Urban Development Issues Research Articles

The Implementation and Implications of Sustainable Development Goals at City Scale and Sustainable Urban Development Path

Cities were products of human social development, but the environmental pollution problems brought by high-density buildings and high-density populations in cities had become increasingly serious. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals proposed by the United Nations in 2015 were closely related to urban sustainable development issues. Based on it, this article analyzed the impact of SDGs and related theories on urban sustainable development and possible development directions. Starting from the impact of SDGs on urban sustainable development, elaborated on their impact on already implemented urban sustainable projects and relevant theories. It concluded that the future development of sustainable cities should be based on existing cities, with different focuses on developed and developing countries, but both require the protection of historical value landscapes and the greening of existing facilities. By explaining the theories and practical cases related to SDGs and sustainable cities, hoping to provide a reference and guidance for the path of urban sustainable development.

ҚАЗАҚСТАН РЕСПУБЛИКАСЫНЫҢ УРБАНИЗАЦИЯ ПРОЦЕСІНІҢ ЖӘНЕ УРБАНИЗАЦИЯЛАНҒАН АУМАҚТАРДЫҢ ИННОВАЦИЯЛЫҚ ДАМУЫНЫҢ ӨЗАРА ТӘУЕЛДІЛІГІН ТАЛДАУ

The article examines the relevance of the management of innovative development of cities and urban agglomerations, as evidenced by the widespread adoption in this area of both international strategic documents and at the national level. To achieve the goal of the strategy "Kazakhstan-2050" to enter the country into the top 30 economically most developed countries of the world by 2050, it is necessary to diversify the country's economy, one of the factors of which is the spatial development of the country, where urbanized territories play a key role. The issues of sustainable urban development and achieving a high level of urbanization are included in the strategic policy documents and plans of the Government of the country. Thus, these priorities are reflected in the Strategic Development Plan of Kazakhstan until 2025, where the main focus of the reform "Strong Regions and Urbanization" is aimed at the development of medium and small cities, the implementation of Smart City projects, the digitalization of urban infrastructure and an increase in the proportion of urban residents to 60% by 2025. This article examines the fundamental works of world regional science, classical and neoclassical urban concepts. During the dissertation work, monographs, scientific papers, and research by domestic and foreign scientists on the specifics of urbanization processes, the impact of urbanization on the socio-economic development of the country, urbanization policy, and improving the management processes of innovative development of cities and urban agglomerations were studied. The achievement of this goal has determined the need to systematize theoretical approaches to determining the essential characteristics of the urbanization process, to reveal the content of the concept of "urbanized territories"; to explore theoretical concepts of patterns and principles of the formation of cities and the urban environment; The practical significance of the study is to develop practical recommendations for the management of innovative development of urbanized territories in Kazakhstan. The results of the study will analyze the problems of the urbanization process in Kazakhstan, identify and analyze the situation concerning the ratio of urbanization and innovative development, develop a mechanism for managing the innovative development of urbanized territories, focused on using the innovative potential of cities and urban agglomerations in areas that provide the greatest return;

Rank Size Rule Analysis on the Urban Population Distribution of Indonesia for the Year 2020

The rank-size rule which is known as Zipf``s law is an interesting research topic in the field of urban and regional studies. Conclusions are drawn based on the parameters that examine people and their economic activities in a particular city. this study aims to assess the unique urban development and population distribution of Indonesia by taking into account the complex socioeconomic system and geographically different archipelago. This study uses demographical data from various cities in Indonesia to understand the hierarchal pattern of population distribution in urban areas. Furthermore, Indonesia is an interesting case study regarding urban economics since it has a vast geographical area and contains different cultures and economic activities. The main objective of this research is to understand the population distribution and to evaluate the accuracy of the rank-size rule model in this country. This research also aimed to identify the main factors that deviate the population distribution from the rank-size rule distribution. It is particularly important to develop practical policies on the urban development issues. The minor variations of population distribution in Indonesia from the rank-size rule model are a good tool for decision-makers to allocate resources, develop infrastructure, and contribute to sustainable urban expansion. In addition, this study is significant for understanding how the urban centers developed in Indonesia and how they interact with broader socio-economic perspectives which is essential for further urban development and wise decision-making.

