High Rate Of Urbanization Research Articles

Bird community structure is driven by urbanization level, blue-green infrastructure configuration and precision farming in Taizhou, China

Land use/land cover (LULC) changes and high urbanization rates are the main drivers of avian habitat loss in developing countries. However, few studies have examined the effects of urbanization intensity on avian diversity distribution and its importance in guiding eco-friendly urban planning. We surveyed bird distribution (n = 67 species) in different seasons using local ecological knowledge (LEK) and transect line methods in Jiangyan District from July 2018 to May 2019. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to assess the effects of urbanization levels on birds relative density and richness during spring-summer (breeding season) and autumn-winter seasons (non-breeding season). Generalized linear models (GLM) were identified for the landscape composition and configuration that drive relative density and richness in native bird communities. Using redundancy analysis (RDA), we identified the landscape composition and configuration factors affecting bird foraging and roosting at urbanization levels. The results showed high dependency of waders and granivores on paddy fields and dry arable land respectively during the breeding season. During non-breeding season, wetland abundance, land cover, connectivity and total area of BGI were important habitat factors in attracting birds. Moreover, the landscape composition and configuration factors of BGI: wetlands as well as farmland habitats, are the main environmental cues that influence bird foraging. Therefore, to increase habitat suitability over landscape matrix, we propose creation of multiple waterbodies and green corridors of variable types and sizes on natural patches to improve the connectivity of ecological network. We also recommend land management interventions in farmland ecosystems, which could contribute to natural habitat restoration and improve bird biodiversity in urban areas.

Experience of interaction with the ecological framework of a modern city

The article considers various aspects of constructing and applying the concept of urban ecological framework, and also practices of direct interaction. The environmental discourse assumes a more reflexive attitude towards the flora and fauna representatives, regarding them as full social structure subjects. Taking into account high rates of urbanization, it tends to be more topical to analyze human interaction with the plants within the urban space. In the scope of this paper, we reviewed theoretical approaches to the conceptualization of the concepts related to urban vegetation, highlighting the concept of city ecological framework as the most optimally corresponding to the New Ecological Paradigm. Further, the author analyzed the urban planning documents of 15 Russian million cities where the city garden problems are reviewed at various reflective levels. Besides, the work presents the results of an experiment on the environmental audit of urban areas, when participants analyzed the structure of urban ecological framework and its separate elements. The experiment showed a low level of the participants ecological culture, because the identification of specific plant species caused serious difficulties, and the scenarios of personal interaction with plants were rather poor and were limited to passive perception. However, the informing orientation of the experiment encouraged the participants to self-reflect, that raised the participants awareness about the structure and functions of the ecological framework and expanded personal strategies for interacting with it.

Housing challenges and programs to enhance access to affordable housing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Affordable housing contributes to the prosperity of any community. This study assesses housing challenges and enabling programs to affordable housing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) within the Vision 2030. A questionnaire of housing experts was undertaken, and responses were analyzed using the Relative Importance Index (RII) and Chi-Square. The findings show that top-ranked challenges are the high price of residential land (RII = 0.89), high construction cost (RII = 0.87), and high urbanization rate (RII = 0.76). The study found that participants' demographic factors led to significant differences in scores for six of the investigated challenges. In addition, the most effective enabling programs were the value added tax (VAT) exemption program (RII = 0.82), followed by the developmental housing program (RII = 0.73), and ownership forms (RII = 0.73). Significant differences in scores for two of the enabling programs were found based on participants' age and gender. The present study recommends that the government should review some of these programs and reassess the challenges of access to affordable housing.

