more than ninety percent of houseless in-migrants in the city are pulled by the economic factors, followed by the social and biological pull factors. Moreover, the jobs, regular work, and high wages in aggregate pulled more than half of the houseless in-migrants in the city, while, nearly forty percent of houseless in-migrants in the city are attracted by the quick payment, civic facilities, pomp & glare of the city, decent nature of work, nearnessto the city and cheap city.

ANALYSIS OF MAJOR HAZARDS ON HUMAN HEALTH IN KHULNA CITY

Being a developing country of the world, Bangladesh is overwhelmed with various environmental problems. The rapid increase in urban population has made a tremendous claim on the already over utilized civic facilities and created a state of disequilibrium in the urban environment. The overall environmental condition and human health condition in urban areas were miserable because of the absence of proper planning and lack of different basic services necessary for decent living in the urban area. This research identifies the major hazards that affect human health of Khulna City and find out the information about major hazards such as high population density, unhealthy housing condition, fire, bad sanitation system, improper water supply, improper solid waste management, unhygienic food, industry, insufficient health facility, water logging, noise and odour condition of the city. This study also finds out most stress areas of the city which affect human health. This research also finds out that only 33.77% people live in low and moderate stress areas. The city dwellers often suffer from several diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery and skin diseases.

A Study on the Livelihood Status of Elderly People in Slum Area of Bangladesh: Evidence from Chattogram City

The elderly people living in slum areas are exposed to a substandard living conditions. This paper examined the livelihood status of elderly people in slum areas of Chattogram city. The empirical data were collected from a sample of 52 people in purposive manner in five slum areas (Arefin Nagar, Motihorna, Jhautola, Chandranagar and IW Colony, Sholosahar) through survey and observation method. The study examined the various aspects of the livelihood status of the elderly people in slum areas of Chattogram city. The findings showed that majority of the respondents did not get old age allowance. The study found that the basic civic facilities like water, gas, garbage disposal and access to toilet vary from slum area to slum area. All the respondents had access to electricity, while two-third of the respondents had no access to the use of natural gas. The study revealed that a vast majority of the respondents preferred to go to pharmacy rather than government medical hospital as the source of treatment. It is significant to note that a vast majority of the respondents were not neglected in their family. Therefore, the study recommends that old age allowance, health care facilities, social security, basic civic services and infrastructural facilities should be increased to upgrade the substandard livelihood condition of the elderly slum dwellers in Chattogram city.

Caste and Premarket Discrimination: Access to Civic Amenities and Healthcare Facilities in Rural Punjab

Access to civic amenities improves the quality of life as well as helps to overcome various health-related problems. The focus of the present study is to examine the caste-based premarket discrimination concerning access to civic amenities and healthcare facilities in rural Punjab. The primary data, collected from 12 villages of Punjab during the year 2015–2016, is analysed applying the univariate analysis technique. The analyses prove that the Scheduled Castes (SC), compared with non-SC households, have low access to the basic civic amenities of safe drinking water, drainage and toilet facility. A similar disadvantageous position of SC vis-à-vis non-SC households exists in rural Punjab so far as the ownership of the durable household assets of entertainment, household utilities, tools of information and communication technology, and means of transportation are concerned. The SC and non-SC were found to have equal access to the available healthcare facilities; nevertheless, both caste groups received different treatment from the medical staff.

A Framework for Air Pollution Monitoring in Smart Cities by Using IoT and Smart Sensors

In the last half century, the world population migrated from villages to cities due to lack of facilities, education institutes, medical services and job opportunities in the remote areas. Due to this migration the big cities are under pressure to remain liveable and healthier because population increasing quickly as compare to the services infrastructure. As the city’s population increasing very rapidly and demand for the civic facilities remains very high. One of the major addition is the road traffic which become the big contributor in air pollution and make the environment very unhealthy. In modern era, it is important to persistently monitor the environmental pollution of city to make it healthier and liveable. Internet of Things (IoT) with smart sensor system is the solution which can be used to monitor the city for various purposes and one of them is the pollution monitoring in big cities. Sensor system can be installed and managed by integrating with IoT and be monitored by sitting in city central office. In this research work, a framework for air quality monitoring is proposed to monitor environmental pollution for the smart cities by using IoT and smart sensors. The proposed system is capable to measure the humidity, carbon emission, temperature, smoke, sound and other hazardous particulate in the atmosphere and send the measurements to city central office where it is analysed for further actions for the betterment of city environment. Collected data is banked in a data bank for future use and also can be shared with other research institute and environmental agencies.

