Urban Development Indicators Research Articles

Assessing urban development indicators for environmental sustainability

Rapid urbanization and inadequate environmental planning have significantly increased pressure on ecosystems, leading to unsustainable urban growth. Understanding the environmental impact of urbanization is crucial for sustainable development, especially in rapidly growing cities like Mashhad, Iran. Emergy Analysis, a method that quantifies the total energy used to support an ecosystem, was applied in this study to assess Mashhad’s environmental sustainability using emergy-based indicators. Key sustainability indicators, such as the Emergy Sustainability Index, Environmental Load Ratio, and Emergy Self-Support Ratio, were analyzed using data from 2011, 2016, and 2021. The results reveal that Mashhad's development is currently unsustainable, with heavy dependence on non-renewable resources and increasing environmental pressure. While the Emergy Sustainability Index showed modest improvement, key indicators like the Emergy Yield Ratio and Emergy Density declined, indicating reduced resource efficiency. Additionally, the Environmental Load Ratio increased, reflecting higher environmental stress. Without significant interventions, Mashhad’s current development trajectory will remain unsustainable. The study offers practical recommendations, such as reducing urban sprawl, promoting green spaces, and transitioning to renewable energy sources. Educating residents about resource efficiency and sustainable urban planning is critical. These findings provide actionable insights for other developing cities facing similar environmental challenges and serve as a blueprint for sustainable urban development in resource-constrained settings.

Density as an indicator of sustainable urban development: insights from Helsinki?

ABSTRACT Densification has become a dominant strategy for sustainable urban development in recent decades, viewed as a main antidote to urban sprawl and essential for achieving a range of urban qualities from economic to ecological. Despite its prominence as an indicator and driver of sustainable development, measuring density in a meaningful way poses significant challenges. Arbitrary metrics often overlook the complexity of density and its associations, leading to potential unintended outcomes in density-driven planning. Using the Helsinki region as a case study, this article demonstrates the sensitivity of density measurements to minor changes in reference areas and calculation units, highlighting how different types of density can loosely relate to each other. Our findings underscore the importance of precise methodological choices in avoiding misguided planning decisions and policy advice that could compromise sustainability goals, revealing the complex dynamics of infill and edge growth often obscured in regional density measures.

The Impact of Urban Smartification and Urban Security on Achieving Sustainable Urban Development

Urban security is a condition where risks and other factors causing physical harm are controlled, thereby ensuring the health and well-being of individuals. Today, security is considered the most important goal of any country, and its absence or deficiencies in its establishment can challenge the healthy life of citizens. Naturally, places with all their characteristics and the type of human perception and behavior within them can shape spaces with positive or negative security. The city is one of the most prominent manifestations of human life and has undergone many ups and downs since its initial formation. The method of its governance has also evolved significantly throughout history. On the other hand, with the expansion of electronic knowledge and technology, machine thinking, and modern communications, many patterns and qualities of urban life have begun to change at an unprecedented pace, leading to the concept of urban smartification. Thus, the present study aims to examine the impact of urban smartification and urban security on achieving sustainable urban development. The research is descriptive and conducted through a library method. The results show that a smart city is one that can maintain, control, and integrate all infrastructure, such as roads, tunnels, airways, waterways, railways, communication sources, etc. It can also help optimize resources and address security issues. Given the facilities and capabilities that smartification brings to cities, achieving sustainable urban development indicators in communities will be more accessible and readily available to citizens in the urban space. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52783/pst.616

CREATION AND USE OF GEOSPATIAL DATA FOR MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT USING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES

