Environmental Urban Planning Research Articles

Assessing the relationship between objective and subjective indicators of residential exposure to road traffic noise in the context of environmental justice

Noise action planning according to the EU Environmental Noise Directive aims to improve people's health. Although health inequalities exist, the Directive does not address social inequalities in residential exposure to road traffic noise. In multivariate regression analyses based on two urban study populations, we assess the relationship between objective and subjective indicators of residential exposure to road traffic noise as an issue of environmental justice. Residential neighbourhood satisfaction, socio-demographic and -economic, health-related and noise-related attitudinal factors were included as covariates additionally explaining the subjective response to road traffic noise (noise annoyance). Our results underline the need to select, operationalise and examine noise-related indicators very carefully, as objective noise exposure predicts noise annoyance insufficiently. Otherwise, urban environmental planning might miss environmentally unjust situations and fail to initiate distributive and procedural environmental justice.

Assessing the environmental impact of Greenhouse Gases in a Low-Carbon Green City in South Korea

The purpose of this study is to conduct an environmental impact assessment on Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) in the Gangneung Low-Carbon Green City pilot project and to provide assistance in creating an urban environmental plan designed to expand the Low-Carbon Green City and reduce GHGs. The emission of GHGs in the area of the case study is 371,270 tons, and the GHGs can be abated by 581,187 tons (or 134.88%) suggesting that, in addition to 100% of the GHGs emitted, an additional 150,298 tons can also be reduced. The result of analyzing the amount of 4 each sectorial GHG emissions shows that 91% of total amount of GHG emission in the case area is by both of the sectors — “Energy” and “Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use (AFOLU)” out of 4 sectors. This result indicates that the GHGs reduction plan should be focused on these two sectors. The assessment method of this study can contribute to urban environmental planning to cope with climate change because it can provide a quantitative analysis of the effects that contribute to the Greenhouse Gases Reduction Target in development project areas.

A Model for Urban Environment and Resource Planning Based on Green GDP Accounting System

The urban environment and resources are currently on course that is unsustainable in the long run due to excessive human pursuit of economic goals. Thus, it is very important to develop a model to analyse the relationship between urban economic development and environmental resource protection during the process of rapid urbanisation. This paper proposed a model to identify the key factors in urban environment and resource regulation based on a green GDP accounting system, which consisted of four parts: economy, society, resource, and environment. In this model, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method and a modified Pearl curve model were combined to allow for dynamic evaluation, with higher green GDP value as the planning target. The model was applied to the environmental and resource planning problem of Wuyishan City, and the results showed that energy use was a key factor that influenced the urban environment and resource development. Biodiversity and air quality were the most sensitive factors that influenced the value of green GDP in the city. According to the analysis, the urban environment and resource planning could be improved for promoting sustainable development in Wuyishan City.

Análise estratégica do relevo e planejamento territorial urbano: compartimentos ambientais estruturantes na macrometrópole de São Paulo

The great urban spreading occurred in metropolitan areas worldwide, still in intense movement of urban expansion on old rural areas, evidenced that the environmental problems, which most affect the territories nowadays, are the result of intensive urbanization processes. In this sense, the decision about where and how to occupy a territorial area must pass through a different analysis on the topography, not anymore as just as static and passive element, which conforms to the several urban uses requested for a strategic approach linked to the urban territorial and environmental planning. By highlighting the main lines and environmental structuring compartments of a landscape under the topographic aspect and the processes of its geomorphologic form, it is possible to better glimpse the relationships urban processes and imposed infrastructures establish with these strategic landscape portions, which allow to define ways of use and land occupancy more suitable to urban and natural processes, aiming the selection of the main topographic sectors designated to environmental services for preservation of spaces of natural processes occurrence.

