Management Of Metropolitan Areas Research Articles

Identifying city communities in China by fusing multisource flow data

ABSTRACTThe identification of city communities is essential for the regional planning and management of metropolitan areas. City communities could be identified from the perspective of mobile flows, and integrating the advantages of multisource flow data is essential to measure intercity connectivity. In this research, a multisource flow fusion method, which avoids the one-sidedness of a single flow, is proposed to combine the characteristics of population flow, traffic flow, and information flow. Moreover, the silhouette coefficient and hierarchical clustering algorithm are used to determine the number of city communities and the final clustering result. The results show that (1) although population flow, cargo flow, and information flow are positively correlated, there are also some differences among them; (2) the fusion flow between cities in China presents an obvious diamond structure, among which Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu are the four points of the diamond, and Wuhan is located almost in the centre of the diamond structure; and (3) city communities are identified based on multisource flow and hierarchical clustering algorithm, which meet the principles that closely connected cities are in the same community and nonclosely connected cities are in different communities.

Exploring the differences of ecosystem service values in different functional areas of metropolitan areas

Exploring the differences of ecosystem service values (ESV) in different functional areas is the basis for implementing differentiated ecological management in metropolitan areas. In this study, a general evaluation framework was first established to explore the differences of ESV in different functional areas of metropolitan areas. Then, taking Nanjing metropolitan area as a typical case, the land use transfer matrix and equivalent factor method were used to evaluate land use changes and ESV in different functional areas (moderate development area, key development area and optimization improvement area). Finally, spatial autocorrelation analysis, hotspot analysis and one-way analysis of variance were adopted to explore the spatial agglomeration characteristics, distribution of hotspots and cold spots and significant differences of ESV in different functional areas. The results showed that the expansion of developed land and degradation of ecological land occurred in different functional areas, especially in the optimization improvement area, which resulted in a significant decrease of ESV in different functional areas. The ESV of the three functional areas showed spatial positive correlation, but the distribution of hotspots and cold spots was different in different functional areas. The one-way analysis of variance found that optimization improvement area displayed significant differences in the values of four ecosystem service types with those of other functional areas, but there were no significant differences between moderate development area and key development area. In addition, the ecological function area with clear boundary was identified, which was mainly composed of the northern water network area (Hongze, Jinhu, Gaoyou) and the southern hilly area (Ningguo, Jixi, Jingde and Guangde). Therefore, differential ecological management measures such as green space construction in the optimization improvement area and ecological compensation mechanism in the moderate development area were formulated to promote the sustainable development of metropolitan ecosystems. This study can also provide reference for exploring the differences of ESV in different functional areas of other metropolitan areas within and beyond China.

Relasi Kewenangan Pemerintah Pusat dan Pemerintah Daerah dalam Penataan Kawasan Metropolitan Jabodetabek-Punjur

The arrangement concept and development of the Metropolitan Area poses as one of the most interesting issues relating to local government law. Although the Regional Government Law provides flexibility for local governments to regulate and manage their regional affairs, in the Metropolitan Areas however, the Central Government takes part in structuring the regulations and institutions. This study examines two issues, namely the regulation of Metropolitan Areas in Indonesia and the relation of authority between the Central Government and Regional Governments in the arrangement of the Jakarta-Bogor-Depok-Tangerang-Bekasi-Puncak-Cianjur Metropolitan Area. This study uses a normative juridical method. The results of the study conclude that first, regulations regarding Metropolitan Areas are spread across various instruments, namely Legislations, Government Regulations, Provincial Regulations, and Regency/City Regional Regulations. Second, in structuring the Jabodetabek Metropolitan Area, the Central Government still dominates, while the Regional Government only needs to carry out what is the will of the Central Government. This dominance can be seen in the aspects of regulatory formation and management of Metropolitan Areas.

