Comfortable Urban Environment Research Articles

Exploring the Impact of Urban Morphology on Building Energy Consumption and Outdoor Comfort: A Comparative Study in Hot-Humid Climates

Research simultaneously examining building energy consumption and outdoor thermal comfort within urban environments remains limited. Few studies have delved into the sensitivity of design parameters based on building energy consumption and outdoor thermal comfort. The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlations between urban morphological design parameters and performance indicators, focusing on building energy consumption and outdoor thermal comfort (UTCI), across different urban block layouts in hot-humid regions, like Guangzhou. By establishing six fundamental morphological models—three individual unit layouts and three group layouts—the research explores both control and descriptive parameters through extensive simulation studies. Scatter plot visualizations provide insights into the impacts of various design parameters on energy consumption and UTCI, facilitating a comprehensive analysis of trends and quantitative relationships. Additionally, the study conducts sensitivity analyses on design parameters under different layout conditions to highlight their influences on target performance indicators. The findings reveal common trends, such as the significant impacts of plan dimensions and the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) on energy efficiency and outdoor comfort, as well as differential patterns, such as the varying sensitivities of the Shape Factor (S/V) and the Sky View Factor (SVF), across individual and collective layouts. Ultimately, this study offers a nuanced understanding of urban block morphology’s role in creating sustainable, comfortable, and energy-efficient urban environments, providing valuable guidelines for urban form design in hot-humid climates.

Measuring soundscape quality of urban environments using physiological indicators: Construction of physiological assessment dimensions and comparison with subjective dimensions

Residents and designers typically pursue healthy urban acoustic environments. The soundscape community has established internationally recommended standards for subjective questionnaires to evaluate soundscape quality; however, much work is still needed to standardise physiological assessments. This study measures the physiological responses and subjective evaluations of participants in 20 common sound sources (scenarios) in urban public open spaces, and discusses the potential dimensions when assessing the quality of urban soundscapes through physiological indicators. Categorical principal components analysis are employed to reduce the dimensionality of the physiological data. The results indicate that physiological Dimension 1 represents the Natural–Artificial dimension, and physiological Dimension 2 potentially represents the Regular–Irregular dimension, providing a rough estimate of regularity or predictability in soundscapes. Subjective data are used as a control for physiological data, subjective Dimension 1 can be summarised as the Calm (Pleasant)–Chaotic (Annoying) dimension, whereas subjective Dimension 2 can be summarised as Familiar (Congruent)–Unfamiliar (Incongruent). Through comparing and discussing the distributions in physiological and subjective models under different sound sources, it is found that both physiologically and subjectively, the foremost dimension (Dimension 1) represents comfort and pleasure, and natural sounds can be distinctly differentiated from noise through this dimension. Although its physiological significance is not clear, the two-dimensional physiological indicator model reveals distinctions between sound sources of various categories. These findings have implications for the planning and design of liveable and comfortable urban environments from the perspective of physiological indicators.

ARTICLE ABOUT THE RELEVANCE OF INVOLVING YOUTH IN THE PROCESS OF URBAN SPACE DEVELOPMENT

The study is aimed at studying the importance of including youth in the formation and development of a comfortable urban environment. The research was carried out using textual content analysis of existing youth participation practices, as well as statistical data and regulatory documents. The concept of youth, its characteristics and life values have been studied. It is concluded that in the Vologda region there are no youth organizations directly involved in the development of urban space

Research on smart city public health detection system and improvement technology based on intelligent multi-objective.

With the increase of urban population density, urban sanitation becomes more severe; urban sanitation has important influence on public health. Therefore, in order to realize the detection of public health in smart cities, the research will use cutting-edge scientific and technological methods to improve urban environmental health, so as to promote the realization of public health achievements. This study introduces public health detection and optimizationtechnologies for smart cities. Firstly, a data detection system for urban public health environment was established using sensors and intelligent multi-objective technology to evaluate the water quality, air quality, and noise level of the city. Then, an intelligent garbage management system based on Tensor-flow was constructed to achieve efficient garbage collection and treatment. Finally, an intelligent traffic management system was developed to monitor and regulate urban traffic flow. The results of the simulation experiment demonstrated that the life data detection system was operationally stable, with a high success rate of 98%. Furthermore, its accuracy in detecting residents' living environment data was above 95%, the maximum relative error was only 0.0465, making it a reliable and efficient tool. The waste recycling system achieved a minimum accuracy of 83.6%, the highest accuracy rate was 95.3%, making it capable of sorting and recycling urban waste effectively. Additionally, the smart traffic management system led to a 20% reduction in traffic congestion rates, 20 tonnes less tailpipe emissions and an improvement in public health and well-being. In summary, the plan proposed in this study aims to create a more comfortable, safe, and healthy urban public health environment, while providing theoretical support for environmental health management in smart cities.