El lugar urbano deconstruido en correspondencias y congruencias entre mente–territorio–sociedad

Since the objective of developing alternative strategies of projectual knowledge of socio-physical character inside of an urban development focused on the environment of man, on the premise that considers the city as a complex articulation of places (in anthropological sense), a joint strategic between following essential dimensions of place, comes under investigation social practices relating to certain groups of humans; the meanings of these practices for the groups that develop and the rest of the groups of a particular place; features that form the stage make support to social practices and the significance that these and social practices were loaded. The basic hypothesis states that: depending on configuration schema socio-physical - symbolic of articulation of these elements, or genetic scheme in place, will emerge the keys to understand whether or not, are given in a particular urban place the preconditions for developing participatory processes of urban environmental planning. Beginning in this work hypothesis underlying a possible response based on the strategic joint between: socio-physical congruence (refer to the adequacy of a specific stage for sustainable social practices deployment level) and socio-symbolic correlation (refer to the coherence between the meaning projected from different human groups of activities associated with a particular stage).

Geological and geotechnical constraints for urban planning and natural environment protection: a case study from Mekelle City, Northern Ethiopia

The study was conducted in the rapidly expanding city of Mekelle located in the northern part of Ethiopia, East Africa. An integrated approach including geomorphological, geological and engineering geological, geotechnical and hydrogeological methods were used to characterize the natural urban environment to be used as a baseline for protection and rational planning of development. Conventional field observation, test pits and drilled boreholes were used to collect soil, rock and water samples and standard laboratory procedures were applied. The results revealed that the main geologic constraints to sustainable development of the city are active erosion, instability of slopes, flood hazard, cyclic/alternating hard and weak rock layers, high swelling–shrinkage soils, shallow and unconfined groundwater with variable composition and high susceptibility to corrosion and pollution. It is recommended to avoid development and expansion of the city in areas of steep land forms, at the foot of steep slopes and in areas covered by black alluvial soil deposits. Development of a systematic multidisciplinary database aided by GIS, with continuous monitoring and updating is also highly recommended and will be useful for further refined geotechnical microzonation. It is the authors’ belief that this study highlights the basic constraints and hazards the city is facing, and provides baseline information and awareness to the city planners, decision makers, geo-environmentalists, engineers and the community for future expansion and rehabilitation plans and to tackle the existing hazards.

The Similarity Degree Comparison Study of Travel Routes between the VR Digital Models and the Reality Environment in Urban Planning

The Similarity Degree Comparison Study of Travel Routes between the VR Digital Models and the Reality Environment in Urban Planning

The mediation of environmental assessment's influence: What role for power?

Considerable empirical research has been conducted on why policy tools such as environmental assessment (EA) often appear to have ‘little effect’ (after Weiss) on policy decisions. This article revisits this debate but looks at a mediating factor that has received limited attention to-date in the context of EA — political power. Using a tripartite analytical framework, a comparative analysis of the influence and significance of power in mediating environmental policy integration is undertaken. Power is analysed, albeit partially, through an exploration of institutions that underpin social order. Empirically, the research examines the case of a new approach to policy-level EA (essentially a form of Strategic Environmental Assessment) developed by the World Bank and its trial application to urban environmental governance and planning in Dhaka mega-city, Bangladesh. The research results demonstrate that power was intimately involved in mediating the influence of the policy EA approach, in both positive (enabling) and negative (constraining) ways. It is suggested that the policy EA approach was ultimately a manifestation of a corporate strategy to maintain the powerful position of the World Bank as a leading authority on international development which focuses on knowledge generation. Furthermore, as constitutive of an institution and reflecting the worldviews of its proponents, the development of a new approach to EA also represents a significant power play. This leads us to, firstly, emphasise the concepts of strategy and intentionality in theorising how and why EA tools are employed, succeed and fail; and secondly, reflect on the reasons why power has received such limited attention to-date in EA scholarship.

Design and implementation of urban traffic noise mapping system

The noise mapping system is a best tool for environment noise controlling, as it can provide a graphical illustration of sound exposure levels in a region for the policy- maker. In urban construction planning, land-use definition and noise environment impact assessment, the noise map has been proved very useful for its efficiency. According to the application requirements of traffic noise prediction model, the CATNMP (Computer Aided Traffic Noise Mapping Platform) has been designed and analyzed in details. The key techniques of algorithm and procedures involved are studied and implemented. An open source topological software package of JTS is used for the development of CATNMP based on GIS data. The traffic noise prediction model is performed with the aid of the computer software system, and a noise map is drawn out. In order to improving the computation efficiency, the distributed computing technique has been implemented in the CATNMP. Finally, the road traffic noise levels in a demonstration area of Bei...