Prediction and interpretive of motor vehicle traffic crashes severity based on random forest optimized by meta-heuristic algorithm

Providing accurate prediction of the severity of traffic collisions is vital to improve the efficiency of emergencies and reduce casualties, accordingly improving traffic safety and reducing traffic congestion. However, the issue of both the predictive accuracy of the model and the interpretability of predicted outcomes has remained a persistent challenge. We propose a Random Forest optimized by a Meta-heuristic algorithm prediction framework that integrates the spatiotemporal characteristics of crashes. Through predictive analysis of motor vehicle traffic crash data on interstate highways within the United States in 2020, we compared the accuracy of various ensemble models and single-classification prediction models. The results show that the Random Forest (RF) model optimized by the Crown Porcupine Optimizer (CPO) has the best prediction results, and the accuracy, recall, f1 score, and precision can reach more than 90 %. We found that factors such as Temperature and Weather are closely related to vehicle traffic crashes. Closely related indicators were analyzed interpretatively using a geographic information system (GIS) based on the characteristic importance ranking of the results. The framework enables more accurate prediction of motor vehicle traffic crashes and discovers the important factors leading to motor vehicle traffic crashes with an explanation. The study proposes that in some areas consideration should be given to adding measures such as nighttime lighting devices and nighttime fatigue driving alert devices to ensure safe driving. It offers references for policymakers to address traffic management and urban development issues.

KID ZONE 커뮤니티 공간 디자인에 나타난 체화된 인지(Embodied Cognition)에 관한 연구

With the acceleration of urbanization and changes in family structures, Kid Zone community spaces have become crucial places connecting urban areas and communities, making them key issues in urban planning and community development. The purpose of this study is to analyze the characteristics of traditional Kid Zone community spaces as mediators for the healthy physical and mental development of children, based on the theory of embodied cognition. The research method involves conducting field investigations on traditional Kid Zone community spaces in the Xiamen region, followed by a case analysis of two selected communities that meet the criteria. The conclusion is that Kid Zone communities can be activated and improved from the perspective of embodied cognition space characteristics at three levels: embodiment, experience, and embeddedness.

О формировании предпосылок стратегирования городской конкурентоспособности

Strategic urbanization needs new theoretical and methodological tools at the current stage of Russia’s territorial development. This article identifies prerequisites for a new approach to urban development based on strategizing the urban competitiveness. Using the general theory of strategy and the methodology of strategizing developed by Professor V.L. Kvint, the author studied the socio-economic phenomenon of urban competitiveness. The review of scientific publications involved a narrative bibliographic analysis, which made it possible to determine and classify the key factors of urban competitiveness. By strategizing the urban competitiveness, municipal authorities obtain scientifically based theoretical and methodological foundations for solving various issues of urban development. The review also highlighted urban competitiveness as a socio-economic phenomenon and revealed four groups of factors, i.e., social, economic, infrastructural, and institutional. The main prerequisites for strategizing the urban competitiveness should rely on a comprehensive analysis and forecast of endogenous and exogenous factors, while taking into account the dichotomy of the subject to be strategized. The main directions of strategizing should depend on the system of unique competitive advantages of the urban settlement in question. The approach and the basic strategizing principles introduced in this article do not complete urban competitiveness as a system: the matter needs further methodological research. However, the groundwork can be independently used to strategize urban development.

LULC dynamics and the effects of urban green spaces in cooling and mitigating micro-climate change and urban heat island effects: a case study in Addis Ababa City, Ethiopia

