Major Metropolitan Cities Research Articles

Transforming distribution networks in metropolitan Sydney in response to COVID-19

The increasing trend of working from home, as well as growth in shopping and entertainment in local areas resulting from COVID-19, has changed goods distribution patterns in Sydney's metropolitan area. A substantial increase in parcel deliveries was experienced in the metropolitan area in 2020 as well as a decline in deliveries to the central business district (CBD). This is in line with the global trends and literature from other major metropolitan cities in the developed world.To address efficiency and sustainability challenges confronted by carriers a network planning tool, Last Mile Urban Freight Networks (LMUFN) has been developed that enables carriers and government planners to evaluate alternative delivery networks for increasing the efficiency and improving sustainability for home deliveries throughout the metropolitan area. LMUFN estimates the impacts (financial and environmental) of transforming existing urban distribution networks for carriers to more distributed networks with an increased number of consolidation facilities as well as increased use of low and zero emission vehicles for local distribution routes.

Knowledge and attitude on the role of lifestyle modifications in the management of diabetes in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT Background Public knowledge about the role of lifestyle in managing type two diabetes (T2D) is an essential preventive strategy. Despite efforts in public awareness, the prevalence continues to rise, with the majority relying on the availability of effective therapeutics, underestimating the role of healthy lifestyle changes. This study aims to assess public awareness of the impact of lifestyle modification in managing T2D in a major metropolitan city in Saudi Arabia, which will help inform the health management authority in the country on the level of public awareness and advise on the development of educational programs. Methods An observational cross-sectional survey study comprising 16 knowledge and 6 attitude questions was conducted among the population over 18 years old using online survey. After validation, the online self-developed questionnaire was distributed through social media. Results The knowledge and attitude scores were similar between males and females. Participants with a family member or friend with T2D demonstrated higher knowledge scores. However, the attitude scores did not differ significantly based on family or friend relationships. Conclusion The knowledge and attitude on the role of lifestyle modifications in preventing and managing T2D is moderate, implying an opportunity for innovative strategies to raise public knowledge and attitude.

Sleep breathing patterns and neurocognitive function in a diverse Hispanic/Latino cohort

AbstractBackgroundSleep disorders are common in patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), characterized by intermittent cessation of breathing and hypoxemia, has been associated with increased risk of AD and worse cognitive function. However, the interacting effects of neurocognitive function with sleep breathing patterns, independent of the apnea‐hypopnea index, (a measure of OSA severity) have not been carefully studied. We use a novel approach to analyzing home sleep apnea data to examine breathing patterns and their relationships with neurocognitive function.MethodThe Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) is a prospective multicenter study of diverse Latinos. Around 16,000 diverse Hispanic/Latinos were recruited from four major metropolitan cities. Participants used an ARES unirecorder device for a single night of unsupervised at home recording. We used python package “bycycle” to cannula data (sampled at 10Hz). Bycycle uses a time domain approach to parameterizing rhythmic time‐series data. We extracted breathing rate (breaths per minute), breathing variability (interquartile range of breathing rate) and time spent in inhalation phase (percent time). Participants ages ≥45 (unweighted n = 5,957) were tested in their preferred language using a brief battery including: B‐SEVLT (3‐trials sum) and Delayed Recall (memory), World Fluency (verbal fluency), and Digit Symbol Substitution (executive function). Covariates used in our models are described in Table 1. All presented estimates were weighted for appropriate generalization to the HCHS/SOL target population.ResultIn unadjusted models, all breathing measures were negatively associated with cognitive function, but only breathing rate remained significant after full covariate adjustment (Figure 1). We found significant interactions between breathing rate and sex, as well as age for verbal fluency models. Being female and older age were associated with steeper slopes of cognitive under‐performance for both breathing rate and breathing variability (Figure 2).ConclusionThese results suggest that breathing patterns outside apneas‐hypopneas may be as critical in understanding sleep related changes and cognitive function in an aging population. Given cessation of breathing during an apnea‐hypopnea event, breathing variability may add more precision to account for varying oxygen demands. Further studies should examine whether breathing instability is also associated with cognitive decline, impairment, and dementia.

