Influence Of Urban Form Research Articles

Influence of urban form on urban freight trip generation

Urban freight is a key driver of the economy. Increasing population and rapid urbanisation is contributing to increased freight on urban roads, which in turn is resulting in greater emission levels, and congestion on urban roads. Transport and urban planners, researchers, industry groups and policy makers are trying to cope with the challenges to make cities sustainable and liveable. While there has been significant volume of work done on the effects of transport and land use with respect to passenger transport, effect of various land use variables on freight needs to be further explored. This paper aims to address this gap of analysing freight trip generation models with respect to built environment variables such as population density, commercial density, land use mix, that are likely to influence the freight trip generation patterns (FTG) by mode. While freight trip generation is inelastic with respect to price as compared to passenger transport, spatial structure of the city is a crucial factor in the locational decision of all freight receiving entities. The analysis is performed with a dataset from an establishment survey conducted for the city of New Delhi for freight trip generation models and secondary information for land use variables are used.

Station-based average travel distance and its relationship with urban form and land use: An analysis of smart card data in Nanjing City, China

Few studies based on large sample data have examined mobility patterns from a travel distance perspective and investigated the potential influence of urban form and land use on people's daily travel distances. This paper provides additional empirical insights into spatiotemporal urban mobility patterns and their relationship with urban form and land use using station-based average travel distances (ATDs). Drawing on smart card data of the Nanjing metro system, land use data and open source points-of-interest (POIs) data, we apply exploratory spatial data and quantile regression analysis to examine distance patterns and explore the potential effects of urban form and land use calculated at different spatial scales (i.e. 800 m, 2 km and 5 km) on the ATDs. By comparing mobility patterns between weekdays and weekends and for different times of day, our findings highlight that ATDs are not uniformly nor randomly distributed in space. Positive spatial autocorrelation is found for different time segments. The results of OLS and quantile regression models show a positive and robust relationship between ATDs and distances to the city center (DCs). The models also prove that land use mix (especially measured at the 2 km and 5 km scale) significantly affects ATDs, supporting the importance of land use mix in decreasing daily travel distances. No significant relationship is found between ATDs and distances to the nearest subsidiary center (DSCs), while the employment/entertainment-residence balance has a marginal effect on ATDs at relatively large spatial scales (i.e. 2 km, 5 km). Consequently, with respect to reducing the ATDs, we recommend enhancing land use mix and reducing the imbalance between employment/entertainment and residence at larger spatial scales. Potential applications and future research directions are discussed. The findings in the present paper are helpful for guiding urban planning and policy making.

Influence of urban form on the cooling effect of a small urban river

Urban warming due to increased urbanization is becoming a serious environmental problem, requiring urban planners to consider heat mitigation strategies that reduce urban air temperature. Urban rivers play an important role in reducing urban heat through evaporation and transfer of sensible heat, known as the river cooling effect (RCE). We used detailed field measurements to calculate the river cooling intensity (RCI) and river cooling distance (RCD) for the Cheonggye River in Seoul, Korea in order to determine the relationship between RCE and urban form at different times of day during summer. Our results showed that the Cheonggye River had a mean RCI of 0.46 °C and a mean RCD of 32.7 m at 2 p.m. and a mean RCI of 0.37 °C and a mean RCD of 37.2 m at 10 p.m. Spatial variations in RCE were negatively correlated with street width and mean building height at 2 p.m., indicating that narrower streets and lower buildings would improve the RCE. In addition, temporal variations in RCE were related to changes wind speed at similar humidity levels. Our results show that the urban form surrounding a river can affect the local RCE, suggesting that landscape and urban planners should consider urban form as a variable affecting urban heat and RCE.

