Urban Land Research Articles

Simulating the Impact of Urban Expansion on Ecological Security Pattern from a Multi-Scenario Perspective: A Case Changsha–Zhuzhou–Xiangtan Urban Agglomeration, China

Rapid urbanization has further expanded the scale of construction land in urban agglomerations. The encroachment of urban land on ecological land has led to severe ecological problems and threatened the stability of ecological security in urban agglomerations. Analyzing the characteristics of future urban multi-scenario expansion and its impacts on ecological security patterns (ESP) can provide guidance for formulating ecologically sustainable management and control Policies. Our study focuses on Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan (CZX) urban agglomeration as the study area and establishes an ESP. Additionally, a cellular automata (CA) was used to simulate future urban expansion patterns under three scenarios (i.e., natural development scenario, urban development scenario, and ecological conservation scenario). The subsequent analysis evaluates their impact on the ESP. The simulation results indicate that from 2020 to 2030, the CZX urban agglomeration will undergo rapid urban expansion under the natural development scenario and urban development scenario, characterized by outward growth surrounding the existing construction land. In the natural development scenario, urban expansion is primarily concentrated in the northwest and south directions of construction land, the proportion of construction land increased by 2.78%; in the urban development scenario, it is concentrated in the southeast direction of construction land, the proportion of construction land increased by 3.24%. Ecological conflicts in the aforementioned development scenarios primarily arise in the southwestern region of Changsha County, as well as the southern areas of Kaifu District and Furong District. Conversely, under the ecological conservation scenario, the rate of urban expansion has significantly decreased, environmental preservation is upheld at its highest level, and the proportion of construction land only increased by 0.04%. Based on the simulation results, we present targeted recommendations for urban land planning and growth management, as well as the protection, restoration, monitoring, and development of ecological land. These suggestions provide effective guidance for improving the stability of ESP in urban agglomerations and promoting high-quality development in Chinese urban agglomerations.

A Computational Model for Water Quality Analysis and Assessment in Tanzania

Research on water quality has received much attention in both developing and developed countries. This is because of the fact that, the effects of poor quality of water are detrimental to human beings, animals and the environment. This study is about a computational model for water quality analysis and assessment in Tanzania. Water quality can be understood as the measure of suitability of water based on physical, chemical and biological attributes. Water quality analysis and assessment face several challenges due to population growth, urban land use, agricultural activities, and industrialization. Besides, attempts have been made by the scholars to address the challenges. However, the tools used like titrimetric, electrometric, pH-meter, thermometer and turbidity meter are yet to come up with effective solutions. Because of these, the researcher was compelled to adopt computational model which uses Statistical Analysis System (SAS) software in order to come up with effective solutions concerning water quality analysis and assessment. In this study therefore, the secondary data were collected from Lake Victoria littoral stations under the auspices of the Ministry of Water in Tanzania with the objective to get sufficient information concerning water quality analysis and assessment. Additionally, the collected data were coded in SAS software to analyse independent and dependent variables. SAS software therefore, was employed to obtain central tendency and dispersion as benchmarks in determining quality of water. Also, the Multivariate Linear Regression Model was run to obtain coefficients of estimation, 95% confident limits and p-value. Statistical findings from central tendency and dispersion indicate that, the mean for potential of Hydrogen (pH) was 8.165; for total suspended solids was 3.065 mg/l; chloride displayed a mean of 6.494 mg/l; calcium displayed a mean of 6.421 mg/l; iron had a mean of 0.188 mg/l; magnesium displayed a mean of 3.331 mg/l and sulphate had mean of 2.326 mg/l. Looking closely at all of the above-mentioned water quality parameters, they all align with a Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) and World Health Organization (WHO) as shown on table 1. Findings from the Multivariate linear regression model shows that: First, iron had a p-value of 0.0153, magnesium 0.0347 and total hardness had a p-value of 0.001. All of these were statistically significant in the analysis and assessment of water quality as shown on table 2. The study concludes that, the water quality in Lake Victoria complies with both TBS and WHO standards as explained above.

Perbandingan Jenis Media Tanam dengan Sistem Aquaponik Terhadap Pertumbuhan dan Hasil Melon Madu (Cucumis melo L.)