Automated Leopard Alert And Reporting Mechanism Using Deep Learning

Today, rapid infrastructure development is taking place in major metropolitan cities, but unfortunately, this progress often involves the destruction of forest reserves, leaving wild animals homeless. The resulting environmental invasion forces these animals to venture into the cities, posing threats to citizens. In Mumbai, there have been numerous sightings of leopards and other wild animals near forested areas. Leopards have been known to attack street dogs, people, and vehicles, making it necessary to work on this problem. This paper suggests the utilization of deep learning models and object detection techniques to detect leopards and other potential threats. By integrating this technology with security applications, citizens can be made aware of the existence of wild animals in their vicinity. This research primarily focuses on addressing the concern of leopard sightings in Mumbai. The objective is to automate leopard detection and reporting using an object detection algorithm. In the proposed system, images of leopards are collected from an existing dataset available on Roboflow, comprising a total of 1000 samples. The proposed model's performance is evaluated using Mean Average Precision (mAP) & detection speed. The proposed method achieves an impressive mAP of 95.9% at a speed of 37 frames per second.

81 Test-retest Reliability of the Oral Trail Making Test Administered on the Telephone

Objective:In the aftermath and continuance of the COVID-19 pandemic, the field of neuropsychology has experienced a burgeoning literature base on remote telehealth practices. These practices include both videoconference and telephone modalities. Several studies to date have proposed evidence suggesting that inperson and remote telehealth assessments demonstrate comparable results. One of the major limitations to telehealth practices is the scarcity of measures of processing speed. A widely used measure is the Oral Trail Making Test, which has two trials (A & B). Oral Trails B is often conceptualized as a measure of set-shifting and cognitive flexibility. And validity studies support Oral Trails B having strong test-retest reliability and correlation to its written counterpart. In contrast, there is contention as to whether Oral Trails A can be conceptualized as a measure of basic attention and speed versus simple numerical automaticity. Importantly, to our knowledge, the test-retest reliability of Oral Trails A administered specifically via telephone has never been reported in a healthy sample. The following study presents test-retest reliability for the Oral Trails A and B (in a healthy control group) administered as part of a larger study investigating the effects of deep diaphragmatic breathing on cognitive functioning.Participants and Methods:Eighty healthy young adults with elevated stress levels were recruited from a major metropolitan city at a major university. The subjects had to be between the ages of 18 to 29 and self-reported Perceived Stress Scale score >13. The subjects could not practice any form of meditation, yoga, or breathing exercise regularly. Additionally, they could not have any severe medical or psychiatric disorder, be actively suicidal; have a substance use disorder within the past year, or use of medication with a known negative impact on cognition or autonomic nervous system (ANS) arousal. Participants were randomized to a waitlist control group or an intervention group. Cognitive assessments were administered over the phone to both groups (pre and post-treatment) and self-report measures were completed online due to quarantine restrictions.Results:Among participants in the waitlist control group, the mean difference (MD) between time points on OTMT-A (MD= -0.17, SD= 1.69) was small and not significant (p>0.05). The mean difference for OTMT-B (MD= -13.06, SD=26.99) was large and significant (p=0.01). Bivariate Pearson correlations were computed revealing a significant moderate strength relationship between OTMT-A performance across time points (r=0.6, p<0.001). In contrast, performance on OTMT-B across time points revealed a nonsignificant, weak relationship (r=0.2, p=1.94).Conclusions:These results do not support literature demonstrating strong test-retest reliability for OTMT-B. Furthermore, this is the first study establishing test-retest reliability for the OTMT-A as administered via a novel telephonic modality. Given the novel and non-standardized method of administration, the data should be interpreted with caution. Nonetheless, given the weak relationship in OTMT-B performance and the only moderate relationship of OTMT-A performance across time points, the results suggest that the OTMT may not be highly reliable as administered via a telephonic modality.