Assessing Impacts of Urban Form on Landscape Structure of Urban Green Spaces in China Using Landsat Images Based on Google Earth Engine

The structure of urban green spaces (UGS) plays an important role in determining the ecosystem services that they support. Knowledge of factors shaping landscape structure of UGS is imperative for planning and management of UGS. In this study, we assessed the influence of urban form on the structure of UGS in 262 cities in China based on remote sensing data. We produced land cover maps for 262 cities in 2015 using 6673 scenes of Landsat ETM+/OLI images based on the Google Earth Engine platform. We analyzed the impact of urban form on landscape structure of UGS in these cities using boosted regression tree analysis with the landscape and urban form metrics derived from the land cover maps as response and prediction variables, respectively. The results showed that the three urban form metrics—perimeter area ratio, road density, and compound terrain complexity index—were all significantly correlated with selected landscape metrics of UGS. Cities with high road density had less UGS area and the UGS in those cities was more fragmented. Cities with complex built-up boundaries tended to have more fragmented UGS. Cities with high terrain complexity had more UGS but the UGS were more fragmented. Our results for the first time revealed the importance of urban form on shaping landscape structure of UGS in 262 cities at a national scale.

国外城市形态对住宅能耗影响研究及对我国的启示

国外城市形态对住宅能耗影响研究及对我国的启示

Interferências da forma urbana na dinâmica da temperatura intra-urbana

As perspectivas de mudanças climáticas e suas possíveis consequências recomendam o desenvolvimento de estratégias para mitigar problemas relacionados ao sobreaquecimento urbano. O presente estudo tem como objetivo examinar a interferência da forma urbana, aferida pela Fracção de Céu Visível (Sky View Factor, SVF), sobre as variações na temperatura intra-urbana na cidade de Glasgow, Reino Unido, uma cidade de clima frio. 49 pontos de medição foram locados no centro da cidade e foram desenvolvidas 31 campanhas de coleta de dados, durante a primavera e o verão de 2013. Para cobrir uma grande área dentro de um tempo relativamente curto, foi utilizado o método de ‘transecto’ com rotas pré-determinadas, a pé e de bicicleta. O software ArcGIS foi utilizado para visualização dos resultados. Os resultados indicam que a variação da diferença da temperatura intra-urbana está fortemente relacionada à estabilidade atmosférica, sugerindo que esta tem realmente um importante efeito nessa variação. O estudo conseguiu apontar ainda, conforme esperado, que a vegetação e os materiais de cobertura urbana desempenham um papel importante, interferindo no clima local. O conhecimento das interferências nas variações de temperatura local pode ser mais um aliado na elaboração de estratégias apropriadas para lidar com os problemas do sobreaquecimento urbano.

The Relationships between Urban Form and Urban Commuting: An Empirical Study in China

Urban sustainable development strategies are of great importance to rapidly urbanized countries such as China. One of the most challenging problems is how to coordinate urban spatial development with social efficiency and environmental protection, e.g., highly efficient low-carbon urban traffic. Despite broad research efforts with respect to the influence of urban form on travel patterns, questions persist as to the impact of compact urban form on travel distance and modes. In this study, we adopted urban form metrics to capture key dimensions of urban form with the aid of image processing and spatial analysis based on satellite images and statistical data from the cases of 35 cities. Combined with urban travel survey data, we empirically examined the relationships between urban form and travel patterns of local urban residents. The results showed that urban form and travel patterns have regionalized characteristics, e.g., the eastern cities are characterized by disperse urban development patterns and longer commuting times on average compared with western and central cities. We found that relatively smaller built-up areas, higher degrees of urban spatial agglomeration and more paved road area per person would decrease the commuting time of urban residents. We also found that the public transport choices of urban residents are positively associated with built-up areas and commuting times, which suggests the need for provision and promotion of facilities for a high-quality public transport system. The findings provide helpful suggestions for the planning of sustainable urban form and development of transportation.

Understanding the Relationship between Energy Consumption and Urban Form

A large proportion of energy demand comes from urban areas, mostly from buildings and transport, the use of which has impacts on climate and air quality through the emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. The research in this paper investigates the relationship between selected urban form characteristics and energy consumption in England, in order to understand how one influences the other. The influence of urban form is recognized in many aspects of cities, such as human behaviour and transport dynamics. Consequently, it is also expected to have a significant impact on energy consumption and to be a key component in future urban sustainability. Urban energy consumption is calculated at a large geographic scale of analysis combining the consumption of both buildings and commute transport. Urban form indicators are obtained for the same land-parcels and correlations between the two calculated. The results demonstrate that a variety of urban form characteristics influence energy consumption. Some measures show little correlation with energy consumption, whereas other density measures show a significant scaling relationship. Therefore, density indicators such as population density are suggested as a means to explain urban energy consumption. Additionally, the results reveal that the relationship between energy consumption and urban characteristics follows a sublinear scaling relationship and hence show an economy of scale. This analysis suggests that better energy efficiency is achieved by areas with higher population density, which provides new insights to urban policy-makers and planners seeking to design strategies to cut carbon emissions and energy consumption.