Quantifying urban expansion from 1985 to 2018 in large cities worldwide

The world has experienced widely distributed urbanization from local to global scales in the past decades. Urban expansion can bring multiple benefits for urban inhabitants, however it can also result in a series of environmental and ecological issues, such as carbon emission, air pollution, and biodiversity loss. Therefore, it is urgently required to conduct timely and quantitative monitoring of the dynamics of urban areas worldwide to support sustainable policy making for urban management and development, such as guiding rational urbanization in developing countries, uncovering inequality of global urbanization, and understanding the consistency of urbanization and population growth. However, we still lack high resolution information on the characteristics of global urban dynamics over the past decades. To fill this gap, we quantified spatiotemporal patterns of urban expansion from 1985 to 2018 in 501 large cities worldwide based on the 30 m fine resolution Global annual Artificial Impervious Area dataset. We then assessed the spatiotemporal patterns of urban expansion using the annual growth rate indicator. Our results showed that: (1) The total (mean) impervious surface area in these cities increased obviously from 50,778 (101.35) km2 in 1985 to 150,145 (299.69) km2 in 2018, i.e. the total (mean) impervious surface area tripled from 1985 to 2018. (2) cities in developed countries or high-income countries (e.g. North American and European cities) have a much higher impervious surface area than cities in developing countries or low-income countries (e.g. Asian and African cities). (3) cities in North America and Europe that are dominated by developed or high-income and upper-middle-income countries have lower annual growth rate of impervious surface than cities in Africa and Asia, which are dominated by low-income and lower-middle-income countries. In addition, cities in China and India experienced very high urban expansion rates during the past decades based on the annual growth rate indicator. The findings of this study could provide supporting information for land management and sustainable development for cities around the world.

Global warming and urbanization

Analyzing 118 countries between 1960 and 2016, we find that higher temperatures correlate with higher urbanization rates in the long run, where this relationship is much more pronounced than any short-term linkage. The long-run relationship between global warming and urbanization is also conditional upon country-specific conditions. This long-run association is especially relevant in poorer and more agriculture-dependent countries with an urban bias as well as in initially non-urban countries in hotter climate zones. We also provide suggestive evidence that warming contributes to losses in agricultural productivity and to pro-urban shifts in public goods provision and that the global warming-urbanization nexus is partly mediated through these channels. Consequently, we argue that the estimated long-run relationship between temperature and urbanization partly captures the potential impact of increasing temperatures on urbanization via a rural push (by impairing agriculture) and an urban pull (via an increased demand for public goods primarily supplied in cities).

Risk Analysis of Thyroid Cancer in China: A Spatial Analysis

Thyroid cancer (TC) is the fastest growing cancer in China and has lots of influencing factors which can be intervened to reduce its incidence. In this article, we aimed to identify the risk factors of TC. The regional TC data in 2016 were obtained from the China Cancer Registry Annual Report published by the National Cancer Center (NCC). Univariate correlation analysis and generalized linear Poisson regression analysis were used to determine risk factors for morbidity of TC from the provincial and prefecture levels. High urbanization rate (UR) (RR = 1.109, 95%CI: 1.084, 1.135), high GDP per capita (PGDP) (RR = 1.013, 95%CI: 1.007, 1.018), high aquatic products (RR = 1.047, 95%CI: 1.020, 1.075) and dry and fresh fruit consumption (RR = 1.024, 95%CI: 1.007, 1.040) can increase TC incidence. Therefore, high PGDP, high UR, high aquatic products and dry and fresh fruit consumption were all risk factors for TC incidence. Our results may be helpful for providing analytical ideas and methodological references for the regionalized prevention and control of TC in a targeted manner.

The research on the effect of digital economy development on urban air quality

Digital economy and air quality are the key issues concerned by the government and academia. The healthy and sustainable development of the digital economy and the continuous optimization of urban air quality are not only conducive to high-quality economic development but also closely related to people’s livelihood. Based on the panel data of 228 cities from 2015 to 2020, using the panel regression and the mediating effect test methods, this paper verifies the impact of the digital economy development on urban air quality and then further analyzes the heterogeneity. The main results are as follows. Digital economy development can effectively improve urban air quality. The mediating effect of the urban industrial structure advancement accounts for 17.27%, and that of urban TFP accounts for 14.55%. The effect of improving air quality in cities with a high-level digital economy is more prominent, and the effect in large and medium-sized cities is more extensive. Meanwhile, in cities with a high urbanization rate, the effect of digital economy on improving air quality is more prominent.