Transitioning diets: a mixed methods study on factors affecting inclusion of millets in the urban population

BackgroundThe increasing health challenge in urban India has led to consumers to change their diet preferences by shifting away from staple cereals and making way for healthier foods such as nutri-cereals like millets and other diverse food groups. Taking the case of millets, this study seeks to uncover the exact drivers for this shift of consumers away from a traditional cereal dense diet to a nutritionally more diverse diet that includes nutri-cereal. We also look at deterrents that dissuade consumers from shifting to millets.MethodWe use primary data by surveying respondents through interviews and focused group discussions and online questionnaires. A total of 20 personal consumer interviews and 4 focus group discussions having 8–12 members each were conducted to arrive at the measures for the study. We use logistic regression and Structural Equation Modeling for data analysis. Responses were obtained across major metropolitan cities and tier 2 cities of India thus ensuring representation of geographical, cultural and diet diversity. 875 participants’ responses were analysed for results.ResultsHealth reasons and social networks are the major drivers for shift to millets while lack of awareness, lack of easy availability, high prices, lack of branded products, family being averse to switching to millets and lack of attractive promotional cashbacks and discounts are major deterrents to trying out millets.ConclusionsDiet focussed interventions are urgently needed to curb rising diet related non communicable diseases. Government policies aimed at greater production of millets, running awareness campaigns on mass media and private sector initiatives aimed at generating better value added market offerings could lead the way.

The Social Environment Matters for Telomere Length and Internalizing Problems During Adolescence.

Depression and anxiety symptoms are on the rise among adolescents. With increasing evidence that cellular aging may be associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms, there is an urgent need to identify the social environment context that may moderate this link. This study addresses this research gap by investigating the moderating role of the social environment on the relation between telomere length and emotional health among adolescents. Participants were 411 non-Hispanic (88.56%) Black (100%) adolescents (M = 14.23 years, SD = 1.85, female = 54%) in a major metropolitan city. Youth and parents reported on an array of social risk and protective factors, and youth provided DNA samples for telomere length measurement. Results demonstrated that the association of telomere length and anxiety symptoms was stronger among youth with higher perceived stress or lower school belongingness, and the association of telomere length with depressive symptoms was stronger under conditions of higher parent inter-partner psychological aggression. The results enhance our understanding of the complex associations between biological aging, the social environment, and mental health in adolescence.

Ecological monitoring of urban thermal field variance index and determining the surface urban heat island effects in Lahore, Pakistan.

Lahore is the second major metropolitan city in Pakistan in terms of urban population and built-up area, making the city a more ideal place to form the surface urban heat island (SUHI) effects. In the last two decades, the considerable land-use conversion from a natural surface (vegetation) and permeable (waterbody) surface into an impervious (built-up area) surfacehas lead to an increase in land surface temperature (LST) in Lahore. The human thermal comfort (HTC) of the residents is alsoimpacted by the higher LST. The present study uses multi-temporal Landsat (5&8) satellite imageries to examine the ecological and thermal conditions of Lahore between 2000 and 2020. The ecological and thermal conditions of Lahore are assessed by calculating the urban heat islands and UTFVI (urban thermal field variance index), based on LST data which quantitatively assessed the UHI effect and the quality of human life. The outcomes establish that the urban built-up area has increased by 18%, while urban vegetation, vacant land, and waterbody decreased by 13%, 4%, and 0.04%, respectively. In the last 20 years, the mean LST of the study region has risen by about 3.67 °C. The UHI intensity map shows intensification and a rise in surface temperature variation from 4.5 °C (2000) to 5.9 °C (2020). Furthermore, the finding shows that the ecological and thermal conditions are worse in construction sites, transition zones, and urban areasin comparison to nearby rural areas. The lower UTFVI was observed in dense vegetation cover areas while a hot spot of higher UTFVI was predominantly observed in the areas of transition zones and built-up area expansion. Those areas with higher hot spots are more vulnerable to the urban heat island effect. The main conclusions of this study are essential for educating city officials and urban planners in developing a sustainable urban land development plan to reduce urban heat island effects by investing in open green spaces for urban areas of cities.

Social media marketing activities and luxury fashion brands in the post-pandemic world

PurposeSocial media has broadened the scope of luxury brand marketing and has emerged as a salient tool for Internet marketing campaigns in the post-pandemic world. Under the theoretical lens of the SOR model, this study aims to explore the nexus between brand social media marketing (BSMM) activities and online consumer brand engagement (CBE) via mediating consumers' emotions in the modest luxury fashion branding post-pandemic context.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted a post-pandemic survey in five major metropolitan cities in Pakistan with a total of 584 eligible young consumers who follow the fan pages of fashion brands. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses.FindingsThe findings reveal that BSMM activities have a significant influence on three emotion states (pleasure, arousal and dominance); however, only pleasure and arousal significantly drive CBE (i.e. affective engagement and activation). Moreover, the results show that pleasure and arousal partially mediate the relationships between BSMM activities and affective and activation dimensions of CBE, while dominance fully mediates the relationship between BSMM activities and cognitive engagement. Interestingly, only affective engagement was shown to be the most potent component of CBE in fostering positive emotions toward luxury fashion brands.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on social media marketing and consumer brand engagement by revealing valuable insights into post-pandemic luxury fashion branding that could assist academicians and marketing practitioners of non-Western markets.