COASTAL TERRITORY AND COASTAL ZONE: DEFINITION, CHARACTERISTICS, URBAN DEVELOPMENT

The purpose of this publication is to define the terms «coastal territory» and «coastal zone» from the point of view of their urban planning use, because the current legislative documents, normative sources, scientific articles, which raise the problems of development and preservation of coastal territories, do not give their clear interpretation. As a natural phenomenon, the river and its coastal territory are an interdependent river ecosystem, which is a complex dynamic complex with paradynamic connections, where the exchange of substances, energy, and information takes place. The general boundary and configuration of the coastal territory is determined according to the maximum value of the influence of the river, taking into account its engineering and geological, microclimatic and spatial planning criteria. From the point of view of urban planning, the coastal area is a natural reserve of the urban fabric, which has a favorable potential for the formation of coastal zones in order to create a comfortable and safe urban environment. The coastal zone is a part of the coastal territory and water area with regulated and unregulated economic activity, the functional purpose of which is the organization of a favorable environment for the life of the population in the zone of influence of the reservoir. Almost all coastal areas are favorable for urban development - the difference exists in the degree of complexity and cost of urban development of coastal areas, their transformation into coastal zones. The urban planning assessment of the coastal zone for the organization of a favorable and comfortable environment for people's stay here is a complex of engineering-geological, architectural-compositional, sanitary-ecological and economic assessments. The choice of techniques for the development of the coastal zone should be based on the principles of the formation of an expressive architectural and planning development, improvement of the urban microclimate, the formation of convenient public space and landscaped and recreational areas. It is unacceptable to build up the coastal zone with capital structures of the industrial area, with the exception of water management facilities, and the laying of transit main streets here. The functional purpose of coastal zones may change over time. An assessment of the natural factors of coastal areas in relation to the degree of favorability of urban development of coastal areas and an assessment of coastal landscapes in relation to their functional purpose is given. It is noted that the main defining features of the coastal area, among many factors, are the geomorphological structure and microclimate. The transformation of Kyiv's Dnieper embankment has been traced: starting from the 5th century, after passing through 4 main periods of formation due to the arrangement and beautification of the coastal zone, the Podil embankment today has lost its function as a public space. The transformation of the coastal zone of Kyiv into a center of limited elite housing and a transport corridor is an impoverishment of the life of the city, the loss of an important urban area. The development of coastal areas, as a natural potential in cities, should be carried out within the limits of current legislation and taking into account environmental norms to create a favorable urban environment. 

Оценка обеспеченности территории Санкт-Петербурга наземным общественным транспортом с использованием геопространственного подхода

The authors propose a method for evaluating the public transport accessibility of a city, based on the spatial distribution of real estate and commercial property in its territory, it enables making a rating table of routes and stops. The relevance of the study is related to the high social importance of mass transit, since its accessibility creates a more comfortable urban environment and offers new opportunities to the residents. The significant growth of research on this topic is a result of the social need to improve the use of urban space. The rapid development in the field of big data processing makes it much more relevant to the real situation than any previous models. However, researchers often lack up-to-date information on the distribution of the population in a given territory, because the concept of state open spatial data in Russia is currently in its early stages, and city authorities may decide to make it confidential. The proposed quantitative approach to assessing the provision of urban areas with land transportation means is based on using spatial data available in open sources, as well as methods of geospatial analysis and modelling. It is used to study the public transport in St. Petersburg, RF; the technique has enabled identifying the main municipal routes as well as the parts of the city requiring network expansion

Sensitivity of urban morphology and the number of CFD simulated wind directions on pedestrian wind comfort and safety assessments