The aquaponic plant cultivation system is used to utilize narrow urban land in order to increase urban agricultural production. The aim of the research is to determine the effect of comparing types of planting media with an aquaponic system on the growth and yield of honey melon plants (Cucumis melo L.). This research used a non-factorial Complete Randomized Design, with 4 treatment and 5 replication with the factors studied was the comparison of several types of planting media for the "M" aquaponic system consisting of M1 = 50% sludge planting media + 50% rice husk charcoal, M2 = 50% cocopeat planting medium + 50% rice husk charcoal, M3 = 50% tankos planting medium + 50% rice husk charcoal, M4 = 50% filter cake planting medium + 50% Rice Husk Charcoal. The parameters observed were plant length (cm), stem diameter (cm), number of leaves (strands), flowering age (days), fruit weight per treatment (kg), fruit diameter (cm). The results of the research showed that the comparative effect of several types of planting media in the aquaponic system had a positive effect on the parameters of plant length (cm), stem diameter (cm), number of leaves (strands), flowering age (days), fruit weight (kg), and fruit diameter ( cm) with the best treatment on M1 (50% sludge planting medium + 50% rice husk charcoal). Keywords: aquaponics, planting media, honey melon

Remote Sensing - Based Analysis of LST and NDVI Correlation for the Coolest and Hottest Month of 2023 in Khanaqen City

Urban land cover characteristics often lead to variations in surface temperature. Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are valuable tools for obtaining detailed information about surface indices. This study evaluates the temporal variation of Land Surface Temperature (LST) in Khanaqen city, located in South eastern Iraqi Kurdistan and Eastern Iraq. The research investigates the relationship between LST and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for the coolest and hottest month of 2023 using Landsat images from the USGS Earth Explorer. The objective is to explore how green spaces influence LST during the cool, humid winter and hot, dry summer. Two satellite images from Landsat 9 were used to retrieve LST and NDVI for the study periods. The results indicate that green spaces significantly reduce LST in July, so that the result of the correlation analysis of variables, significant inverse correlation between LST and NDVI (R = -0.53, R2 = 0.28 and P value = 0.00) highlights the effect of vegetation cooling. Conversely, January shows a modest correlation (R = -0.01, R2 = 0.00, and P value = 0.90), indicating a minimal effect of vegetation cover on LST.

Association of Built Environment with Well-Being: An Experience Sampling Method

Abstract Background Well-being (WB) is important because it extends beyond physical health, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). From a temporal perspective, WB encompasses two aspects: long-term WB (LWB), such as overall life satisfaction, and momentary WB (MWB), such as immediate mood. While research has demonstrated a positive association between built environments such as urban land, grassland areas, and LWB, there is limited research exploring the association between the characteristics of built environments and MWB. Methods We applied the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) to collect data on the location, detailed environmental characteristics, and the MWB and LWB of adult participants living in Kashiwa City, Japan. Structural equation modeling was used to calculate the correlation coefficients between different built environments and both MWB and LWB. Results Nine hundred reports from 273 valid participants were obtained. In terms of types of locations, it was shown that cafes/restaurants/bars (coefficients = 0.85), culture/sport/education facilities (0.45), and public spaces (0.62) have a positive association with MWB. Additionally, environments perceived as natural (0.43), relaxing, and clean (2.31) have a positive association with MWB. Conversely, being on the move (-0.88) and vibrant environments (-0.58) have a negative association with MWB. Moreover, higher LWB levels were associated with higher MWB (0.64). Conclusions This study used the ESM to measure MWB and confirmed an association with various built environments. These findings provide guidance for city planning and policies that focus on enhancing urban well-being. This study highlights the benefits of places such as parks and cafes that promote happiness and the need for well-designed transportation and roads. These elements are important for developing urban areas that not only meet residents’ physical requirements but also support their emotional and psychological well-being. Key messages • Our findings show that public spaces, cafes, and cultural facilities are significantly associated with MWB, highlighting their role in urban planning as places that promote happiness. • ‘Being on the move’ is associated with lower MWB, indicating the need for well-designed transportation and road environments.

INTEGRATING SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL CONNECTIONS INTO URBAN PLANNING

Urban ecology increasingly recognizes urban vacant lots as spaces with untapped aesthetic, social, and environmental potentials. This study focuses on strategies for converting these lots into green areas in Mossoró, a semi-arid city in Brazil, by analyzing urban connectivity patterns. Using a Geographic Information System, the study identifies priority areas for green space conversion based on factors like urban planning, density, land cover, and vacant lots. The analysis revealed 429 hectares of highly suitable land for conversion. A resistance surface was also created, factoring in public amenities and urban infrastructure, which showed varying levels of resistance to human movement. Areas with well-developed infrastructure had lower resistance, encouraging human and ecological movement. Connectivity modeling highlighted a need for more green infrastructure, especially in peripheral regions, to address socio-spatial fragmentation and enhance urban resilience in Mossoró. Keywords: Connectivity, Green Infrastructure, Urban Vacant Lots.