The modern urban environment requires an integrated approach to management and development that takes into account various aspects of urban development and quality of life. This article discusses the use of geoinformation technologies for the creation and use of a geospatial database in the context of urban development analysis and morphometric indicators. It emphasises the importance of collecting, analysing and using geodata for effective urban planning and development. The article discusses various aspects of the use of geographic information systems in urban planning, including remote sensing for collecting geospatial data, analysis of morphometric indicators of urban development, development of recommendations for improving the urban environment and creation of urban plans based on the analysis of these data. The article highlights the main advantages of using geoinformation technologies in urban planning, such as increased accuracy and speed of data processing, the ability to comprehensively analyse geospatial information and simplify decision-making. The results of the study can be useful for city authorities, architects, planners and other stakeholders involved in the development and management of the urban environment. The use of geoinformation technologies in urban planning can contribute to the sustainable development of cities and improve the quality of life of their residents by making the planning process more efficient and transparent. The role of geoinformation technologies in the creation and use of a geospatial database for the analysis of urban development and morphometric indicators was investigated. In particular, the main aspects of creating a geospatial database, the use of geographic information systems in the collection and processing of geodata, as well as the analysis and application of morphometric indicators in urban planning were considered.

Enhancing Urban Living Convenience through Plot Patterns: A Quantitative Morphological Study

Enhancing Urban Living Convenience through Plot Patterns: A Quantitative Morphological Study

Analysis on the impact of smart city construction on urban greenness in China's megacities

Urban greenness serves as a key indicator of sustainable urban development, with smart city construction emerging as a primary strategy for its enhancement. However, there is little empirical evidence considering multi-dimension between urban greenness and smart city construction on the city level. This study focuses on the impact on urban greenness of smart city construction in megacities, using the difference-in-differences regression model to evaluate the impact based on urban development conditions in various aspects from 2010 to 2021 in 10 megacities in China. The results of panel data of different indicator samples show unique conclusions. First, smart city pilot policy in megacities has significant impact on urban greenness, primarily due to demographic and economic developments. Second, the impact is different between the megacity and national level, and different factors of urban greenness have different effects on smart city construction. Third, the effects are time-lagged and lasted for years, and regional heterogeneity divided by building climate zones is existed, where the effect is more obvious in city agglomeration. These findings of smart city construction reveal the unique influences on megacity greenness, and can be generalized to cities with similar characteristics accordingly.

Evaluation of the Impact of Informal Settlements on the Physical and Mental Health of Residents—Case Study Santa Marta—Bogotá, Colombia

The growth of the informal city in Latin America has caused its own dynamics related to urban unsustainability due to the disorderly occupation of the territory. The precarious characteristics of informal neighborhoods have increased the mortality processes in their inhabitants, increasing the poverty and marginality indexes in Latin American urban settlements. This work was developed within the international research project “Modeling informality in Latin America based on indicators of sustainable urban development. Case study Yomasa, Bogotá-Colombia”. This work was developed under the mixed research approach which allowed focusing on a nested concurrent design of dominant model (DIAC), which was carried out in the Santa Marta sector of the locality of Ciudad Bolivar, in Bogotá Colombia, with the participation of 20 people from the studied community and supported by 16 students of Civil Engineering of the Catholic University of Colombia. The work resulted in a total of 31 indicators related to neighborhood informality, 17 impacts on the territory, and 8 pathologies, establishing the intrinsic relationship between informality, poverty, and public health of the inhabitant at the urban level.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Urban Green Infrastructures: A Case Study of the LiuChuan River Corridor, Taichung City, from Linsenliu Bridge to Minquanliu Bridge

Green infrastructure has been shown to play the role of adaptation and adjustment under the effect of harsh climate. The creation of urban green infrastructure is an important indicator of sustainable urban development, and determining the cost-effectiveness of green infrastructure is a necessary step to help investment decisions. The whole economic worth of Taichung City’s Liuchuan pollution cleanup and environmental improvement project is examined using cost-benefit analysis from three perspectives: investment value, tangible value, and intangible value. The study findings demonstrate that green infrastructure has long-term development value and can help the sustainable development of cities.