Pedestrian wind comfort and safety are critical in urban design, especially as cities densify and climate change impacts intensify. While Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are increasingly used in these assessments, a universally agreed-upon number of wind directions for accurate results has yet to be established. This study addresses this gap by exploring the influence of urban morphology, characterized by different degrees of urbanization and building layouts, on the required number of wind directions for accurate assessments. Extensive CFD simulations were conducted in five geometrically diverse locations: Bryne, Oslo, London, Singapore, and New York. Pedestrian wind comfort maps were generated, and velocity amplification factor (VAF) dynamics were analyzed. The results suggest that urban complexity does not significantly affect the required number of wind directions for reliable assessments. The study provides practical guidance for selecting the number of wind directions based on the study’s focus: a minimum of 8 for basic assessments, 24 for high-accuracy assessments, and at least 36 for safety-focused assessments. This research significantly contributes to urban planning and design, empowering stakeholders with valuable insights for shaping resilient and comfortable urban environments.

Метод оценки эффективности мероприятий по формированию комфортной городской среды

The article deals with the urgent problem of inconsistency of the implemented measures to form a comfortable urban environment with the real needs and expectations of citizens. It analyzes the existing methods of assessing such measures, including the index method of assessing the quality of urban environment, used within the framework of the national project “Housing and Urban Environment”, as well as va¬rious sociological studies and surveys. The shortcomings of these approaches, such as the limited sample of respondents and survey topics, are noted. The aim of the study is to develop a method for evaluating measures to form a comfortable urban environment based on semantic comparison of citizens' opinions from social networks, search queries and descriptions of the measures themselves using natural language processing algorithms. Materials and methods. To realize the set goal, an integrated approach consisting of four main stages is used. Stage 1: Pre-processing of initial text data – noise removal, reduction of words to their initial form (lemmatization) using the pymorphy2 library, identification of parts of speech (POS-tagging). Stage 2: Extraction of key word combinations (N-grams) using the TF-IDF algorithm, taking into account the frequency of usage within individual messages and in the whole text array. Calculation of N-grams significance rank. Stage 3: Obtaining a vector representation (word embeddings) for each key N-gram using the pre-trained SBERT neural network model. Step 4: Computing a measure of semantic similarity of vector representations of N-grams from different text arrays (citizens' opinions and event descriptions) based on cosine distance. The texts of citizens' opinions and descriptions of measures aimed at the formation of a comfortable urban environment related to the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug are used as input data. Results. The experiment has shown that most of the analyzed measures aimed at the formation of a comfortable urban environment are poorly correlated with the real needs of citizens. Conclusion. The proposed method can be used in decision support systems to evaluate and select the most effective measures.

Types of residential buildings and their influence on the class of housing and on the formation of a comfortable urban residential environment

The article touches upon the problem of creating a comfortable, convenient urban living environment by incorporating into the structure of urban development space-planning solutions for residential buildings and complexes that are new to Russian conditions, including multifunctional ones with a rich social infrastructure. The active introduction of residential buildings and serviced residential complexes into the living environment forms the modern level of the living environment, improves the quality and comfort of living by including the required number of service elements in their space-planning structure. It is noted that the most rational placement of service elements is their integration into stylobate parts, as well as into the first and underground floors of residential buildings or complexes. Buildings and complexes that differ in the degree of saturation with service elements form new approaches to solving problems associated with both the development and classification of a “housing class” and the creation of a comfortable, convenient, high-quality urban residential environment. When developing and determining the “housing class”, it is proposed to take into account the influence of the main space-planning elements at the level of an apartment, floor, section, building or complex, courtyard space and residential area as a whole as the main factors forming the “standard class”, “comfort class”, “business class” and “elite class”.