International and national experience in the legal regulation of land and soil protection in urban agglomerations

The development of legal regulation of the rational use of land and soils in urban agglomerations as a whole is a priority in solving environmental problems in the context of creating comfortable living conditions for people in the city. In this regard, there is a need for a special analysis of legal measures for the protection of urban land and soils, the formulation of theoretical and practical foundations for the legal regulation of the relations under consideration based on an integrated approach to reduce and (or) prevent the negative impact of economic and other activities and, as a result, improve the living conditions of the urban population. Solving the problems of legal protection of land and soils of urban agglomerations should be considered as a necessary condition for their socio-economic development, since it is the most important direction of state policy as a whole.

AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO IDENTIFY SUITABLE AREAS FOR THE LOCATION OF PUBLIC FACILITIES USING MULTI-CRITERIA ANALYSIS BASED ON GIS AND AHP IN THE CITY OF EL KHROUB, ALGERIA

Random and spontaneous urban growth is the result of massive natural population growth, as it is in all developing countries. As for our study air, it also results from the unloading of the mother city of Constantine to the satellite city of El-Khroub, which gave urbanization the power to take over its vast environment, An uneven distribution of public facilities in the city’s major districts, as well as traffic jams. This work attempted to determine the suitability of urban land for the location of public facilities in the city. It should be noted that land suitability assessment is a major factor in urban planning and management. Our land adequacy assessment is subject to the AHP model, calculating the weighting of various criteria including physical, socio-economic, environmental and urban. The final adequacy analysis revealed the proportion of land most suitable, estimated at 3.52% of the total area, covering mainly fallow land. The results of this study provide a detailed mapping of urban development potential, integrating both existing data and future projections.

A Nature-based Solutions Framework for Embedding Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation into Urban Land Use Plans through Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).

Climate change impacts comprise a particular challenge for authorities when reconciling the implications of land use planning decisions. Whilst Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is typically applied to the development of urban land use plans, the selection of mitigation and adaptation strategies for climate change impacts can have knock-on effects on nature. However, Nature-based Solutions (NbSs) could provide an innovative means of addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation without these knock-on effects. The main aim of this research is therefore to propose a conceptual framework for embedding NbSs into the main stages of the SEA process to potentially enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation in urban land use planning. This is achieved through a systematic literature review of academic and grey literature sources, with subsequent content analysis. This study demonstrates the value of matching these manifold NbS approaches to climate change impacts potentially addressed in SEA process stages and suggests how this might be achieved in practice focusing on urban land use plans.

Challenges in Underground Utility Tunnel Construction and Strategies for Intelligent Management

With the rapid advancement of urbanization, the importance of municipal infrastructure construction is increasingly highlighted. The municipal underground pipeline project, as a key link, aims to optimize the living environment and improve the quality of life services for the people. Given the continuous growth of urban population and the increasingly scarce land resources, the municipal comprehensive underground pipeline project effectively alleviates the pressure on urban land resources by efficiently utilizing underground space. However, the construction of such projects involves complex construction technologies, and scientific and reasonable intelligent management methods are needed to ensure project quality and construction efficiency. In view of this, the author discusses the challenges faced in municipal underground pipeline construction and the intelligent management strategies through participation in the design and construction of several pipeline projects.

Large disagreements in estimates of urban land across scales and their implications

Improvements in high-resolution satellite remote sensing and computational advancements have sped up the development of global datasets that delineate urban land, crucial for understanding climate risks in our increasingly urbanizing world. Here, we analyze urban land cover patterns across spatiotemporal scales from several such current-generation products. While all the datasets show a rapidly urbanizing world, with global urban land nearly tripling between 1985 and 2015, there are substantial discrepancies in urban land area estimates among the products influenced by scale, differing urban definitions, and methodologies. We discuss the implications of these discrepancies for several use cases, including for monitoring urban climate hazards and for modeling urbanization-induced impacts on weather and climate from regional to global scales. Our results demonstrate the importance of choosing fit-for-purpose datasets for examining specific aspects of historical, present, and future urbanization with implications for sustainable development, resource allocation, and quantification of climate impacts.

Populism and policy capacity: Evidence from an opposition municipality in Istanbul

AbstractDespite achievements in its conceptual rigor, policy capacity still represents a relatively depoliticized concept that fails to sufficiently consider the ways in which politics plays a role in its creation, mobilization, or decay. This article seeks to contribute to this debate by investigating the impact of populism on policy capacity, the type of policy capacity challenges posed and how they are related to populist policy design. Based on a case study of a municipality in Istanbul the article shows how populist politics and national populist policy design erode long‐term municipal policy capacity by enabling the (ab)use of the rule of law, loss of expertise, exhaustion of critical assets such as urban land and financial resources, and erosion of public citizenship due to growing expectations in the form of particularistic benefits. Declining policy capacity in turn leads to a shift in municipal policy priorities.