Urban Quality of Life- Analyzing Trends of Academic Papers in Developed and Developing Country Context using Text Mining

Unsustainable urban growth is a major challenge for both developed and developing countries around the globe. Quality of urban life (QOUL) studies is common to find the gap between the public policy, urban planning, and sustainable urban growth with urban resource constraints. Urban development requires study of QOUL in both subjective and objective domain. QOUL studies are analyzed with literature review and text mining online tool -voyant tools. 30 research papers are incorporated from developed and developing countries where different countries have focused on different or common domains. Text mining helps to find the link between words and most used word in the corpus and also literature review further confirm that subjective study helps to focus towards achieving the sustainable urban development. It is also important to report urban development indicators but stakeholder involvement or bottom up approach is more important for an effective and initial start of the process.

An Analysis of the Status of Urban Development Indicators with a Spatial Justice Approach, Case Study: Ilam city

An Analysis of the Status of Urban Development Indicators with a Spatial Justice Approach, Case Study: Ilam city

Population Carrying Capacity in Urban Areas

Considering the mounting pressure on Indian cities to expand sustainably, The Population Carrying Capacity of an Urban Area examines this idea. The goal of the study is to estimate the carrying capacity of urban areas for population growth as well as the limit of environmental pressure caused by urban activity. The framework of study involves the evaluation of environmental thresholds, land capabilities, and urban development indicators to quantify supply and demand for resources, which ultimately affects population quality of life. The findings emphasize the criticality of resource provision for human needs and the necessity for effective management to achieve better results. The assessment framework provides a comprehensive analysis of various dimensions, guiding the prioritization of sectors for development and spatially identifying potential areas for improvement. Overall, the study underscores the significance of sustainable urban development and resource management in addressing the challenges of population carrying capacity and ensuring the quality of life in urban areas. Key Words: Population carrying capacity, Sustainable urban development, Urbanization, Environmental pressure, Resource management, Quality of life, Urban development indicators, Environment thresholds, Land capability analysis, Indian cities.

Restoration of the Nanjing Circumvallation in Sustainable Urban Planning: Application of Environmental Ethical Decision-Making Model

The Nanjing Circumvallation has been severely damaged due to natural factors, human interference, and urban expansion. Restoring this edifice serves not only as a preservation of historikcal and cultural values, but also as an advancement towards sustainable urban development. This research proposes an environmental ethical decision-making model (EEDM) grounded in sustainable urban development indicators. The model is then applied to the restoration of the Nanjing Circumvallation. Based on feedback from the research trial section, the renovation of the Circumvallation trial segment, guided by the EEDM, effectively embodies the core principles of sustainable urban development. By extending this model to the entire restoration project, it is feasible to achieve a harmonious balance between heritage preservation and urban sustainability. This methodology offers a novel framework for the restoration of similar heritage sites, ensuring the concurrent achievement of conservation and sustainable development goals. Furthermore, this approach holds considerable promise for fostering sustainable urban progression.

Urbanizing food: New perspectives on food processing tools in the Early Bronze Age villages and early urban centers of the southern Levant

The Early Bronze Age in the southern Levant is associated with the onset of urbanization processes, expressed through the emergence of walled, densely populated settlements. The local agro-pastoral economy faced new challenges regarding subsistence of the aggregated communities. We compare ground stone tool assemblages involved in food processing from rural, fortified non-urban, and urban settlements in an attempt to understand the impact of the urbanization process on foodways during that period. Additionally, we explore food processing technologies and preferences as indicators of social complexity and urban development. The results point to specialized production and wide distribution of high-quality, standardized grinding implements and, consequently, an intensification of staple food provision. We propose that this phenomenon is associated with a change of socio-economic priorities that comes with the onset of urbanism, causing a decline of the basalt bowl industry and reorganization of the food processing habitus within growing settlements. We also propose that the enhanced organization of food production concerned mainly the early urban centers, whereas villages display higher variability in modes of food processing and tendencies to utilize easily accessible materials. This indicates an opportunistic approach regarding food processing technologies and/or higher variability of local staple food resources in the rural peripheries.