ДИЗАЙН-КОД КАК СРЕДСТВО РАЗВИТИЯ КОМФОРТНОЙ ГОРОДСКОЙ СРЕДЫ И СПОСОБ ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ ГОРОДСКОЙ АЙДЕНТИКИ

The article is devoted to the study of design code elements as a means of creating a comfortable urban environment in conditions of rapid transformation of spheres of public life, and as a consequence of new relationships between the population and the urban environment. The design code of urban spaces is considered as the main structural element of identity and a change in the vector of urban development in the context of a decrease in the social and investment attractiveness of small and medium-sized cities, the loss of identification and originality of industrial cities and single-industry towns. The necessity of creating a unified stylistic urban environment is substantiated, due to the multiculturalism of architecture and marketing, a multinational population, which leaves its mark on the urban environment and its perception by residents. An analysis of foreign and domestic experience in the use of design code, its impact on architecture, psychological and physical health of a person, economic stimulation and social aspects of public life is carried out, and the problems of modern cities and ways to solve them using design coding are described. Based on the results of the analysis of best practices, the most current trends in the formation of a comfortable urban environment were identified using various design code elements that are most effective and attractive. Recommendations are proposed for the formation of the identity of Russian cities for participants in urban planning and management of architecture and urban planning, as well as a new look at integrated sustainable development

Optimization of fuel and energy infrastructure for urban ground passenger transport system

Introduction. The influence of urban passenger transport on the formation of a comfortable urban environment is indicated. The role and place of the fuel and energy supply infrastructure as one of the subsystems in the urban ground passenger transport system is determined. The results of the review of scientific works in the field of designing the infrastructure of fuel and energy supply are presented. The insufficient degree of development of methodological support forming the integrated development of subsystems of urban passenger transport is noted. The purpose of the study is formulated, the tasks are defined, the solution of which ensures its achievement.Materials and methods. A brief description of the methodology for determining the main technological parameters of the fuel and energy infrastructure of the urban ground passenger transport system is presented. The sequence of use of the presented calculation formulas is determined, the main hypothesis underlying the research is described. The expected results are described.Results. As intermediate results of the conducted research, the data and functional dependencies obtained in the process of performing the research part of the work are presented. These data provide practical implementation of the developed methodology and allow modeling of the parameters of the projected infrastructure. The dependencies obtained as a result of modeling and which are the basis for the development of optimization measures are given. Discussion. It is noted that the logistics approach implemented in the development of the presented methods allows us to determine the design parameters of the fuel and energy infrastructure as one of the subsystems of urban passenger transport, which ensures the coordinated development of the system based on the conditions for achieving maximum efficiency.Conclusion. As a generalizing conclusion, it is noted that the practical implementation of the developed methodology within the framework of an integrated system approach makes it possible to achieve the set goal – to increase the efficiency of the urban ground passenger transport system.

Summer coworking as an element of a comfortable urban environment

The paper deals with the problems of improvement and the creation of a comfortable urban environment. An initiative youth project is an idea of creating a summer coworking on the territory of the Ural Federal University in Ekaterinburg. Here, the University can take responsibility for designing the urban environment and involving urban communities in the development of the city. The article presents the concept of creating a creative open space for work and leisure that will unite citizens, as well as raise the issue of using collaborative design in creating a comfortable urban environment. The author’s developments in creating a unique social object-a summer coworking – are presented. Based on real urban practices and the role of the University as a driver of regional development, the authors of the project plan to create a place for open and trusting inter-social communication between representatives of government, business, public associations, and active citizens. The possibilities of points of growth and development of the formed space were also considered. The implementation of the presented project will improve and improve the territory of the city of Ekaterinburg.

The role of Eco-Urbanism studies in creating a comfortable and favorable urban environment

The article deals with decisions on eco-urbanism for residential buildings abroad, given the advantages and disadvantages of these solutions. The concept of “comfortable environment” is considered, its composition and the necessity to increase the urban environment comfort is shown, ways for creating a comfortable environment are considered. An analysis of the connectivity of quality of life indicators - ecology, housing conditions and public health, which showed their close relationship, was presented. Improving the environment and housing conditions directly affects human health. Safe and healthy living and urban environment conditions are one of the main requirements in any society. Analysis of surveys on problems related to environmental pollution revealed the concern of residents about environmental issues and the need to take into account their opinions when choosing measures to improve the comfort of the urban environment. The calculation of indicators of the quality index of the urban environment showed that the use of environmental elements (vertical “green” walls) gives an increase in indicators by 9 points, which demonstrates an improvement in the quality of the urban environment. The proposed solution for creating a comfortable urban environment using elements of eco-urbanism (vertical “green” walls) can be adapted in Russia under existing climatic conditions and will save recreational space and increase the total area of green squares amid dense urban building.