Influence of urban form on the performance of road pavement solar collector system: Symmetrical and asymmetrical heights

Recent works have highlighted the importance of mitigating the urban heat island effect using innovative technologies. Several studies have emphasised the capabilities of the road pavement solar collector system to dissipate high temperature from the pavement/road surfaces not only to expand its lifecycle but also to reduce the Urban Heat Island effect. This study builds on previous research combining an urban configuration and a road pavement solar collector system in Computational Fluid Dynamics in order to understand the complicated connection of the urban environment and the road pavement. This study investigates the impact of the urban form on the performance of the road pavement solar collector focusing on comparing symmetrical and asymmetrical height of the urban street canyon. A tridimensional de-coupled simulation approach was used to simulate a macro domain (urban environment) and micro domain, which consists of road pavement solar collector pipes. ANSYS Fluent 15.0 was employed with the solar load model, Discrete Ordinate radiation model and Reynold Averaged Navier Stokes with standard k-epsilon equation. The simulation was carried out based on the summer month of June in Milan urban centre, Italy. Results showed a significant variation in the temperature results of road surface in comparing the three configurations. It was also found that there was a significant reduction in the road pavement solar collector system performance when taller building row was behind the first approaching building row. The method presented in this research could be useful for studying the system integration in various urban forms.

Carless or Car Later?: Declining Car Ownership of Millennial Households in the Puget Sound Region, Washington State

Driving has been declining since the mid-2000s after six decades of constant growth, and millennials are allegedly leading the trend. This study investigates the decline of car mobility by using vehicle ownership data in the Puget Sound region of Washington State, where transit ridership is increasing faster than in most other large metropolitan areas. Poisson regression and simple simulation results show that millennial-specific impacts such as changing location and mobility preferences were associated with about 15% to 32% of the reduction in car ownership by young adults between 2002 and 2014; this impact is comparable to the effect of sociodemographic shifts (20% to 28%) and the impact of lowering income and employment (16% to 24%). The combination of the increasing influence of urban form and the increasing share of young adults living in compact neighborhoods was associated with the remaining 6% to 7% of the change. These findings suggest that declining car mobility observed in the past decade or so is likely to persist in coming decades, and the trend will be reinforced where smart growth policies to make more livable and sustainable cities receive further momentum.

Influence of urban forms on social sustainability: A case of Guwahati, Assam

In the last decade, the rapid growth of cities and exacerbated social problems have led to a great deal of inquiry on the extent to which the physical forms of cities can contribute towards achieving a just and sustainable future. Past investigations in the western context have remained less than satisfactory, further raising concerns about their applicability to the developing world cities which face essentially different urbanisation challenges and socio-cultural shifts. As India prepares itself to become an urban majority by 2050 and gives shape to its futuristic smart cities, there is clearly a pressing need to develop stronger empirical evidence about the influence of urban forms on social sustainability which links to sustainable design, policies and practices. This research therefore, tests the effects of urban forms on six aspects of social sustainability using both, qualitative and quantitative strategies, which are calibrated and validated for Guwahati, the dominant city of Assam in India. The quantitative findings for two urban form types using six case studies show that neighbourhood forms with connected and integrated street network, higher proportion of accessible open recreational spaces, higher mix of uses, higher densities and smaller compact urban blocks display higher levels of social sustainability amongst its residents, after controlling for intervening variables. Qualitative findings for four urban form types using twelve case studies further illuminate this complex relationship at the scale of block-segments. It highlights five key theories: (i) intervening variables, (ii) spatial proximity, (iii) favourable spatiality, (iv) complementing synergies and (v) tipping point.