Remote Sensing-Based Prediction of Temporal Changes in Land Surface Temperature and Land Use-Land Cover (LULC) in Urban Environments

Pakistan has the highest rate of urbanization in South Asia. The climate change effects felt all over the world have become a priority for regulation agencies and governments at global and regional scales with respect assessing and mitigating the rising temperatures in urban areas. This study investigated the temporal variability in urban microclimate in terms of land surface temperature (LST) and its correlation with land use-land cover (LULC) change in Lahore city for prediction of future impact patterns of LST and LULC. The LST variability was determined using the Landsat Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) and the land surface emissivity factor. The influence of LULC, using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), the normalized difference building index (NDBI), and the normalized difference bareness index (NDBaI) on the variability LST was investigated applying Landsat Satellite data from 1992 to 2020. The pixel-level multivariate linear regression analysis was employed to compute urban LST and influence of LULC classes. Results revealed that an overall increase of 41.8% in built-up areas at the expense of 24%, 17.4%, and 0.4% decreases in vegetation, bare land, and water from 1992–2020, respectively. Comparison of LST obtained from the meteorological station and satellite images showed a significant coherence. An increase of 4.3 °C in temperature of built-up areas from 1992–2020 was observed. Based on LULC and LST trends, the same were predicted for 2025 and 2030, which revealed that LST may further increase up to 1.3 °C by 2030. These changes in LULC and LST in turn have detrimental effects on local as well as global climate, emphasizing the need to address the issue especially in developing countries like Pakistan.

Application of Material Flow Analysis to Municipal Solid Waste in Urban Areas in Developing Countries and Possible Solutions Under Circular Economic Framework

"The understanding waste flow of a country is important to identify the main problems associated with waste management and identify opportunities in material flow management. A tool such as material flow analysis (MFA) is a widely used method in waste management studies, to provide a comprehensive analysis of material movements, support for material characterization analysis to identify the severity of a problem, identify the real root cause, and propose suitable management methods. This paper presents an application of MFA for municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Western provinces in Sri Lanka. The outcome includes the identification, and quantification of the main input and output flows of the system in the present context, from waste generation, collection, unaccounted and unidentified flows, material recovery, and final disposal of MSW. Results are evaluated under treatment mechanisms of Recycling, Reusing, and repurposing the materials. Overall results show per capita per day of waste generation in Sri Lanka stood at 0.43 kg, whereas, the Western province represents that 0.56 kg due to the high population area with the highest rate of urbanization. However, the global average per capita per day of waste generation stood at 2.22 kg. The material and energy recovery represent 31% and 33% respectively in the study area from total collected waste. 36% of the material finally ended up in open dumpsites even after collection. Further research needs to be done on material and energy recovery potential identification in dumping waste, as this can convert to valuable results with proper management practices with available resources."

Relationship between densification and NDVI loss. A study using the Google Earth Engine at local scale

Abstract Latin American cities are amongst those with the highest rates of urbanization in the world. This process has involved their territorial expansion as well as the densification of some of its neighborhoods, in mainly central areas. This is the case of the city of Santiago del Estero (Argentina) that increased its population by 33% between 1991 and 2010 with the consequent transformations of the local space. In this context, this study analyzes the evolution of vegetated areas and densification of the central area of the city using satellite data. We analyzed two indices: normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and Urban Index (UI) time-series data, for the 1992–2011 year period, using the Google Earth Engine for processing Landsat 5 TM images. We found that the NDVI showed a decreasing trend in the timelapse under consideration, while the UI performance registered the opposite trend. The mean NDVI decreased from 0.161 (1992) to 0.103 (2011) while the UI mean increased from 0.003 to 0.036 in the same timelapse. Further, the NDVI has a strong negative correlation with UI (R-squared = -0.862). The results are consistent with the census information that recorded an important demographic and housing growth for the entire city in this period.