Spatial patterns of associations among ecosystem services across different spatial scales in metropolitan areas: A case study of Shanghai, China

Understanding the spatial patterns of ecosystem service (ESs) supply and their multiscale associations are prerequisites for optimizing blue-green space planning and sustainable management in metropolitan areas. This study selected Shanghai as a typical metropolitan area in the plain river network region, and five key ESs were mapped. Based on ESs supply efficiency, an ESs cumulative curve method was proposed to identify ESs hot spots. The bivariate local Moran’s I was used to compare the trade-offs and synergies among ESs and their spatial distributions across the four grid scales and two administrative division scales. The results showed a strong spatial heterogeneity of ESs supply and a scale dependency of the associations among them. The high-value areas of the ESs supply were mainly distributed in the west, north, and south. The hot spots of each ecosystem service accumulated more than 55% of each service, but only occupied areas less than 30% of the whole area. The synergies of four of ten pairs of ESs remained consistent across all scales. At the grid scales, they were all synergistic. The synergies of nine pairs of ESs decreased as the scale increased, and the other pair showed the opposite trend. At the administrative division scales, almost all pairs exhibited the strongest synergies at the district scale, and six pairs were trade-offs at the subdistrict scale. The scale effects indicated that the district scale was appropriate for decision-making in metropolitan areas, but the subdistrict-scale results should not be directly used as a reference. Finally, hierarchical planning and conservation policies and differentiated management policies at different administrative division scales were proposed. This study contributes to creating win–win options and improving human well-being. The analytical framework can be applied to across regions and to assess the ESs supply under various planning scenarios.

A Tailor-Made Metropolitan Union. Is This a Good Solution of the Metropolitan Governance Problem in Poland?

The scale and dynamics of socio-economic and spatial processes in Poland in the last three decades, including territorial diversification of the pace of economic development and demographic and social changes, as well as processes such as metropolisation and suburbanization, determine new challenges in the management and programming of the development of large cities and their areas functional. The new processes require state and local authorities to take actions in the strictly political, legal and organizational and planning dimensions. In Poland, for almost 20 years, there has been a discussion on the introduction of specific forms of management of metropolitan areas. Failure to adopt systemic solutions at the level of the entire country (lack of political will for metropolitan reform and the creation of metropolitan self-government county) leads to the emergence of numerous grassroots integration initiatives of local governments (metropolitan associations of cities and municipalities). Since 2015, the EU cohesion policy instrument Integrated Territorial Investments has been implemented in functional urban areas. Since 2017, the first multi-task metropolitan union (Metropolitan Union of Upper Silesia—Górnoślasko-Zagłebiowska Metropolis) established by the parliament (special act) and the government (executive regulation) has been operating in Poland. The first—sui generis—statutory metropolis encourages local authorities of other metropolitan areas to adopt their own legislative initiatives (Kraków, Łódz, Tricity: Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot). Is the choice of the path for creating individual statutory solutions for each of the Polish metropolises in the form of a metropolitan union appropriate? Does diferrentia specifica for various metropolitan areas seem to be the most justified at the moment, taking into account the political conditions and the bottom-up and top-down approach to metropolitan governance in Poland? The article presents the complex path to solving the issue of management in Polish metropolitan areas and assesses the legitimacy of a solution based on a model tailored to each metropolis, introduced by a separate metropolitan act.

A comparative analysis of large-scale flood disasters

The purpose of this study is to analyze and compare the human suffering exacerbation processes in the coastal metropolitan areas of Nagoya, New Orleans and Metro Manila caused by 1959 Typhoon Isewan, 2005 Hurricane Katrina and 2009 Tropical Storm Ondoy, respectively, in order to understand disasters. The research method applied was firstly to create a timeline of each disaster process with disaster responses by referring to newspapers, literature, and others, then the facts were categorized with similar social conditions and government responses to establish a hypothesis. Field surveys were conducted to verify the hypothesis. The research outcome shows the human suffering exacerbation processes of these three large-scale disasters can be seen that the pattern of the process is the same; however, the duration and content of each disaster are quite different. These differences mainly depend on social backgrounds, disaster subculture, and disaster management by local and national governments. Based on the above research findings, a useful view for disaster investigation and disaster management is clarified, along with the possible contributions of disaster countermeasures’ timeline development, especially for the disaster management in metropolitan areas.