Parks as business opportunities and development strategies

PurposeThe aim of this study is to identify factors that users find important in their use of the neighborhood park (to evaluate design of the neighborhood park from the view point of users) and to consider the impact of well designed neighborhood parks on business strategy compared to the traditional view.Design/methodology/approachThe population of this study was drawn from park users and neighborhood residents. Park visitors were conveniently sampled through an intercept survey method form. Taman Sri Nibong Park is one of the biggest neighborhood parks in Pulau Pinang. A total of 173 questionnaires were returned. The data were analyzed through the use of descriptive statistics.FindingsBy knowing the needs and preferences of visitors and neighborhood residents, the present study concludes that more efforts should be made to include certain qualities in designing neighborhood areas to attract more visitors and investors. Related to the effectiveness of design on park users' perceptions and preferences, this study as well as observations has found that park users perceive some elements of environmental design, like physical barriers of fences and hedges between playground and the football field, effective in protecting users from accident and injury in the park. Another suggestion, which users made was for more supervisors to be in the park or playground to take care of the children while they use the equipment.Research limitations/implicationsThe current study is limited in its scope because of the need to complete the study within a limited time and budget. Future studies are needed to explore how design strategies of Neighborhood Parks can satisfy urban neighborhood populations and also support social business development. The directions for future research are identified as more research should be conducted in this regard and more neighborhood parks should be considered allowing for comparison among them.Practical implicationsThis research would enable landscape architects and environmental designers as well as business and community developers to match specific developmental goals of urban neighborhood environmental planning. It can influence business strategies to attract more investment by the community developer, and also this new approach can influence the future of the society and its sustainability.Originality/valueThe paper challenges the traditional view of parks as places that only incur social expense to a new perception that views them as revenue and social business places.

Politics of urban runoff: nature, technology, and the sustainable city

When rain falls on the city, it creates urban runoff that cause flooding, erosion, and water pollution. Municipal engineers manage a complex network of technical and natural systems to treat and remove these temporary water flows from cities as quickly as possible. Urban runoff is frequently discussed in terms of technical expertise and environmental management, but it encompasses a multitude of such nontechnical issues as land use, quality of life, governance, aesthetics, and community identity, and is central to the larger debates on creating more sustainable and livable cities. In this book, Andrew Karvonen uses urban runoff as a lens to view the relationships among nature, technology, and society. Offering theoretical insights from urban environmental history, human geography, landscape and ecological planning, and science and technology studies as well as empirical evidence from case studies, Karvonen proposes a new relational politics of urban nature. After describing the evolution of urban runoff practices, Karvonen analyzes the urban runoff activities in Austin and Seattle -- two cities known for their highly contested public debates over runoff issues and exemplary storm water management practices. The Austin case study highlights the tensions among urban development, property rights, land use planning, and citizen activism; the Seattle case study explores the city's long-standing reputation for being in harmony with nature. Drawing on these accounts, Karvonen suggests a new relational politics of urban nature that is situated, inclusive, and action-oriented to address the tensions among nature, technology, and society.

A VULNERABILIDADE NATURAL E AMBIENTAL DO MUNICÍPIO DE FORTALEZA/CE

The limitations imposed by environmental systems have rarely been taken fully into account during the occupation and development of cities anywhere in the World. In the present day, there is a growing need to consider these limitations in order to guarantee environmental quality for the inhabitants of this territorial space, as well as to ensure the avoidance of future environmental risks. In this context, the present study focused on the natural and environmental vulnerability of the municipality of Fortaleza, in the Brazilian state of Ceara, with the primary aim of contributing to the urban-environmental planning of the city. To this end, the areas of the municipality most vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts will be identified, as will the potential of its environmental systems. Based on the ecodynamic approach (founded on the concepts of the stability/instability of environments), integrated with considerations on the quality of the urban infrastructure, a Geographic Information System approach was developed for the production and integration of maps covering the geology, geomorphology, pedology, vegetation cover, and quality of the urban infrastructure. These analyses provided maps of the natural and environmental vulnerability of Fortaleza, which indicate that the most vulnerable areas are located in the proximity of rivers, lakes, and dune fields, where the urban infrastructure is precarious, and thus subject to greater risks.