Appraisal of Building Price in Urban Area Using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) Data in Depok City

Economic growth and its demographic benefits have enhanced the high rate of urbanization in Indonesia, although property tax revenues are still low compared to G20 countries. This low performance is partly due to the limited capacity of local governments, regarding the determination of building values for tax calculations. To improve local government tax performance, LIDAR mapping is capable of being used for quickly estimating the price of a building. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the patterns by which the spatial differences in building price values influence the tax databases and LiDAR mapping results. Based on this mapping process, the present building site size in high-density housing areas was on average 1.66-times larger than those in the Depok City Government tax database. Meanwhile, the sites in medium-density housing and trade/service areas were 1.35- and 1.08-times wider, respectively. Using a LiDAR 3D model, the observed level of construction was much higher in the highly-urbanized area compared to the price in the Depok City Government tax database. This was based on the construction cost of a building per square meter. Regarding these results, the building prices in high- and medium-density areas, as well as the trade/service area, were nine, six, and three-times higher, respectively.

COVID-19 and the city: Did urbanized countries suffer more fatalities?

In this paper we derive a theoretical model of the spread of a viral infection which we use as basis for an estimation strategy to test four interrelated hypotheses on the relationship between country-level COVID-19 mortality rates and the extent of urban development. Using data covering 81 countries we find evidence that countries with a higher population density, a higher share of the urban population living in the largest city, and countries with a higher urbanization rate had on average the same or fewer COVID-19 fatalities compared to less urbanized countries in 2020. Even though COVID-19 spreads faster in cities, fatalities may be lower, conditional on economic development, trust in government, and a well-functioning health care system. Generally, urbanization and city development are associated with economic development: with the resources urbanized countries have, it is easier for them to manage and maintain stricter lockdowns, and to roll out effective pharmaceutical interventions.

How do disparate urbanization and climate change imprint on urban thermal variations? A comparison between two dynamic cities in Southeast Asia

This study assessed the combined influences of climate change and urbanization on land surface temperature (LST) and surface urban heat island (SUHI) in the Bangkok metropolitan region (BKK) and Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area (HCM) during 1990–2020. We found climate change evidence from trends and variations of temperature extremes in both cities throughout the past three decades, especially for the significant upward trends of nighttime temperature in HCM (0.23 – 0.3 °C/decade). These cities have been undergoing rapid urbanization, in which HCM has a higher urbanization rate with an annual growth rate of 8.03%/year against BKK (4.26%/year). Landscape metrics have rapidly shifted towards urban aggregation and green space fragmentation along with urbanization. A peer comparison shows that BKK holds a greater urban size and LST intensity, while HCM leads in urban growth and SUHI magnitude. These changes jointly contribute to climbing SUHI intensity, especially the dramatic influence of surface changes. Yet, temperature extremes also play an indispensable role in regulating SUHI magnitude, in which the impact in HCM is considerable compared to the effect in BKK. The research findings provide crucial information for both cities – where incorporation of climate change resilience strategies and SUHI mitigation into the master plans for livable cities are recommended.

Specific regional features of radon activity in environmental objects and indoor spaces in the Volgograd region

The protection and preservation of human health under present-day conditions of high urbanization rate is one of the priority tasks of contemporary construction. And here, the environmental safety of the residential buildings to be constructed is one of the most important factors. It is significantly affected by ionizing radiation for which radioactive radon gas is one of the sources. The level of public exposure depends on the concentration of radon in the aerial environment of outdoor territories and indoor spaces. The article considers the radon-related characteristics of the territories and indoor spaces in the Volgograd region and, based on the obtained results, provides calculations of the average annual effective equivalent doses of public exposure caused by radon and its daughter decay products in the region.