Identifying urban neighborhoods with higher potential for social investment using GIS-FIS approach

Today, participation in social investment is a critical concern of urban management in metropolitan areas. To be effective in both public and private sectors, such participation requires an accurate knowledge of geographical distribution of resources and social needs in different parts of the city in order to better manage these investments. To this end, the present research aimed at providing an objective and tangible integrated approach to identify urban neighborhoods with high potential for social investment. The research area was neighborhoods located in Mashhad, Iran. Thirty-one criteria in three dimensions of empowerment, education, and culture were identified. Having determined, normalized, and weighted the values of each criteria in different neighborhoods using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method, the weight scores of each neighborhood in each dimension were added up by GIS approach and Arc GIS 10.1 software. Then, in order to conclude the overall status of social investment in different neighborhoods, a fuzzy inference system (FIS) was designed in the MATLAB 2014a environment according to experts’ opinions. Finally, based on the output of the designed system, the overall status of each neighborhood studied was determined in terms of social investment and neighborhoods with high potential for social investment were identified. The approach presented provides an insight for urban mangers, companies, and philanthropic investors to invest more effectively given the appropriate social investment opportunities.

Effectiveness of community participation as anti-litter monitors in solid waste management in metropolitan areas in a developing country

Solid waste is increasing in Harare metropolitan owing to more affluent lifestyles, rapid urbanization and industrialization, obsolete litter disposing equipment and ineffective and erratic garbage collection schedules. A total of 3500 volunteers have been jointly trained as community-based anti-litter monitors by Harare authorities to curb solid waste challenges. This study assessed the effectiveness of involving communities in anti-litter monitors’ training initiatives through a comparative analysis of two adjacent suburbs in Harare, i.e. Mbare with the highest relative proportion of trained litter monitors and Sunningdale which was partially represented in the anti-litter monitors’ training programme. Impact on litter and residents’ knowledge, attitudes, behaviour and practices, trained and untrained, were assessed through litter measurements, questionnaires and focus group discussions. Litter quantities were 6.4 ± 1.3 kg/week in Sunningdale and 5.6 ± 4.5 kg/week in Mbare for streets assessed. Approximately 90% of the residents interviewed know that littering poses a serious risk to human and environmental health and the economy, and acknowledge that it is a punishable offence. 100% of residents interviewed in Mbare showed good to better attitudes towards anti-littering, whilst 17% in Sunningdale revealed a negative attitude towards anti-littering initiatives. Actual anti-littering behaviour and practices were much poorer in both suburbs relative to the level of knowledge and attitudes expressed. Anti-litter monitors are currently more effective for disseminating anti-littering information than changing actual practices. This study indicates that they are a progression from the traditional clean-up and/or education and awareness campaigns which have short-lived impacts in solid waste management in metropolitan areas of developing countries like Zimbabwe.

Selection of Impactful Environmental Parameters Using an Integrated Community Feedback System for Environmental Assessment

Environmental assessment (EA) of metropolitan areas is an appropriate method for evaluating civil and environmental engineering problems. Assessing and identifying the environmental pollution in metropolitan areas is of crucial interest, as these are used in decision making for minimizing environmental pollution. The objective of this study is to select most impactful environmental parameters using an integrated feedback to improve decision-making process and management in metropolitan areas for an environmental assessment process. The study started with 71 environmental parameters that were selected from literature study on the basis of the environmental effects on the metropolis. Subsequently, questionnaires were prepared to select the most important (controlling) environmental parameters that affect the metropolis. These questionnaires were distributed to 300 respondents of three groups. Feedback obtained was from 110 respondents (80 citizens, 11 managers, and 19 experts) in metropolitan Tehran, Iran. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software was then used to analyze the collected data. Twenty-three environmental parameters were selected based on their effects towards the metropolitan areas as a result of the SPSS analysis. These parameters comprised of 3 physical and biological (PB) parameters, 7 operational and technical (OT) parameters, 9 social and cultural (SC) parameters, and 4 economic and political (EP) parameters. Â