ABSTRACT Land surface temperature (LST) increase and urban heat islands (UHI) are significant issues in urban development. Urban green spaces are crucial in combating micro-climate change. This study assesses their effects on cooling and mitigating micro-climate change in Addis Ababa using remotely sensed data from Landsat 5 TM (1990), Landsat 7 ETM+ (2005), and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS (2021). LST was retrieved using mono-window algorithms for Landsat 5 and Landsat 7, and the split-window algorithm for Landsat 8. Regression and correlation analyses of LST and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were conducted using SPSS V23, STATA, and R Studio. Results showed a decrease in urban green space (UGS) from 120.4 km² in 1990 to 76.26 km² in 2021. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that built-up areas and green vegetation accounted for 92.2% of LST variations. The cooling efficiency (CE) and threshold value (TVoE) of green space were calculated as 4.5 ± 0.5 hectares. This suggests that allocating green spaces of this size effectively reduces heat effects. Strengthening public participation in urban greening is crucial to mitigate micro-climate change, sustain urban development, and improve quality of life. Built-up areas and vegetation significantly impact LST more than surface water (NDWI), essential for urban green and land-use planning to minimize urbanization impacts.

Building energy efficiency assessment base on predict-center criterion under diversified conditions

With the rapid expanding of urban economy and population, how to reduce the energy consumption and improve energy efficiency of public buildings has become a key issue for energy conservation and urban development. However, due to the diversity of building usage condition, energy consumption data often has problems with nonlinearity, outliers, and diversity, which greatly reduce the accuracy of energy consumption prediction and energy conservation assessment. To overcome the above drawbacks, a regression prediction model of building energy consumption is designed, which cluster the same type of data characteristics to form a subset of equipment through Gaussian mixture clustering, and design the specific normalized adaptive loss function to determine the optimal control parameters of regression model. Furthermore, a novel predict-center energy efficiency evaluation criterion is proposed, and the cumulative distribution pattern is further statistically analyzed. Finally, the energy benchmark evaluation framework is proposed to determine the energy efficiency evaluation grade. Through comparative experimental analysis, it can be seen that the proposed prediction model can adapt to different types of building data, and have better prediction accuracy and convergence speed. The consistency and robustness of the benchmark evaluation framework and method are optimal.

Убывающие города российской Арктики: статистические тренды и публичный дискурс о причинах оттока населения

The purpose of the article is to determine the most significant causes of population decline in the regions of the Russian Arctic. The object of the study was the urban population of the subjects of the Russian Arctic. The concept of a declining city, which has received various interpretations both in foreign and domestic scientific thought, was chosen as a theoretical framework for understanding the problem. In this article, the decline of cities is understood as a cumulative result of economic and demographic factors that cause population decline in the form of natural loss and migration outflow. On the basis of statistical data, a steady demographic decline was recorded in the cities of the subjects of the Russian Arctic. This made it possible to confirm the validity of the use of this concept in relation to these territories. Based on the materials of domestic and foreign studies, the most general, systemic factors of population decline in the regions of the Russian Arctic were identified, such as: the historical context and the policy of Soviet industrialization, the specifics of the local (regional) identity of the inhabitants of the northern territories, global demographic trends. At the empirical level, a more detailed analysis of the subjective perception of the reasons for the outflow of the population from the Murmansk Oblast, reflected in the public discourse of the participants of the online community of the city of Murmansk in the social network VKontakte, was carried out. The initial analysis base included posts and comments of the community for 20212022 (a total of 23.817 posts and 926.583 comments), the target sample included 268 posts and 2621 comments. Open and axial coding techniques were used to identify three groups of urban development issues as causes of the outflow of population from the region: 1) natural and climatic conditions, 2) quality of life, 3) prospects for the development of the city. Quantitative analysis of the number of comments (under posts) and likes (under comments) allowed us to identify the most significant and persistent problems, which, of course, are of increased interest to representatives of municipal and regional authorities.