A spatial projection pursuit model for identifying comprehensive urban vitality on blocks using multisource geospatial data

The vitality of city blocks is a crucial indicator of urban development, influenced by human activity, the built environment, and their interconnections. Urban vitality often exhibits agglomeration effects, whereas blocks nearby tend to exhibit similar vitality values. However, existing evaluation methods struggle to effectively account for the spatial correlations among block vitality while simultaneously assessing comprehensive vitality from multiple perspectives. Using Chongqing as a study case, we use multisource geospatial big data to explore the spatial pattern of city block vitality by using a multiobjective optimization spatial projection pursuit model (MOO-SPP). Five dimensions of vitality were conducted and projected into a comprehensive vitality. The results show that (1) the city proper of Chongqing exhibited a "multicenter and multigroup" vitality pattern in terms of comprehensive vitality, and new areas foster several peaks of urban vitality; (2) the spatial distribution of the single-dimensional vitality varies, and enhancing transportation accessibility in the new areas is of utmost importance; (3) there are spatial variation in urban vitality among the districts and blocks, which are influenced by urban form and city polices. This study can provide insights to stakeholders in better understanding the spatial patterns and factors influencing multidimensional block vitality.

Geoecological assessment of the prospective system for the development of cities in the Central Chernozemic region of Russia based on the index method

The article presents the results of assessing the comfort potential and development prospects of the urbanized territories of the Central Chernozemic region of Russia based on the developed and tested geoinformation index of the urban environment comfort development potential (City Development Potential Index, CDPI). The calculation of the total indicator of the areas of technogeosystems by ecological and functional structures was carried out, followed by an analysis of the ratio of existing and planned landscape units to areas suitable for expanding green infrastructure. For the first time, cartographic models of Voronezh, Belgorod and Kursk are presented, showing the spatial distribution of urban geosystems with index values. On the basis of the obtained geoinformation values, features of urban development and geomorphometric indicators, landscape structures were identified to develop the comfort of the urban environment. Calculations of index values for the presented cities showed significant differences, due to the peculiarities of the urban structure and spatio-temporal development of the territories. In the city of Voronezh, the values of the CDPI index are characterized by negative and low positive, the territory is relatively suitable for planting trees and shrubs. Belgorod is distinguished by extremely low values of the environmental comfort development potential index among the selected cities. Index values aimed at determining the potential for the development of comfort in the city of Kursk are significantly higher than those of Voronezh. Positive indicators of the index (above +0.5) were recorded, indicating a high level of prospects for the formation of green infrastructure with a low degree of economic pressure on the landscape.

Object-oriented building extraction based on visual attention mechanism.

Buildings, which play an important role in the daily lives of humans, are a significant indicator of urban development. Currently, automatic building extraction from high-resolution remote sensing images (RSI) has become an important means in urban studies, such as urban sprawl, urban planning, urban heat island effect, population estimation and damage evaluation. In this article, we propose a building extraction method that combines bottom-up RSI low-level feature extraction with top-down guidance from prior knowledge. In high-resolution RSI, buildings usually have high intensity, strong edges and clear textures. To generate primary features, we propose a feature space transform method that consider building. We propose an object oriented method for high-resolution RSI shadow extraction. Our method achieves user accuracy and producer accuracy above 95% for the extraction results of the experimental images. The overall accuracy is above 97%, and the quantity error is below 1%. Compared with the traditional method, our method has better performance on all the indicators, and the experiments prove the effectiveness of the method.

Identification of densely populated-informal settlements and their role in Chinese urban sustainability assessment

ABSTRACT China’s National Plan on Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development identified the upgrading of urban shantytowns, urban villages, and dilapidated houses as an important initiative to implement the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11.1. However, informal housing being used as temporary housing by low-income families (especially in megacities) has resulted in informal settlements that are usually densely populated, dilapidated, and disorganized. Identifying targets based on deep learning and single very high-resolution images remains a challenging task. Here, we used multi-source geographic information data and machine-learning methods to identify and compare the distribution of densely populated‒informal settlements (DPISs) and measured population ratios within the urban areas of three Chinese first-tier cities: Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Our results indicate that DPISs occupy 1.98%, 0.67%, and 3.95% of the total area in these study regions, with population densities of 42,800 people/km2, 7,100 people/km2, and 20,800 people/km2, respectively. Further, significant variability existed in the distribution of DPISs, population ratios, and composition of the study areas. DPISs reflected the rapid urbanization process in China and the planning of the city, which can be used as an indicator of sustainable urban development in China.