ライフサイクルCO<small>2</small>評価に基づいた都市環境の整備計画に関する一考察

Development of a low-carbon city is one alternative being considered to address global warming. In addition, evaluation of the effectiveness of life cycle CO2 (hereafter, LCCO2) in reducing CO2 emissions is currently being examined with interest in a number of sectors. In consideration of the current interest in these areas, this study sets out to discuss a method for LCCO2 evaluation in urban areas, and considers means for planning and design of urban environments and landscape planting based on LCCO2 evaluation. More specifically, several urban models differing in terms of urban environment planning and design (such as land use and land cover on landscape planting) were considered and evaluated in terms of LCCO2. The following results were observed: 1) the LCCO2 evaluation method utilized in this study was shown to be applicable to various urban models; 2) under basic conditions the urban model demonstrated that LCCO2 within the non-built coverage area was estimated to be about 158.1t-C/ha; 3) where the urban model’s tree crown cover area was expanded to reduce the amount of LCCO2, the maximum reduction rate of LCCO2 in the non-built cover area was estimated to be about 28.8%; and 4) where land use in the urban model was changed to reduce the amount of LCCO2, the rate of LCCO2 reduction in the non-built coverage area ranged from an estimated 83.0% to 117.0%.

Airport management perceptions of local and regional planning regulations

As forces of privatisation, commercialisation and globalisation transform airports into multi-functional urban nodes, they also cause increasing encounters with local, regional, provincial and national urban planning systems intended to regulate land use development and infrastructure provision in the wider community interest. This paper reports on aggregate findings from a global survey of senior airport managers, examining their perceptions of this urban planning environment. Over 80 responses were gathered from airports in 24 countries. While there was general support for existing arrangements at both local and regional levels, there is a remarkable convergence in the main types of planning problems being confronted. The findings tacitly underline the importance of a collaborative approach to the planning of airport regions.

A scenario-based approach to assess Ho Chi Minh City’s urban development strategies against the impact of climate change

This paper presents an approach to quantifying current and future city-wide flood risks to Ho Chi Minh City. Here urban planning scenarios linking urban development and climate change explore the main driving forces of future risk. According to the redefined role of urban environmental planning in times of climate change, spatial planning needs to go beyond traditional planning approaches to bring together, draw upon and integrate individual policies for urban adaptation strategies for land-use planning. Our initial research results highlight that the spatiotemporal processes of urban development, together with climate change, are the central driving forces for climate-related impacts. The influence of planned urban developments to the year 2025 on future flood risk is seen to be significantly greater than that of projected sea-level rise to the year 2100. These results aid local decision making in an effort to better understand the nature of future climate change risks to the city and to identify the main driver of urban exposure.

Research on Urban Color Environment Planning Based on Regional Characteristics - Take Urban Color Environment of Zhengzhou for Example

Today of context of globalization, the traditional geographical constraints are broken, and the differences between urban scenes are narrowing. So how to reflect the regional characteristics while the construction of modern city becomes an important issue of urban color planning. Based on chromatology theory, this paper takes Zhengzhou for example to explore the direction of urban color environment planning in respective of current process of urbanization.

Scalable approach to uncertainty quantification and robust design of interconnected dynamical systems

Development of robust dynamical systems and networks such as autonomous aircraft systems capable of accomplishing complex missions faces challenges due to the dynamically evolving uncertainties coming from model uncertainties, necessity to operate in a hostile cluttered urban environment, and the distributed and dynamic nature of the communication and computation resources. Model-based robust design is difficult because of the complexity of the hybrid dynamic models including continuous vehicle dynamics, the discrete models of computations and communications, and the size of the problem. We will overview recent advances in methodology and tools to model, analyze, and design robust autonomous aerospace systems operating in uncertain environment, with stress on efficient uncertainty quantification and robust design using the case studies of the mission including model-based target tracking and search, and trajectory planning in uncertain urban environment. To show that the methodology is generally applicable to uncertain dynamical systems, we will also show examples of application of the new methods to efficient uncertainty quantification of energy usage in buildings, and stability assessment of interconnected power networks.