Techniques for the formation of the natural and ecological framework of riverine cities (on the example of Rostov-on-Don)

The article deals with the formation of the landscape of the territories of riverine towns in time and space. Special attention is paid to the formation of the natural and ecological framework of the riverine city and its elements that contribute to the sustainable development of its territories, as well as the creation of comfortable living conditions for the population. The use of methods of an integrated approach in combination with elements of factorial and system analysis required consideration of various aspects in this work. On the example of the city of Rostov-on-Don, the main historical stages of the development of the city territory are presented, taking into account the peculiarities of its natural landscape. The landscape of the territories contributed to the development of settlements from isolated dotted ones to their linear fusion along the water area and their transformation into large urban formations with a complex ecological situation. The current situation is due to a number of mistakes made, including urban planning. In order to create a comfortable urban environment, a developed conceptual model of the natural and ecological framework of the city of Rostov-on-Don with a spatial structure and vertical tiering is presented. Recommendations have been developed for the restoration and formation of sustainable development of the territories of riverine cities by transforming their landscape structure as a whole, as well as the creation of urban landscape parks in order to improve the comfort of the environment for the population to live.

DEVELOPMENT OF A COMFORTABLE URBAN ENVIRONMENT IN LARGE CITIES IN INDEX ASSESSMENT

In modern conditions, for large cities, the problem of creating a comfortable urban environment is urgent, which implies the creation of conditions to provide a favorable, safe and accessible environment for the population to live. A solution to this problem is in demand for large cities that have high resource potential, attracting labor resources and investments to stimulate development. The purpose of this study is to study trends in the formation of a comfortable urban environment in large cities, as well as to consider the best practices for the improvement of these cities. The main information base for the study was the urban environment quality index, formed by the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation within the framework of the federal project “Formation of a comfortable urban environment.” The theoretical review examines the basic concepts and identifies key aspects of the development of a comfortable urban environment in the scientific discourse and practice of urban planning. The dynamics of index indicators in federal districts from 2018 to 2022, as well as changes depending on assessments of urban space in various directions, are considered. According to the results of the study, it was revealed that out of 64 large cities, 60 are classified as cities with a favorable urban environment. A trend has been established for the disproportionate development of the urban space of large cities in the country relative to the federal districts, northern and southern, European and Asian parts. The highest urban environment quality index was found in cities located in the Central and Southern Federal Districts, in close proximity to the capital. The final part of the study examines the practices of improving a comfortable urban environment that participate in the federal project and are included in the register of the best according to data for 2022. The importance and necessity of participatory participation (i.e. complicity) of residents in the implementation of practices for the improvement and development of urban space is noted.

Features of the Economic Justification of Winning Projects of the All-Russian Competition for Creating a Comfortable Urban Environment in the Subjects of the Far Eastern Federal District

Every year, the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation holds a competition of small towns and historical settlements for the improvement of public spaces. In 2023, it was decided to separate the cities of the Far Eastern Federal District into an independent competition. In the cities of the country, the experience of participating in the submission of applications from city administrations has been accumulating for a long time. In 2023, the 8th All-Russian competition of small towns was held in the Russian Federation in parallel with the first and second competition of projects in the Far Eastern Federal District. Undoubtedly, for the Far Eastern Federal District and precisely for small settlements, this is perhaps the only opportunity to get large funds for the development of public space. Some of these settlements last received such a lot of money for landscaping during the Soviet Union. In the article, on the example of individual settlements of the Republic of Buryatia, the substantiation of approaches to the submission of competitive applications is carried out so that the applications become winning. The article is intended for specialists in urban economics, marketers, developers and will be useful in preparing bids for similar contests in the coming years.