URBAN PLANNING APPROACHES TO PLANNING THE BEAUTIFICATION SYSTEM OF RESIDENTIAL AREAS DURING THEIR RECONSTRUCTION

The analysis of planning experience of inhabited localities urban beautification in view of reconstruction was undertaken in the article. The question of Ukrainian experience of urban beautification system in accordance with approved standards and State Constructional Standards was envisaged. Analysis of validation state of local documents in urban beautification field was carried out and it has shown deficient percentage of regulatory documents approval on local level, which is one of key issues of urban beautification development. Furthermore, detailed analysis of foreign experience of urban beautification planning and development trend of this system I such countries, as USA, Canada, France, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan was carried out. It is shown that first and critical stage of planning of effective urban beautification is preparing and approving corresponding certificates and standards. Emphasis added to functioning normative legal documents on issues relating to urban beautification, in accordance to which the territory reconstruction in mentioned countries is realized. It was established that reference direction of urban beautification development in mentioned countries lies in parking lots removing out of the borders of curtilage or underground parking arrangement, landscape gardening development and classification of such territories by levels of urban gardening, territory reconstruction in accordance with typical schemes of street infrastructure development, urban gardening, cycle paths, etc. It is shown that problem solution of habitable open grounds organization on city level resides in usage intensification of such territories, and on the level of residential compounds – in increasing exploitation properties of open grounds. As a result of undertaken analysis it was established that raised problem of increasing the effectiveness of residential area usage within residential areas imposes complex approach, including question of land development intensiveness, architectural and planning organization and open grounds beautification.

The system of government in colonial Kenya

The object of the study of this work is the government system of colonial Kenya (1890-1950's). The subject of the study is public authorities, their powers, area of responsibility and features of functioning in East African realities. The author has carried out a detailed analysis of the administrative structure, the law enforcement system, and key management links at the central and regional levels. Special attention was paid to the issues of urban development based on the principle of racial segregation and local self-government, as well as the problem of combating specific crime. The article focuses on a number of non-trivial aspects of the British approach to organizing the work of government agencies, including special recruitment, active lawmaking, largely based on borrowing decisions from British India, and also the introduction of the institute of chiefs at the local level. The methodological basis of the article was historical-legal and problem-chronological approaches, in addition, the author turned to general scientific methods of analysis and deduction. The British system of government was built up in Kenya during the 1900s and 1920s, acquiring features of completeness in the main institutions by the 1930s. Before the arrival of the European colonialists, there was no civilizational basis for the existence of state entities. Therefore the leading role at all levels of the administrative structure belonged to people of European origin. The full power in the colony actually belonged to the governor, who unconditionally pursued the policy of the metropolis. This state of affairs was consolidated by a cultivated ideological paradigm that presupposes the superiority of the British and Europeans in general in all spheres of society, including management. The strength and coherence of the work of the state mechanism was ensured by the homogeneity of the nomenclature. By the time of gaining independence in 1963, the newly-minted Kenyan authorities inherited a completely efficient system of government bodies from the colonial regime.

Spatial-temporal evolution analysis of the impact of smart transportation policies on urban carbon emissions

The impact of smart transportation policies on carbon emission control has become a new issue in urban development. Existing literature has primarily focused on smart transportation technology and new energy vehicles, while ignoring the impact of smart transportation policies. By using a quasi-natural experiment from China, this paper analyzes the impact of smart transportation policies on urban carbon emissions. The impact mechanism is analyzed from the perspectives of vehicle intelligence, road intelligence, and cloud; the empirical analysis of spatial difference is based on the panel data of 285 cities in China. The results show that: (1) smart transportation policies and vehicle-road-cloud collaboration have a positive inhibitory effect on urban carbon emissions. (2) The inhibitory effect of smart transportation policies on urban carbon emissions is influenced by the level of urban economic development but not by transportation infrastructure. (3) The spatial spillover effect of smart transportation policies on urban carbon emissions is influenced by transportation technology. Cities with higher transportation technology capabilities show inhibitory effects, while cities with low transportation technology capabilities show promoting effects. This study provides a reference for the sustainable development of urban smart transportation systems and environmental management.

Case Study on Conservation and Renewal of Historic Buildings from the Perspective of Green and Sustainable Construction

With the continuous promotion of the concept of sustainable development and the constant development of cities, the preservation and renovation of historical buildings have gradually become one of the important issues in urban development. This article introduces the value, importance, sustainable concepts in historical buildings, application of green building technologies in historical building preservation, as well as a compilation of representative cases from both domestic and international perspectives. Based on this, personal viewpoints are proposed for future practices in historical building preservation and renovation, along with an analysis and summary of the trends in historical building development.