Temporal and Spatial Variation Characteristics and Source Analysis of Agricultural Non-point Source Pollution Load in Guangdong During the Past 20 Years

The agricultural non-point source pollution (ANPSP) load in Guangdong province is very large and has a serious impact on the regional ecological environment. Inventory analysis was used to assess and analyze the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of the ANPSP load of Guangdong province during 1999-2019, and the sources of ANPSP were discussed, as well as the relationship between them. The results showed that, during the past 20 years, the total ANPSP pollution loads of Guangdong province decreased by 6.08%, and the pollution loads of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) increased by -11.88%, 4.99%, and 26.17%, respectively. The input intensity of chemical fertilizers and pesticides increased by 112.19% and 60.38%, respectively. The Pearl River Delta had the highest ANPSP loads in Guangdong province, followed by those in northern, western, and eastern Guangdong. Livestock and poultry breeding were the main sources of COD, the total percent fertilizers and livestock and poultry breeding were the main sources of TN, and livestock and poultry breeding and aquaculture were the main sources of TP. In addition, the contribution of pollutants discharged from aquaculture showed an obvious increasing trend. There were certain differences in the pollution sources in different regions. In western Guangdong, northern Guangdong, and eastern Guangdong, livestock and poultry breeding were the main sources of COD and TP, and fertilizer was the main source of TN; by contrast in the Pearl River Delta, aquaculture had become the main source of TN and TP pollution loads. The correlation results showed that the decline in the total ANPSP in Guangdong province was mainly due to the increase in high urbanization rate and the decrease in the proportion of rural population. In general, there were stage changes in the time and differences in spatial characteristics and sources of ANPSP in Guangdong province. A combination of comprehensive treatment and targeted pollution treatment should be adopted, and fertilizer reduction measures and pollution treatment in the aquaculture should be strengthened in an all-around way, focusing on strengthening the treatment of pollution from aquaculture in the Pearl River Delta region and the treatment of rural life pollution in northern Guangdong.

SARS-CoV-2 transmission, persistence of immunity, and estimates of Omicron's impact in South African population cohorts.

Understanding the build-up of immunity with successive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants and the epidemiological conditions that favor rapidly expanding epidemics will help facilitate future pandemic control. We analyzed high-resolution infection and serology data from two longitudinal household cohorts in South Africa to reveal high cumulative infection rates and durable cross-protective immunity conferred by prior infection in the pre-Omicron era. Building on the history of past exposures to different SARS-CoV-2 variants and vaccination in the more representative urban cohort given South Africa’s high urbanization rate, we used mathematical models to explore the fitness advantage of the Omicron variant and its epidemic trajectory. Modelling suggests the Omicron wave likely infected a large fraction (44% - 81%) of the population, leaving a complex landscape of population immunity primed and boosted with antigenically distinct variants. We project that future SARS-CoV-2 resurgences are likely under a range of scenarios of viral characteristics, population contacts, and residual cross-protection.

Urban Green Spaces For Promoting Healthy Living And Wellbeing: Prospects For Housing

Urban Green spaces in cities protect the environment by reducing urban heat stress, reducing global warming potential gases, and reducing storm water runoff. The high rate of urbanisation, which has resulted in encroachment, use change, and other factors that have a negative impact on healthy living and wellbeing. The main objectives of this research are to study and select different typology for the study of urban green spaces and also analyse the major link between the urban green spaces which are impacting the healthy living of housing typology. We used peer-reviewed approaches, which included searching the Web of Science, Scopus Index, and PubMed databases for literature research, and then reviewing peer-reviewed publications. The findings imply that urban green spaces are important for city dwellers. Because it ties greater and more regular usage of green space to healthy living, good quality green space, and well-being, the study has social consequences.