Association Between Markers of Structural Racism and Mass Shooting Events in Major US Cities

The root cause of mass shooting events (MSEs) and the populations most affected by them are poorly understood. To examine the association between structural racism and mass shootings in major metropolitan cities in the United States. This cross-sectional study of MSEs in the 51 largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the United States analyzes population-based data from 2015 to 2019 and the Gun Violence Archive. The data analysis was performed from February 2021 to January 2022. Shooting event where 4 or more people not including the shooter were injured or killed. MSE incidence and markers of structural racism from demographic data, Gini income coefficient, Black-White segregation index, and violent crime rate. There were 865 MSEs across all 51 MSAs from 2015 to 2019 with a total of 3968 injuries and 828 fatalities. Higher segregation index (ρ = 0.46, P = .003) was associated with MSE incidence (adjusted per 100 000 population) using Spearman ρ analysis. Percentage of the MSA population comprising Black individuals (ρ = 0.76, P < .001), children in a single-parent household (ρ = 0.44, P < .001), and violent crime rate (ρ = 0.34, P = .03) were other variables associated with MSEs. On linear regression, structural racism, as measured by percentage of the MSA population comprising Black individuals, was associated with MSEs (β = 0.10; 95% CI, 0.05 to 0.14; P < .001). Segregation index (β = 0.02, 95% CI, -0.03 to 0.06; P = .53), children in a single-parent household (β = -0.04, 95% CI, -0.11 to 0.04; P = .28), and Gini income coefficient (β = -1.02; 95% CI, -11.97 to 9.93; P = .93) were not associated with MSEs on linear regression. This study found that major US cities with higher populations of Black individuals are more likely to be affected by MSEs, suggesting that structural racism may have a role in their incidence. Public health initiatives aiming to prevent MSEs should target factors associated with structural racism to address gun violence.

COVID‐19 and the urban housing affordability – evidence from select Indian cities

AbstractThe COVID‐19 crisis, globally, has significantly impacted the residential real estate market. Health concerns and lockdowns have contributed to the downturn of the sector. High unsold inventory, financial crunch, and lack of stakeholders' perspective fueled the decline in housing affordability. However, with the steady bouncing back of the economy and recovery in the market between the intermittent spikes in the pandemic, there has been a path to recovery. Housing sales, which is one of the significant yardsticks to ensure a robust economic recuperation, had an upswing of nearly 60% annually across major Indian cities during January–June 2022, as reported by Knight Frank's India Real Estate Report. Housing in India had been unaffordable even in the pre‐pandemic period, but due to several government interventions during the pandemic, the housing sector was able to recover its lost ground.This paper aims at understanding the affordability of housing in seven major metropolitan cities across India. This is discerned through the analysis of the housing price data published by NHB‐RESIDEX and the price‐to‐gross domestic product (GDP) ratios for the cities. It also examines the work from home (WFH) phenomenon and looks at the incentives and programmes from the government during the pandemic on housing in large cities in India.

Green burial conundrum: constructing the intersection between stakeholder perceptions and sustainable land use in a multi-cultural society

ABSTRACT Green burial is an emerging practice in Zimbabwe and is being encouraged as a strategy for enhancing sustainable land use. This study explores stakeholder perceptions towards green burial and its implications on environmental sustainability. Interview data was collected from a purposively selected sample of 26 participants drawn from Harare and Bulawayo, the major metropolitan cities in Zimbabwe. The results of the study showed that the most promising route to promote green burial is through religion by invoking the principles of spirituality and ecological faith. Green burial was also perceived to be more affordable suggesting that cost effectiveness may be used as a positioning strategy. Cultural beliefs and lack of green burial infrastructure were identified as the main inhibiting factors. The findings of this study point to the need for stakeholders to explore strategies to reconcile the conflict between green burial and cultural beliefs. The development of green burial legislation and supporting infrastructure is recommended as a way of promoting the mainstream adoption of the green burial practice.