Environmental Changes and Food Security in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

This study aims at evaluating the role of Geo-spatial techniques in vegetation cover analysis and mapping, environmental changes and food security in Nigeria. The challenges of food security in Nigeria especially in urban centres are enormous. The unmitigated rural-urban drift as a result of socio-economic development has made it imperative to address the problem of food security in the study area. Also, the issue of rapid urban development without appropriate attention given to the important issue of food security with persistent deteriorating infrastructure for urban food processing has led to rapid price changes, in food and other agricultural products. This study, therefore, attempts to demonstrate that the recent advancements in remote sensing integration with Geographic Information System technologies provide powerful tools for mapping and detecting changes in land use and land cover using Ado-Ekiti as a case study. The digital image processing techniques of remote sensing (RS) was employed to enable speedy, accurate and objective interpretation of the multispectral data used for the study, in order to understand the extent, rate and the magnitude of land use and land cover dynamics in the study area. The study reveals that the agricultural land and natural vegetation have the highest change. Much of their land areas were converted to built-up areas for the three study epochs (1992,2007,2022). The study concludes that there is a progressive encroachment of built-up areas to other land use in the study area, thereby resulting in significant environmental changes and affecting food security.

SPATIAL REUSE STRATEGIES OF OLD INDUSTRIAL BASES IN NORTHEAST CHINA: FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF LANDSCAPE REVITALIZATION

With the transformation of China's economic structure, the reuse and renewal of old industrial bases has become an important issue for urban development. This article takes the old industrial base in Northeast China as an example and explores strategies for spatial reuse from the perspective of landscape revitalization. This article lists cases of industrial base revitalization around the world, exploring how to revitalize the old industrial base in Northeast China. This article aims to analyze the current situation and existing problems of the old industrial base in depth, propose targeted landscape revitalization strategies, and provide new ideas and methods for the renewal and reuse of the old industrial base. After conducting on-site research on residents, the problems that need to be solved in the spatial reuse of the old industrial base have been identified, and solutions have been provided. By leaving as much green space as possible, the overall ecological environment of the park can be restored. It can also activate idle abandoned space and increase the economic and ornamental value of the park. Public art can be introduced, and when designing, the role of mass art should be fully utilized to promote industrial culture and shape local spirit. Finally, by digitizing the protection, display, and utilization of industrial heritage, it is possible to achieve comprehensive and efficient protection and revitalization of industrial heritage in a high-quality and efficient manner.

PH-controlled sulfuric acid washing enhancing heavy metal stabilization in lightweight aggregate production from municipal solid waste incineration fly ash

Municipal solid waste incineration fly ash (FA) is a pressing issue in urban development. In FA treatment, washing is a common dechlorination pre-treatment. During washing, considerable heavy metal would leach due to the abundant alkaline substances, posing challenges to the heavy metal stabilization. Also, with high alkalinity, FA has potential to co-dispose of waste sulfuric acid (hazardous waste). Addressing these, our study presented a novel pH-controlled sulfuric acid washing for FA dechlorination during the sintering preparation of lightweight aggregate (LWA). It was aimed at enhancing heavy metals stabilization and enabling the co-recycling of FA and waste sulfuric acid. By controlling a pH of 10.50 during sulfuric acid washing, the leaching rate of Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, Ba, and Cr was below 2%, which was a marked improvement over conventional water washing. Sulfuric acid washed FA (SFA) can be used to produce standard-compliant LWA by sintering with bentonite and SiC. The SFA-based LWA stabilized heavy metals more effectively than LWA using FA and water-washed FA. At a 30 wt% addition rate, the stabilized rate of Pb and Cd increased from 11.7% (using FA) to 72.4% (using SFA), and from 6.3% (using FA) to 49.0% (using SFA), respectively. During washing and sintering, XPS analysis further investigated the transformation of Pb, Cu, and Zn into stable states (Pb-glass, Cu2O/CuO, and ZnAl2O4), enhancing their stabilization. Our study introduces a novel method for co-recycling FA and waste sulfuric acid, offering enhanced environmental sustainability and deeper insights into the mechanism of heavy metal stabilization.