A parametric sensitivity analysis of the influence of urban form on domestic energy consumption for heating and cooling in a Mediterranean city

The study presents the results of a parametric analysis of the impact of urban form on domestic energy consumption for heating and cooling. Three urban typologies, the pavilion, the slab and the perimeter urban block are examined using the dynamic building energy simulation software EnergyPlus. The simulation results are processed through a sensitivity analysis using the ‘standardised rank regression coefficients’ technique to determine the relative influence of the examined parameters on energy consumption. The study focuses on the Mediterranean city of Thessaloniki which has both heating and cooling requirements. The results support the argument that there is a synergy between the strategies of high urban compactness and passive solar design and that this synergy can be achieved at different urban densities.

The Influence of Urban Form on Environmental Quality within a Medium-sized City

This paper presents the relations established between urban morphology and variations in observed air quality within a city centre. A dataset from four monitoring stations in a medium-sized city was collected and clustered by the amount of traffic-generated air pollutants. For each cluster, the relationship between the configuration of the open spaces and average PM10 concentration was established. Results show the impact of urban geometry on the outdoor pollutant concentration, concluding that increasing Sky View Factor and Ratio of Open Spaces lead to a decrease in the PM10 concentration.

Interpreting the influence of urban form on household car travel using partial least squares structural equation modelling: some evidence from Northern Ireland

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the relative influence of urban form, attitude and preferences and socio-economic and demographic factors on travel patterns in terms of vehicular miles travelled in Northern Ireland. Two specific issues unique to the research context, where car reliance is an inherent part of daily lifestyle, are of concern when determining the pattern of these inter-relationships: firstly ‘where we live’ and secondly its impact on ‘how we travel’ or vice versa. Using partial least squares structural equation modelling the empirical findings show that while there is no significant direct influence of the neighbourhood scale urban form variables on the vehicular miles travelled (VMT), regional-scale urban form factors exert a strong effect on VMT. Car-oriented preference and socio-economic characteristics were found to be key determinants of VMT, although the strongest influence is exerted by residential preferences namely ‘where we live’ which in turn influences ‘how we travel’.

Influence of urban form on landscape pattern and connectivity in metropolitan regions: a comparative case study of Phoenix, AZ, USA, and Izmir, Turkey.

Although ecological connectivity conservation in urban areas has recently been recognized as an important issue, less is known about its relationship to urban form and landscape pattern. This study investigates how urban morphology influences regional ecosystem pattern and landscape connectivity. Two metropolitan landscapes, Phoenix, AZ, USA, and Izmir, Turkey, were compared, both of which are fast-growing regions in their national context. A wide range of variables were considered for identifying natural and urban properties. The natural characteristics include typology of urban ecosystems, urban to natural cover ratio, dominant habitat type, urban biodiversity, landscape context, and connectivity conservation efforts. Urban parameters examine urban form, urban extent, urban cover proportion, growth rate, populations, urban gradient, major drivers of urbanization, urban density, and mode/approach of urban development. Twelve landscape metrics were measured and compared across the natural patches. Results show that there is little difference in landscape connectivity in the rural zones of Phoenix and Izmir, although Phoenix has slightly higher connectivity values. The connectivity variance in urbanized areas, however, is significantly dependent on the region. For example, Phoenix urban zones have substantially lower connectivity than either urban or suburban zones in Izmir. Findings demonstrate that small and compact urban settlements with more dense populations are more likely to conserve landscape connectivity compared to multiple-concentric but amalgamated urban form spreading all over the landscape (aka urban sprawl).

The influence of urban form on car travel following residential relocation: a current and retrospective study in Scottish urban areas

Spatial planning and policy continues to be used as a tool to bring about changes in travel behavior. Policy suggests that by creating particular urban forms, demand for travel by car can be reduced. This paper uses data collected in 2006 from 280 households in Glasgow and Edinburgh to analyze the relationships between urban form and vehicle miles driven, with an emphasis on those who had recently relocated. Population densities, housing type, distance to urban center, and measures of mix were collected for the current residential location and prior residence for those who had relocated in the previous three years. An ordinal regression model of change in urban form showed significant associations with reported change in miles driven, although the effect was small compared with the effects of socioeconomic factors and car ownership. While the results give some weight to intensification as a policy to bring about a reduction in average distance driven, there may be an increase in total distance driven in the intensified area with a corresponding increase in congestion. Whether such intensification can be enacted against a backdrop of preferences toward suburban, car-oriented living is contentious. As such, this study calls into question the use of planning policy as a means to reduce car use in Scottish cities.