“If it is circulating widely on social media, then it is likely to be fake news”: Reception of, and motivations for sharing, COVID-19-related fake news among university-educated Nigerians

This study explores how university-educated Nigerians living in two urban centres engaged with, and made choices about whether to share or not share, “fake news” on COVID-19 in 2020.The research adopted a qualitative approach by conducting focus group interviews with participants, all university graduates aged 25 or older, sampled from Lagos and Umuahia—two major metropolitan cities in Nigeria. Participants’ sense-making practices with regard to fake news on COVID-19 were varied. One core finding was that social media virality was typically seen as being synonymous with fake news due to the dramatic, exaggerated, and sometimes illogical nature of such information. Many participants demonstrated a high level of literacy in spotting fake news. Among those who said that they sometimes shared fake news on COVID-19, one motivation was to warn of the dangers of fake news by making it clear, while sharing, that the information was false. Other participants said that they shared news without being certain of its veracity, because of a general concern about the virus, and some participants shared news if it was at least partially true, provided that the news aimed to raise awareness of the dangers of COVID-19. However, some participants deliberately shared fake news on COVID-19 and did so because of a financial motivation. Those who sought to avoid sharing fake news on COVID-19 did so to avoid causing harm. The study provides insights into the reception of, and practices in engaging with, health-related fake news within a university-educated Nigerian demographic.

Seasonal variations in land surface temperature based on local climatic zone in the major metropolitan cities of India

Seasonal variations in land surface temperature based on local climatic zone in the major metropolitan cities of India

Expression of Concern: The introduction of a mandatory mask policy was associated with significantly reduced COVID-19 cases in a major metropolitan city.

Expression of Concern: The introduction of a mandatory mask policy was associated with significantly reduced COVID-19 cases in a major metropolitan city.

Statistical modeling based on structured surveys of Australian native possum excreta harboring Mycobacterium ulcerans predicts Buruli ulcer occurrence in humans.

Buruli ulcer (BU) is a neglected tropical disease caused by infection of subcutaneous tissue with Mycobacterium ulcerans. BU is commonly reported across rural regions of Central and West Africa but has been increasing dramatically in temperate southeast Australia around the major metropolitan city of Melbourne, with most disease transmission occurring in the summer months. Previous research has shown that Australian native possums are reservoirs of M. ulcerans and that they shed the bacteria in their fecal material (excreta). Field surveys show that locales where possums harbor M. ulcerans overlap with human cases of BU, raising the possibility of using possum excreta surveys to predict the risk of disease occurrence in humans. We thus established a highly structured 12 month possum excreta surveillance program across an area of 350 km2 in the Mornington Peninsula area 70 km south of Melbourne, Australia. The primary objective of our study was to assess using statistical modeling if M. ulcerans surveillance of possum excreta provided useful information for predicting future human BU case locations. Over two sampling campaigns in summer and winter, we collected 2,282 possum excreta specimens of which 11% were PCR positive for M. ulcerans-specific DNA. Using the spatial scanning statistical tool SaTScan, we observed non-random, co-correlated clustering of both M. ulcerans positive possum excreta and human BU cases. We next trained a statistical model with the Mornington Peninsula excreta survey data to predict the future likelihood of human BU cases occurring in the region. By observing where human BU cases subsequently occurred, we show that the excreta model performance was superior to a null model trained using the previous year's human BU case incidence data (AUC 0.66 vs 0.55). We then used data unseen by the excreta-informed model from a new survey of 661 possum excreta specimens in Geelong, a geographically separate BU endemic area to the southwest of Melbourne, to prospectively predict the location of human BU cases in that region. As for the Mornington Peninsula, the excreta-based BU prediction model outperformed the null model (AUC 0.75 vs 0.50) and pinpointed specific locations in Geelong where interventions could be deployed to interrupt disease spread. This study highlights the One Health nature of BU by confirming a quantitative relationship between possum excreta shedding of M. ulcerans and humans developing BU. The excreta survey-informed modeling we have described will be a powerful tool for the efficient targeting of public health responses to stop BU. This research was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and the Victorian Government Department of Health (GNT1152807 and GNT1196396).