Spatial Justice: A Value Axis for Urban Spatial Governance in the New Era

In the process of urbanisation in the 21st century, spatial justice has become a focus of attention for many scholars, policy makers and urban planners. Space is not only a physical extension, but also an embodiment of social relations, cultural values and power structures. The issue of spatial justice surfaces when urban space shows obvious imbalance and segregation. With the acceleration of urbanisation and economic globalisation, spatial alienation, deprivation and inequality are increasing, posing serious challenges to the sustainable development of cities. Therefore, exploring the significance and path of spatial justice in urban governance in the new era is not only an academic demand, but also a realistic issue of current urban development. The purpose of this paper is to deeply analyse the origin, current situation and response strategies of spatial justice, so as to provide theoretical support and practical guidance for the construction of a more just and harmonious city.

Assessment of city readiness for implementation of the smart city concept

Mechanisms for assessing the readiness of urban areas for implementation of the smart city concept are investigated. The relevance of this topic is supported by the request for effective implementation of the concept in the current socio-economic situation. The state attracts much attention to the implementation of state programs and achievement of target indicators. The issue of urban development using modern digital technologies appears to be important, with the relevant ministries paying particular attention to its solution. The paper investigates the existing approaches to the assessment of urban digitalization processes, determines the relationship between the documents of strategic planning and plans for the implementation of state programs. Based on the systems approach, the main directions in assessing the effectiveness of measures on the implementation of the smart city concept in the Russian Federation are classified and formulated. Conclusions on the necessity of adjusting the existing assessment system are made. Options for optimizing and improving the methodology for selecting indicators to assess the effectiveness of city digitalization were developed. As a result, the proposed methodology for assessing the readiness of cities to implement the smart city concept will improve the indicators of the city digitalization project.

The Interaction of Society and Authorities in Urban Development: The Case of Big Cities of Northwestern Federal District

The balanced urban development, the formation of a comfortable urban environment, including the citizens’ active participation in these processes is a priority in the strategic objectives and national projects of the Russian Federation. To reveal the essence of the interactions between society and government the author uses the concept of “civic participation” as a process by which public associations or individuals are involved in interactions with the state (vertical interaction), with other socio-political institutions among themselves (horizontal interaction) to solve socially significant problems. Based on quantitative (questionnaire survey of the urban population, N = 2000) and qualitative (expert interviews, N = 47) methods tested in 5 large cities of the Northwestern Federal District, the author reveals the features of offline and online practices of interaction between the public and authorities, as well as the conditions for their formation in urban development issues. The author concludes that such practices as contacting the authorities and participating in initiative budgeting are more widespread in the cities than, for example, protest participation on the city’s issues. Despite the preference for offline practices for constructive interactions between society and authorities, the active use of information resources and online services is becoming timely. The institutional environment of civic participation is provided with formal regulators, but urban residents are far from being fully informed about them and are not aware of the legal opportunities and limitations that determine their participation in urban development. Informal norms as part of the institutional environment, on the one hand, contribute to the formation of sustainable interactions and organizational infrastructure of socially useful activity; on the other hand, they can be based on the illegal practice of manipulating statuses and resources, which causes the growth of public distrust of state and municipal authorities. The article substantiates the importance of forming a unified information field at the city level on the topical issues of concern to residents, on possible formats of civic participation in the development of a comfortable urban environment. The findings contribute to the understanding of the problems and opportunities for the use of civic participation in urban development.

The Arctic. Issues in and prospects for urban development the formation of a comfortable living environment

The article addresses issues in urban development and formation of a comfortable human environment in the Arctic territories of the Russian Federation. Current problems that hinder the sustainable urban development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation are highlighted, and strategies for their solutions are suggested based on Russian and international experiences. Techniques and means for establishing a residential and public environment in the harsh climatic conditions of the Arctic are proposed. The work takes into account the priorities formulated in the State Program "Socio-Economic Development of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation" and aims to find integrated solutions covering the main large-scale levels of design: integrated development of territories, evolution of cities and settlements, and promising solutions for the development and organization of the environment.