Concession as a Tool for the Implementation of Regional Investment Projects

The implementation of promising investment projects is the most important task of the regions, since innovative ideas are being implemented, production and other promising areas for the regions are developing, new jobs are being created, regional product and budget occupancy are increasing. In Irkutsk region, a significant share of investment projects falls on the industrial sector. Projects in the field of agriculture, creating a comfortable urban environment, logistics and healthcare are also of great importance. A system of financial and non-financial institutions has been formed in the Irkutsk Region to support businesses in the implementation of investment projects. A promising tool for the implementation of investment projects is a concession. The purpose of this study is to study the modern possibilities of implementing concession agreements for the implementation of regional investment projects. The article discusses the concepts and approaches to the conclusion of concession agreements; legal aspects of the conclusion of concession agreements. Particular attention is paid to the problems of concluding concession agreements for the implementation of investment projects without attracting private capital. The research methodology is based on a theoretical analysis of the main aspects of investment design and its financing tools. The information base of the study was data on the development and implementation of investment projects in the Irkutsk region. The scientific novelty lies in the identification of a new mechanism for the implementation of concession operations, which involves the creation of quasi-public structures on the rights of private ones. The practice of concession operations with regional development corporations is being studied. The article examines the experience of concluding concession agreements in the regions of Russia. Special attention is paid to the creation of the Central cluster in the Irkutsk region on the terms of a concession. This is a major investment project that includes a waste sorting and recycling complex.

Small towns in Russia as a comfortable living space: myth vs reality (based on the Vologda region)

The comfort of the urban environment is one of the key factors influencing the quality of life for the population. A particular focus is placed on examining small towns (with a population of up to 50,000 people) from the perspective of their suitability for local community living. In order to comprehensively study the issue of a comfortable urban environment in the Russian provinces, the dynamics of the urban environment quality index in a number of cities in the Vologda Region were analysed, and survey materials from local residents (n = 1400) were also utilised. It is argued that sociological diagnostics complements and reveals statistical information on problem areas in urban development, allowing for the development of a unified approach to overcoming these issues, taking into account the opinions of the residents themselves. The study concluded that over the past five years, the development of small towns in the region has shown a positive trend, with an increase in the urban environment quality index being observed. However, based on the data for 2022, only 4 out of 13 small towns (Veliky Ustyug, Kharovsk, Totma, Sokol) can be considered as having a favourable urban environment. According to statistical data, the most problematic areas of the urban environment in small areas are social and recreational infrastructure and public business infrastructure. According to the opinions of residents, the quality of medical and educational services and housing availability are also significant issues. More positively, the environmental situation is evaluated in cities (as indicated by the index indicators and local residents’ judgments), as well as the level of safety and crime rates. Despite the presence of problematic areas in the development of small towns and their lag in terms of living comfort, the overall attitude of the local community toward theirplace of residence is positive, with a willingness to take responsibility for the city’s development. The results obtained serve as a basis for the policy of preserving and developing small areas, addressing social contradictions, and establishing promising directions for creating a comfortable living environment in these areas, taking into account the opinions and participation of the local community in these processes.

Study of the life leveland quality of population based on a complex method using PESTEL analysis: the example of Balkhash monosity

The study of life quality and level issues has always been at the forefront of state programs, theoretical and practical research in the scientific community. In the context of these studies, the diagnosis of the socio-economic development of cities, with key criteria being indicators of the population's life quality and well-being, was vital. Therefore, deepening understanding of these issues in various types of urban settlements, especially small and monocities, is a necessary requirement for conducting scientific research. In this article, the life quality and level of the population were assessed based on both objective and subjective indicators using a comprehensive methodology developed by the authors. Furthermore, this methodology was validated through the analysis of statistical data, expert and population surveys, using the example of the monocity Balkhash. The research results were obtained by ranking the main factors of PESTEL analysis that influence urban living comfort. The study revealed that the economic factor had the greatest impact on the life quality in the monocityBalkhash over the past ten years (2013-2022). The analysis of the population's satisfaction with the quality of life in the current period (2023) showed that political, social, technological, and environmental factors were mutually influential. This analysis allowed for an expert assessment to identify the key factors that may have an impact on the quality of life in the monocity Balkhash in the near future. The cross-analysis results can be used for effective resource allocation management and the creation of a comfortable urban environment for the residents of this area.

Rewilding in megacities: from concept to implementation

The expansion of urban agglomerations and the accompanying increase in the severity of environmental problems require special attention to ensure a comfortable urban environment. One of the ways to solve this problem is to create an ecological framework in the megacity, formed by quasi-natural biocenoses, created within the application of the concept of rewilding. This article reviews the main current trends and approaches to the implementation of rewilding; discusses positive and negative environmental effects of the transformation of urban ecosystems within rewilding; presents an analytical review of available techniques and options for rewilding in various megacities around the world.