Spatial correlation and influencing factors of the urban land transaction market in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration

PurposeLand transactions are a key indicator of urban sustainable development and urban space expansion. Therefore, this paper aims to study the spatial correlation of different types of land transactions.Design/methodology/approachBased on the big data of land micro transactions in Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, this paper uses the generalized forecast error variance decomposition (GFEVD) method to measure the correlation level of urban land markets. Also, social network analysis (SNA) is used to describe spatial correlation network characteristics of an urban agglomeration land market. In the meantime, the factors that influence the spatial correlation of urban land markets are investigated through a quadratic assignment procedure (QAP).FindingsThe price growth rate of urban residential land was higher than that of industrial land and commercial land. The spatial relevance of urban residential land is the highest, while the spatial relevance of the urban commercial land market is the lowest. The urban industrial land market, commercial land market and residential land market all present a typical network structure. Population distance (POD) and Engel coefficient distance (EGD) are negatively correlated with the correlation degree of the urban residential land network; traffic distance (TRD) and economic distance (ECD) are negatively correlated with the correlation degree of the urban industrial land network and commercial land network.Originality/valueThis paper uses a systematically-integrated series of problem-solving models to better explain the development path of urban land markets and to realize the integration of the interdisciplinary methods of geography, statistics and big data analysis.

Smart transport in the conditions of the cities in the Slovak Republic

The main purpose of the article is to interpret the issues of the topic through a detailed empirical analysis, both from a theoretical and practical point of view. The aim of this article is to propose solutions for cities in the Slovak Republic through a set of selected indicators of sustainable urban development in the field of transport. Specific proposals were formulated on the basis of a detailed analysis of the current state of selected cities in the Slovak Republic with more than 50,000 inhabitants in the area of selected activities, which are defined as key for sustainable development in the field of smart transport. In this article, we provide a comprehensive view of the issue of sustainable development of cities and municipalities in the Slovak Republic in terms of the requirement to increase their sustainability in the future and to provide smart, efficient, accessible public services that increase the quality of life in the area. This article is part of the solution of Project VEGA no. 1/0837/21 “Spatial and temporal aspects of EU cohesion policy: Lessons learned and future perspectives” and Project VEGA no. 1/0055/21 “The importance of smart technologies in the process of mitigating the economic and socio-psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the quality of life of citizens”.

Identifying and Ranking the Dimensions of Urban Resilience and Its Effect on Sustainable Urban Development in Tongdejie, China

Urban resilience strengthens urban sustainability and leads to sustainable solutions in the process of promoting sustainable development. Paying attention to the benefits of urban resilience to strengthen sustainable urban systems is vital to achieve our desired future. This study aims to identify and classify the key indicators of resilience in Tongdejie, a residential area in Guangzhou, China, as well as to examine and compare these indicators with sustainable development indicators. Fuzzy AHP was used to rank the most important indicators in Tongdejie. The results showed that the first three important indicators were economic indicators, and the economic dimension with a weight of 0.41 was higher than the other four indicators. Then, social and cultural indicators took second place with a weight of 0.194, and the management and institutional indicators took third place with a weight of 0.194. Structural–physical and environmental dimensions were ranked fourth and fifth, respectively. From the obtained results and their comparison with the sustainable indicators, in addition to ranking the importance of these indicators and incorporating the research related to urban construction development indicators, it can be concluded that these two concepts have a direct relationship with each other. In order to attain a desired and resilient urban future, it is important to pay attention to the indications and advantages of resilience. This leads to the development and stability of urban systems.