Redressing urban land dispossession of Indians in Cato Manor, Durban, South Africa

ABSTRACT In South Africa, the 1913 Land Act and the Group Areas Act of 1950 resulted in about 3.5 million people being dispossessed of their land and business sites, with little or no compensation. Cato Manor, one of the earliest settlements occupied by Indians after the completion of indenture, was one such site of displacement in Durban. In the democratic era, the Durban City Council used the Section 34 application by the Cato Manor Development Agency (CMDA) to rule out the restoration of land lost by those dispossessed by the Group Areas Act in Cato Manor. Drawing from data collected from the Land Claims Commission, proceedings of the Land Claims Court, and participation in urban restitution workshops, this paper analyses the Cato Manor Section 34 application to illustrate the conflict between two competing public interests: low-cost housing and the need for restoration of land to those who were dispossessed by apartheid forced removals.

Correlation between Different Factors of Non-point Source Pollution in Yangtze River Basin

This research used the improved export coefficient model to estimate non-point source load in sub-watersheds and a self-organizing map model to identify the correlation relationship of factors, that can be affected by non-point source load in Yangtze River Basin. Research results indicate that total nitrogen load is 4.87 - 15.53 kg/ha; total phosphorus load is 0.18 - 0.51 kg/ha; Dong Ting Lake sub-basin has the lowest contribution value of total nitrogen and phosphorus; Tai Lake sub-basin has the highest contribution load of total nitrogen and total phosphorus; Jinsha River sub-basin reveals the highest value of total nitrogen and phosphorus contribution on grassy land and desert land; Tai Lake sub-basin has the highest total nitrogen and total phosphorus load on forest, agricultural land, and urban construction land. The correlation relationship of factors reveals a very close correlation with each other as precipitation, total nitrogen load, and total phosphorus load factors have correlation in the highest value, in which total nitrogen load and total phosphorus load factors have a close correlation with each other from the lowest value to highest value; wetland and barren land factors correlate with the lowest value and the highest value; agricultural land, forestland, and grassy land factors correlate with one another in the high value and the highest value. The forest cover rate factor, as well as the population factor, does not correlate with other factors.

Desain Taman Atap pada Gedung SMP Pesat Bogor Berdasarkan Preferensi Pengguna

The increasing rate of urbanization on limited urban land has resulted in reduced Green Open Space (RTH) in urban areas. Therefore, the design of a roof garden on a school building can be a solution to increase the area of ​​green open space and a place for outdoor learning activities. This study aims to analyze the potential and constraints on the site so that a roof garden design can be developed according to user preferences. The stages of work refer to Booth (1983) which consist of project acceptance, research/analysis, concepts, and construction drawings. The design concept applied is inspired by the organically formed Falco peregrinus. The results of this study are in the form of a roof garden site plan as well as detailed pictures of the facilities used in the roof garden of building 3 SMP-SMA-SMK Informatika Pesat. The results of the study are expected to create a roof garden on a school building that can function as green open space and a refreshing area as well as a teaching and learning area.

Evaluation and optimization of park cooling benefits based on cumulative impact and landscape pattern

City parks can cool the surrounding environment and mitigate the urban heat island (UHI) effect, considerable improving the city’s adaptability to climate. In this study, 20 city parks in Nanjing, China, were considered, and four indexes for quantifying the cooling benefits from a cumulative impact perspective were proposed. These indexes are park cooling area (PCA), park cooling efficiency (PCE), park cooling intensity (PCI), and park cooling gradient (PCG). The results reveal the following: first, city parks have a positive impact on the surrounding thermal environment. The factors park area (PA), park perimeter (PP), landscape shape index (LSI), and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) determine cooling benefits. Second, PA and PP are significantly positively correlated with PCA but are significantly negatively correlated with PCE. LSI is negatively correlated with PCE, while NDVI is positively correlated with PCI and PCG. No significant correlation exists between the four cooling indexes and modified normalized difference water index(MNDWI). Finally, different parks exhibit variations in their ability to provide cooling benefits. Special or community parks are more appropriately situated in areas with constrained urban land resources. In designing comprehensive parks, the intricate boundary features and vegetation conditions need to be considered to optimize their cooling effects. Moreover, a larger number of residents are allowed to enjoy cooling services. The findings of this project will aid in the construction and optimization of city parks in future to combat the UHI effect.