Showpiece City: How Architecture Made Dubai

Showpiece City: How Architecture Made Dubai

Camp-Life and Social Integration: Case of the Displaced Biharis in Khulna, Bangladesh

This research aims to examine how the spatialities of the camp affect a permanent displaced population’s acculturation and social integration. Using the case of the largest Bihari camps in Khulna, Bangladesh, it found that Biharis’ many cultural customs and practices have been compromised by internal and external reasons despite their best efforts to retain them. Ill-maintained civic facilities, encroachment of public infrastructures, and the political use of out-of-context religious practices/infrastructures have also affected their social relations. The camp’s physical setting has played the double role of an instrument and a stage, while its exceptionalities negatively influenced their overall social integration.

Water Logging Menace in Metro Cities Need a Conceptual Change in Approach for its Permanent Solution

Cities in India have witnessed a colossal growth in area as well as population in last few decades. As a result, the civic facilities in cities have come under great stress. The drainage of storm water, water supply system, roads, electric supply system, waste disposal systems generally need a major augmentation. Storm water drainage due to encroachment of water bodies, abnormal increase in built up area in cities, loss of green areas, construction of flyovers and under passes has become a great area of concern. Even with a small intensity of rainfall the cities suffer water logging problems in major parts of cities causing complete disruption of normal life and functioning of utility services. The existing system needs a major revamp. Gravity flow of storm water through generally choked and silted surface drains has become a question mark. In this situation, catching the storm water in collection sumps and pumping out the storm water to nearby natural water bodies is the viable answer but this needs planning and design of entire pressure pipeline network. This paper highlights the need and certain salient issues in design of such a system.

Governmentality, the Local State, and the Commons: An Analysis of Civic Management Facilities in Barcelona

This article deploys the Foucauldian concept of governmentality to study the political tensions that may unfold when commons are enacted through hybrid institutional configurations. We focus on civic management facilities (CMFs) that are located in the city of Barcelona. These are facilities owned by Barcelona City Council which, responding to organised citizens’ demands, are transferred to them so that they can develop their own transformative projects for the community. The hybrid institutional nature of these CMFs makes it impossible for them to avoid maintaining a relationship with the local state. Based on a survey to 51 CMFs, semi‐structured interviews with 41 grassroots members of CMFs and seven semi‐structured interviews with public employees and politicians, we argue that hybrid forms of commons lead to the development of political tensions. On the one hand, we show how the local state’s administrative procedures—to do with accountability and the use of public space—reshape the activities of the CMFs, leading to the depoliticisation of their transformative projects. On the other hand, the analysis also presents the strategies of resistance articulated by the facilities, which enable members to work towards the development of their transformative aims. We conclude that such political tensions cannot be resolved but must be properly governed in order to make the commons’ transformative project an enduring one.

Materiality in the Seam Space: Sketches for a Transitional Port City Dome District

Biomass material volatility generates new opportunities for port-city relationships. Alternative energy markets require specialized port facilities to handle new bulk commodities like biomass. Wood pellets, a type of biomass, present warehousing challenges due to combustion danger. The industrial response to this risk has generated new storage forms for port regions. The return to bulk cargo reintroduces materiality as a focus for port city research, which had generally been regarded as a peripheral concern since the advent of the shipping container. The container had come to represent a borderless, ‘fast capitalism’ throughput model, but research on port ‘accidents’ has complicated this reductive globalization narrative. The programmatic dynamism of wood pellet dome structures suggests new spatially-porous possibilities for an interstitial border space at the port-city interface with material commonalities and hybrid potentials for resilient logistics and civic facilities. In contrast to container cargo unitization, the dome signifies the standardization of the coastal/riparian port environment. Dome structures can help ports plan for the complex challenges of cargo material behaviors and increasing extreme weather events. The article begins with wood pellet materiality to then explore programmatic possibilities that industrial construction technology generates. Conceptually, this joins the proposal of port as ‘seam space’ with port-city resilience planning and the porosity celebrated in recent urbanism literature. Scaling up from wood pellet materiality to an interstitial port-city district, the article contributes to calls for increased attention to materiality as a means to envision new urban agendas.

Association of the Neighborhood Built Environment With Incident and Prevalent Depression in the Rural South.