Role of ride-hailing in multimodal commuting

The high rate of urbanization, dependence on private vehicles, and less integrated transportation systems in Jakarta’s metropolitan city and surrounding areas (called 'Jabodetabek' or Greater Jakarta) make congestion a chronic problem. Some challenges, such as the distance to stations/stops of mass public transport services beyond walking distance and the first-mile/last-mile public transportation is neither widely available nor reliable, have resulted in difficulties for existing public transport users to commute. This study aims to understand the role of ride-hailing on commuters’ multimodal journeys in Greater Jakarta, particularly in its role in complementing mass transportation. Face-to-face interviews with 5,064 commuters at mass transport service stations selected randomly and proportionally based on the number of commuters for each mass transport service were conducted from the end of December 2019 until the beginning of March 2020. A descriptive analysis describes the commuters’ profiles, their multimodal and multi-segment trips, and their ride-hailing use for their journeys. Ride-hailing has a complementary role to mass transport users, with almost half of them using the service for the first-mile and/or last-mile part of their journeys. Important factors affecting their decisions are identified, of which the top five are factors related to the service quality of mass transport and aspects related to access to ride-hailing services. An environmental impact analysis was conducted by comparing the GHG emissions of commuters’ current and previous main mode choices. The role of ride-hailing for first-mile/last-mile is essential to influence the shift from using private vehicles to mass public transportation, which eventually can reduce emissions. Several recommendations are provided to policymakers, mass transport operators, and ride-hailing service providers to create a seamless multimodal journey for commuters.

URBAN GREEN SPACES ACCESSIBILITY: THE CURRENT STATE IN NIAMEY CITY, NIGER

The high rate of urbanization noticed at the global, regional, and national level, increases the land, energy, and water demand with adverse effects on the environment, thereby decreasing residents' wellbeing and resilience. In this regard, the urban green spaces are perceived as one of the means to make the cities more resilient and sustainable to face climate change. However, the urban green spaces are not accessible for the majority of citizens in many African cities, especially in Niamey where the most important green space i.e. green belt has deteriorated. Therefore, this study aims to analyze urban green spaces accessibility according to WHO minimum standard in Niamey city to get insight into their current state. For this, qualitative and quantitative analyses are conducted from the per capita green index, the distance to green spaces, and the urban green spaces quality aspects using the primary, secondary, and geospatial data, and the personal field observations. The results revealed that the urban green spaces per capita in Niamey city is equal to 6.04 m2 less than the minimum standard of 9 m2 defined by WHO; thereby the demand gap is estimated at 4,043,143.92 m2. This per capita green index differs from one commune to another; with respectively 0.155m2, 0.242 m2 , 2.30 m2 , 21 m2, and 0.008 m2 for commune I, II, III, IV, and V, meaning that the urban green spaces are unevenly accessible across the city. We also found that 58.46% of the respondents do not reach the urban green spaces within 15 minutes of walking distance. This situation coupled with the urban green spaces' quality aspects proved their bad condition. The study suggested that to enhance urban green spaces accessibility and thereby improve the current state of the urban green spaces, the city authorities should enhance the investment in greening projects, create a synergy of action in greening projects, and fight against corruption in parcel allotment.

Sand ecologies, livelihoods and governance in Asia: A systematic scoping review

Sand, gravel, and crushed rock – known as construction aggregates – are in high demand in the Asian region. Such demand is driven by high rates of urbanization, infrastructure development, and dam building: an unprecedented amount of sand is being extracted from the region's river, delta and estuary areas, only to be transported for infill or construction purposes elsewhere. This systematic scoping review examines the state of knowledge in the peer review literature on sand ecologies, livelihoods, and governance in Asia. We find that the literature mainly focuses on the ecological implications of sand mining, namely biotic and abiotic components: sand mining is linked with many forms of ecological degradation, although partial ecosystemic recovery may be possible when sand mining stops. In contrast, the limited analysis on livelihoods suggests that violence, work-related injuries, and precarious jobs are common for those working in the sand industry, with sand mining producing different types of work depending on the level of mechanization. We conclude by noting several gaps in the literature, including the narrow geographical focus (mainly India and China), the lack of attention to the intersection between sand mining and other anthropogenic disturbances, and the need to establish transparent sand governance processes within this region.