Scale-Dependent Effects of Urban Canopy Cover, Canopy Volume, and Impervious Surfaces on Near-Surface Air Temperature in a Mid-Sized City

Cities are significantly warmer than their surrounding rural environments. Known as the ‘urban heat island effect’, it can affect the health of urban residents and lead to increased energy use, public health impacts, and damage to infrastructure. Although this effect is extensively researched, less is known about how landscape characteristics within cities affect local temperature variation. This study examined how tree canopy cover, canopy volume, and impervious surface cover affect daytime near-surface air temperature, and how these effects vary between different scales of analysis (10, 30, 60, 90 m radii), ranging from approximate street corridor to city block size. Temperature data were obtained from a car-mounted sensor, with traverse data points recorded during morning, afternoon, and evening times, plotted throughout the city of Portland, OR. The variability in near-surface air temperature was over 10° F during each traverse period. The results indicate that near-surface air temperature increased linearly with impervious surface cover and decreased linearly with tree canopy cover, with canopy volume reducing the temperature by 1° F for every 500 cubic feet of canopy volume for evening temperatures. The magnitude of the effect of tree canopy increased with spatial scale, with 60 and 90 m scales having the greatest measurable effect. Canopy volume had a positive relationship on presumed nighttime and early-morning temperatures at 60 and 90 m scales, potentially due to the impacts of wind fluctuation and air roughness. Canopy cover still contributed the largest overall decrease in street-scale temperatures. Increasing tree canopy cover and volume effectively explained the lower daytime and evening temperatures, while reducing impervious surface cover remains critical for reducing morning and presumed nighttime urban heat. The results may inform strategies for urban foresters and planners in managing urban land cover and tree planting patterns to build increased resiliency towards moderating urban temperature under warming climate conditions.

Dynamic analysis of landscape drivers in the thermal environment of Guanzhong plain urban agglomeration

Climate change caused by rapid urbanization in the Guanzhong region of China is becoming an increasingly significant problem. Previous empirical studies have confirmed that landscape patterns inextricably linked with the thermal environment, but static results based on a single temporal cross section of image data provide only a partial understanding. In this paper, we constructed a dynamic framework using Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) for temperature simulation and Geodetector to study the landscape factors and their interactions that influence near-surface temperature (NST) changes in the Guanzhong Plain Urban Agglomeration (GPUA) between 2000 and 2020. Results showed that the GPUA average NST increased by 0.012 °C and 0.053 °C in January and July from 2000 to 2020, respectively. In terms of the dynamic correlation between landscape patterns and NST, cropland (CPL) was negative, urban land (UBL) was positive, and the remainder of the landscapes differed in winter and summer. Furthermore, results from the Geodetector showed that UBL embodied a stronger influence in summer than during winter months. This finding helps to explain why the average NST increase is higher in summer than during winter. The Dynamic Q values (DQ) of the area-based landscape metrics were generally larger than those of other spatial configuration metrics, and the interaction results showed that the landscape metrics of various land-cover classifications were enhanced, indicating that the superposition effect among landscape metrics needs to be taken into account in landscape planning in addition to area factors. The study of the relationship between landscape patterns and thermal environment considering dynamic perspective using WRF offers an important theoretical reference allied with practical guidance for understanding and adapting to forthcoming change in our climate through which we can help drive sustainable development decisions of the GPUA.

Prediction of Commercial Street Location Based on Point of Interest (POI) Big Data and Machine Learning

Identifying optimal locations for sustainable commercial street development is crucial for driving economic growth and enhancing social vitality in cities. This study proposes a data-driven approach to predict potential sites for commercial streets in Foshan City, China, utilizing Points of Interest (POI) big data and machine learning techniques. Decision tree algorithms are employed to quantitatively assess and predict optimal locations at a fine-grained spatial resolution, dividing the study area into 9808 grid cells. The analysis identifies 2157 grid cells as potential sites for commercial street development, highlighting the significant influence of Medical Care, Shopping, and Recreation and Entertainment POIs on site selection. The study underscores the importance of considering population base, human activity patterns, and cultural elements in sustainable urban development. The main contributions include providing a novel decision-support method for data-driven and sustainable commercial street site selection and offering insights into the complex interplay between urban land use, human activities, and commercial development. The findings have important implications for urban planning and policy-making, showcasing the potential of data-driven approaches in guiding sustainable urban development and fostering vibrant commercial areas.

Automated Generation of Urban Land Cover Maps and Their Enhancement and Regularization

Automated Generation of Urban Land Cover Maps and Their Enhancement and Regularization