IntroductionA neighborhood’s built environment is associated with physical activity among its residents, and physical activity is associated with depression. Our study aimed to determine whether the built environment was associated with depression among residents of the rural South and whether observed associations were mediated by physical activity.MethodsWe selected 2,000 participants from the Bogalusa Heart Study who had a valid residential address, self-reported physical activity (minutes/week), and a complete Center for Epidemiologic Study–Depression (CES-D) scale assessment from 1 or more study visits between 1998 and 2013. We assessed the built environment with the Rural Active Living Assessment street segment audit tool and developed built environment scores. The association between built environment scores and depression (CES-D ≥16) in geographic buffers of various radii were evaluated by using modified Poisson regression, and mediation by physical activity was evaluated with mixed-effects models.ResultsDepression was observed in 37% of study participants at the first study visit. One-point higher physical security and aesthetic scores for the street segment of residence were associated with 1.07 times higher (95% CI, 1.02–1.11) and 0.96 times lower (95% CI, 0.92–1.00) baseline depression prevalence. One-point higher destination scores (ie, more commercial and civic facilities) in radius buffers of 0.25 miles or more were associated with 1.06 times (95% CI, 1.00–1.13) the risk of depression during follow-up. Neighborhood poverty (defined as percentage of residents with incomes below the federal poverty level and dichotomized at 28.3%) modified cross-sectional and longitudinal associations. Associations were not mediated by physical activity.ConclusionThe built environment was associated with prevalence and risk of depression, and associations were stronger in high-poverty neighborhoods. Built environment improvements to promote physical activity should take neighborhood context into consideration to minimize negative side effects on mental health in high-poverty communities.

Delineation of the evacuation route plan, relief camp and prioritization using GIScience

Rising urban flood patterns are a universal phenomenon and a significant challenge for city government and urban planners worldwide. Urban flood problems range from relatively localized incidents to substantial incidents, which lead to cities being flooded for a few hours to several days. Therefore, the effect may be widespread, such as the temporary displacement of individuals, disruption to civic facilities, water quality degradation and the possibility of epidemics. The problems raised by urban flooding are highly challengeable and compound by ongoing climate change, with adverse implications for changes in rainfall and gaps in intra-urban rainfall distribution. Unplanned construction and invasions of large houses along rivers and watercourses have interfered in natural rivers and watercourses. As a result, the runoff has risen in proportion to the urbanization of the urban floods. The location of the relief camp and the priority for evacuation were determined, and the safest route to avoid floods were established. This method can be used for emergency planning in future flood incidents, and it will help plan disaster preparedness for Panchayat. This study will promote the flood plain

Study on Road Transportation and Their Status at Shadananda Municipality in Bhojpur

Road transport services assist in rising access with the rural-urban linkages. Road convenience can decrease remoteness, motivate collection, production and marketing activities, boost civic facilities and aid to technology transfer. Road construction has been seen to bring about distinguished enthusiasm and observable changes in rural life. Road structure is considered as “the infrastructure for infrastructure”. Though, in the absence of notable standards and coherent guidelines, road construction is carried out in opposing manner resulting in random use and wastage of scarce funds. Municipal Transport Master Plan is arranged for gauging and scheduling the existing road transport structures and accommodations inside the municipality and the surrounding rural municipalities. This study is focused on the interventions of road networks within the municipality.

A Study on Ecological Redline Delineation of Land Areas in Shenzhen

In the context of reform in the mechanism of ecological civilization in China, delineation and management of ecological redlines is of great significance to maintaining the ecological security of the cities. The geographical focus of this study is Shenzhen – a city with obvious disparity between the state of development and level of ecological protection as well as a strong demand for ecological products. Considering having an accurate boundary of ecological redline, building an operability management system, and shaping measures for implementation and operation, this study uses ArcGIS, a tool of spatial analysis, to study the indicators, methods, and technical processes of ecological redline delineation on the city and county levels. It adopts an integrated assessment approach encompassing multiple ecological indicators and key technologies to explore the scope of ecological redline delineation. The results of this study are as follows: (1) Land delineated within the scope of ecological redline management is spread over a total of 557.47km2, accounting for 28.53% of the city area, which mainly features low mountains and hills covered with vegetation in southeastern and central Shenzhen. It effectively connects with the ecological control line. (2) Some important ecological areas are not covered within this ecological redline delineation due to relatively scattered distribution. However, these areas are a part of the system comprising a pattern of urban ecological security, ecological redline, ecological land outside the delineated redline, and greenbelts within the construction lands. (3) Within the delineated ecological redline, a total area of 9.25km2 is still allocated as construction land, mainly for linear engineering and civic facilities. Therefore, planning is required for re-greening and ecologically transforming these areas for the sake of maintaining the ecosystem.

Dying Tanks in Urban Areas: What Can Be Done with Them?

Cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu grow out of agricultural villages with very least attention to adopt and modify their past land uses. In the process, the water bodies such as the tanks, ponds, and the network of channels that served agriculture get converted into communal facilities. Madurai, the second major city in the state has developed most of its important civic infrastructures, educational facilities, bus stands, and public office complexes on tank beds. While the irrigated area became townships the channel networks became inner roads and sewage networks of the city. Parts of the few remaining and surviving tanks are engulfed by the expanding slums. In consequence, the city faces frequent floods, rapidly falling ground water, declining water quality and health hazards. While the law and policy expressly claims the tanks to be saved the case study shows the practice as contrary; and calls for better uses of these dying tanks.