The Role of an Area-oriented Approach in Achieving Environmental Policy Integration in the Netherlands, and its Applicability in Bulgaria

An integrated approach to environmental policy and urban spatial planning has not yet been adopted by many local administrations in Europe. However, such integration is likely to provide a more streamlined planning process that incorporates environmental measures in the physical development of urban areas. In this paper, we argue that among many local governments there is already a growing wish to apply environmental policy integration (EPI) principles in spatial planning in an effort to achieve better quality of life in the cities and to preserve natural resources. Within Europe, most attempts to develop EPI approaches can be found in western countries, while efforts to find integrated approaches to the urban environment and spatial planning in Eastern Europe are in their infancy. The main reason for this is that most of the post-communist countries are still addressing the challenge of reconstructing their political, social, and economic systems. In this research, we analyse and compare policy practices for EPI in urban planning in the Netherlands and Bulgaria. We first discuss the Dutch area-oriented policy approach, which has gained popularity during the last decade as a means of integrating environmental qualities in urban land use plans. We then go on to analyse the effectiveness of specific area-oriented methods developed and applied in Rotterdam, and define their applicability in the planning practice of the local authorities of the city of Burgas in Bulgaria. The main conclusion of the study is that the degree of effectiveness of an area-oriented policy is dependent on the impact of specific success factors. Despite the differences between Rotterdam and Burgas in terms of the presence of these success factors, we assert that the area-oriented policy approach applied in Rotterdam can be transferable, and can be adapted to the specific local circumstances in Burgas and used as an instrument for integrating EPI into urban land use planning.

Street Surface Dust Heavy Metal Pollution State and Assessment in Xianyang City

Urban street dust is one of the important indicators that reflects status of urban environmental pollution. The dust samples were collected in the district of traffic crossroads in Xianyang city. The experiment used atomic absorption spectrometry to measure lead, cadmium and copper of the dust content. Spatial technique was applied to study the content level and the spatial distribution character of heavy metal pollution in street surface dust of Xianyang city. Geochemical maps of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Pb)in the street surface dust were produced based on and adopting Hakanson suggested potential ecological risk index technique to assess the potential ecological risk of heavy metals in street surface dust, and utilizing geographical information system (GIS) technique to draw up the spatial distribution map of assessment results. The results showed that the majority of heavy metals in the dust exceeded the soil background value in Xianyang city streets. The range of Cd, Cu and Pb contents in street dust is 0.09-0.2mg·kg-1, 68.82-1212.58 mg·kg-1 and 23.44-97.63mg·kg-1, respectively. Cu is 1-5.8 times of the soil background value in Xianyang. The contents of Cd and Pb are 0-1.7 and 0-2.6 times of the soil background value in Xianyang. Based on the calculation results of heavy metal ecological risk indexs in street surface dust of Xianyang, potential ecological risk of Cd is the highest, Cu is moderate and Pb is the least. The ecological hazard for the different domains was in the order of industrial area school area business area agriculture area. Generally speaking, heavy metals pollution in urban street dust of Xianyang reached the lightly ecological risk levels. The results are expected to provide important scientific basis for the urban environmental pollution control and city planning of Xianyang.

Scrutinizing the link between participatory governance and urban environment management. The experience in Arequipa during 2003–2006

This paper conceptualises participatory governance as a process of deepening local democracy through the opening of new spaces for civil society and citizens’ participation. It explores the link with the urban environment planning and management processes as proposed by UN-HABITAT’s SCP/LA21 programmes. To this end, an analysis of the Urban Environment Management Support Strategy in Arequipa (Peru) promoted by UN-HABITAT and UNEP in 2003–2006 is undertaken to examine how Local Agenda 21 can contribute to institutionalise participatory governance processes which deepen democratic management of sustainable human development in cities. Methodologically, this is made by applying Gaventa’s (2006) participatory governance approach in the case study with extensive fieldwork carried out in the city. According to that, conclusions are drawn in three different areas. Firstly, the participatory process itself and the role of the working groups, the use of objective data, the connection with citizens and some issues concerning facilitation. Secondly, the analysis goes inside accountability and explores the conflictive link between political action and negotiations which take place within a participatory planning process. Thirdly, the paper discusses institutionalisation and the importance of capitalising previous experiences and existing networks with a particular emphasis on the ones related to environmental education and training.