Financial Structure and Transportation in Izmir (Smyrna) within Ottoman Government Reports

The goal of this paper is to investigate the economic life and transportation of Izmir(Smyrna) as documented in the Council of Ministers of the Ottoman State (Meclis-i Vükela) reports between the years of 1908 and 1914. Izmir has been a commercial center of attraction for centuries due to its geographical location, climate, port and hinterland. Izmir hosted different civilizations for centuries and became one of the major metropolitan cities where high-capacity international trade takes place. Izmir, where the first settlements date back to 750 BC, was included in the Ottoman rule in 1426. Izmir was frequently on the agenda of the Council of Ministers of the Ottoman State (Meclis-i Vükela). Therefore, in this paper, Council of Ministers of the Ottoman State (Meclis-i Vükela) which involves the issues discussed and/or resolved regarding Izmir economy and transportation for the 6 year period (1908-1914) were examined. Also, other archives and official documents such as Düstur, memories, copyrighted works, and thesis were examined to ensure the paper’s integrity.

Carbon Offset Service of Urban Park Trees and Desirable Planting Strategies for Several Metropolitan Cities in South Korea

Urban parks are essential for offsetting high carbon emissions in cities, which are known to be high emitters. This study quantified carbon uptake and storage in Daejeon and Daegu, two major metropolitan cities in South Korea, and explored planting strategies to promote carbon offset services. Mean carbon uptake and storage per unit area in the study parks were 2.6 ± 0.1 t/ha/yr and 29.9 ± 1.7 t/ha, respectively. The urban park trees of a metropolitan city in South Korea were estimated to annually sequester and store 50 kt/yr and 572 kt of carbon, respectively. This carbon uptake equaled 1.5% of the total annual carbon emissions from residential energy consumption. The economic value of the carbon uptake was equivalent to $3.3 million/yr, which is 1.50% of the annual establishment budget of urban forests of the Korea Forest Service. Planting strategies included reducing unnecessary grass and pavement areas, the active planting of trees in the potential planting space, multilayered planting, and planting tree species with high growth rates. These results are expected to guide policies related to carbon credits, which have recently emerged as major concerns, and to provide useful information for quantifying carbon offset services in greenspace establishment projects.

Assessing the long-run impact of vehicular movement on air quality: An ARDL Approach

Research studies and policies have stressed the impact of private vehicles on the air quality and the significance of the public transportation. But, such studies have rarely proved the quantitative impact of the same. The present paper has established a long-run relationship between vehicular population and the air quality deterioration using time series data from one of the major metropolitan city of India, Bengaluru. Adopting the cointegration method: ARDL, the paper has provided quantitative impact of public transportation in improving the air quality of the city. The result is found to have significant impact on the transportation policies which can direct the urban planners in improving the public transportation in order to have positive impact on the air quality.

On the Precipitation Trends in Global Major Metropolitan Cities under Extreme Climatic Conditions: An Analysis of Shifting Patterns

On a local and regional level, climate change has had a significant impact on precipitation in the global climatic state. The purpose of this research is to examine the trend and character of urban precipitation in the world’s most densely inhabited metropolis. From 1981 to 2020, 40 years of monthly and annual precipitation data from 50 major metropolitan cities throughout the world, based on population statistics, were analysed. The monthly and annual precipitation analysis was done using a homogeneity test, shifting point test, non-parametric Modified Mann Kendall test, and also through computing the magnitude of the trend using Sen’s slope estimate. According to the findings of the study, the most homogeneous data was obtained in May (90 %) and the least in September (74%). In 2002, the highest number of breakpoints were found in July (9 cities) and August (8 cities). The month of January has the largest significant positive trend (10 cities) whereas annually it has 20 cities. The monthly maximum of the significant negative trend was discovered in February (4 cities) and annually in 2 main cities. In November, the maximum positive and minimum positive Sen’s slope values were found to be 82% and 56%, respectively. The findings of this study are important for future water resource projections, flood or drought predictions, and engineering, scientific, industrial, agricultural, and social studies. The goal of this research is to come up with a good plan for dealing with urban flash floods and droughts as precipitation acts as the key parameter of the hydrological cycle.