The influence of urban form on GHG emissions in the U.S. household sector

To better understand the role of sustainable urban development in greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, this study examines the paths by which urban form influences an individual household׳s carbon dioxide emissions in the 125 largest urbanized areas in the U.S. Our multilevel SEM analyses show that doubling population-weighted density is associated with a reduction in CO2 emissions from household travel and residential energy consumption by 48% and 35%, respectively. Centralized population and polycentric structures have only a moderate impact in our analyses. Given that household travel and residential energy use account for 42% of total U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, these findings highlight the importance of smart growth policies to build more compact and transit friendly cities as a crucial part of any strategic efforts to mitigate GHG emissions and to stabilize climate.

The influence of urban form on car travel following residential relocation: a current and retrospective study in Scottish urban areas

Spatial planning and policy continues to be used as a tool to bring about changes in travel behavior. Policy suggests that by creating particular urban forms, demand for travel by car can be reduced. This paper uses data collected in 2006 from 280 households in Glasgow and Edinburgh to analyze the relationships between urban form and vehicle miles driven, with an emphasis on those who had recently relocated. Population densities, housing type, distance to urban center, and measures of mix were collected for the current residential location and prior residence for those who had relocated in the previous three years. An ordinal regression model of change in urban form showed significant associations with reported change in miles driven, although the effect was small compared with the effects of socioeconomic factors and car ownership. While the results give some weight to intensification as a policy to bring about a reduction in average distance driven, there may be an increase in total distance driven in the intensified area with a corresponding increase in congestion. Whether such intensification can be enacted against a backdrop of preferences toward suburban, car-oriented living is contentious. As such, this study calls into question the use of planning policy as a means to reduce car use in Scottish cities.

The ‘Sprawl Divide’: Comparing models of urban dispersion in mono-centric and polycentric Mediterranean cities

While recent studies have illustrated how European cities are shifting towards exurban development, the influence of urban form on sprawl models has been poorly investigated at both the regional and local scales. The present study introduces an original sprawl index and analyses its spatio-temporal dynamics between 1960 and 2010 in two Mediterranean regions (Athens and Rome) characterized by contrasting urban morphology. Different models of urban dispersion have been identified during the investigated period by correlating variables such as population density, land-use and territorial characteristics to the sprawl index. This index significantly diverged in the two regions, suggesting that recent urbanization patterns are influenced by the city’s form. The results contribute to the debate on sustainable urban form for expanding cities in Europe.

Examining the Influence of Urban form and Land Use on Bus Ridership in Montreal

The prevalence of sub urban life in North American cities in the recent decades has resulted in increased private vehicle usage while reducing public transportation system usage. An oft suggested alternative to reduce the negative externalities of the personal vehicle use is the development of an efficient public transportation system that provides equitable service and accessibility to the population as well as contributes to the reduction of air pollution and GHG emissions. The emphasis of this study is on a systems perspective where transit ridership is studied from the perspective of the transit provider, with the objective of quantifying the influence of transit system operational attributes, transportation system infrastructure attributes and built environment attributes on the disaggregate stop level boardings and alightings for the bus network in the Montreal region. A Composite Marginal Likelihood (CML) based ordered response probit (ORP) model that simultaneously allows to incorporate the influence of exogenous variables along and potential correlations between boardings and alightings a r multiple time periods examined is employed Our results illustrate that headway impacts ridership negatively, while the presence of public transportation around the stop has a positive and significant effect. Moreover, parks, commerces, and residential area, amongst others, impact boardings and alightings at different bus stops. The results a provide transit agencies a mechanism to study the influence of transit accessibility, transit connectivity, transit schedule alterations (to increase/reduce headway), and land use pattern changes on ridership.