An overview in urban geology and urban geomorphology

Worldwide is observed an expansion in urban areas. In Greece a proportional phenomenon is mentioned. More than 52% of the Greek population now lives in the two metropolitan municipalities of Athens and Salonica. For this reason grows up the scientific interest to urban geology and urban geomorphology. Urban Geology is the application of geologic knowledge to the planning and management of metropolitan areas. Its domain spans both regional geology and applied geology. Urban Geomorphology is the study of man as a physical process of change whereby he metamorphoses a more natural terrain to an anthropogene cityscape. In such a context Urban Geomorphology is the surface component of Urban Geology, which is one of the important subfields of environmental geology. The urban geomorphology is related with the management of natural hazards and the spatial planning. Engineering geology and urban planning need to interface with geomorphology in hazardous areas.

Hierarchical multi-agent control of traffic lights based on collective learning

Increasing traffic congestion poses significant challenges for urban planning and management in metropolitan areas around the world. One way to tackle the problem is to resort to the emerging technologies in artificial intelligence. Traffic light control is one of the most traditional and important instruments for urban traffic management. The present study proposes a traffic light control system enabled by a hierarchical multi-agent modeling framework in a decentralized manner. In the framework, a traffic network is decomposed into regions represented by region agents. Each region consists of intersections, modeled by intersection agents who coordinate with neighboring intersection agents through communication. For each intersection, a collection of turning movement agents operate individually and implement optimal actions according to local control policies. By employing a reinforcement learning algorithm for each turning movement agent, the intersection controllers are enabled with the capability to make their timing decisions in a complex and dynamic environment. In addition, the traffic light control operates with an advanced phase composition process dynamically combining compatible turning movements. Moreover, the collective operations performed by the agents in a road network are further coordinated by varying priority settings for relevant turning movements. A case study was carried out by simulations to evaluate the performance of the proposed control system while comparing it with an optimized vehicle-actuated control system. The results show that the proposed traffic light system, after a collective machine learning process, not only improves the local signal operations at individual intersections but also enhances the traffic performance at the regional level through coordination of specific turning movements.

Interjurisdictional coastal management in metropolitan areas

Fil: Dadon, Jose Roberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseno y Urbanismo. Centro de Investigaciones Gestion de Espacios Costeros; Argentina

Deployment of cybersecurity for managing traffic efficiency and safety in smart cities

Boosting the concept of smart cities for implementing an intelligent management of traffic congestion while reducing cybersecurity concerns will not only be more efficient for reducing traffic congestion but also more resilient to cyber incidents. In this paper we proposed a framework that can act as a generalized firewall and work interactively with several critical infrastructures in a smart city to protect the respective operations from a variety of cyber threats. The objective is to develop several steps for a comprehensive traffic management framework in smart cities that facilitates the cooperation among drivers and between drivers and the traffic management authority. The transformative nature of the proposed study supports its applications to a variety of networked critical infrastructures, including electricity, gas, water, rails, and telecommunications, as they intend to respond effectively to a wide range of weather- or human-related disruptions. The contributions of this paper include: Improving the traffic management performance in urban transportation systems, assessing and mitigating the cybersecurity risk in urban traffic management, and facilitating efficient and cyber-secure traffic management in metropolitan areas; Developing and testing an interactive simulation platform for evaluating the traffic management performance under various traffic conditions; Validating and demonstrating the applications in a practical urban transportation system; Disseminating the proposed study results to a wide range of concerned audiences via user-group meetings, detailed education forums, and a close collaboration with the local traffic management authority.

Will Talent Attraction and Retention Improve Metropolitan Labor Markets?

Since the early 1990s, metropolitan entities and local governments have targeted incentives, policies, and investments with the goal of highly educated and skilled workers to locate in their communities. These efforts focus on attracting workers who hold a bachelor’s degree or higher and have had a profound effect on the form and management of metropolitan areas, but there is not clear evidence that growth in bachelor’s or higher degree attainment improves metropolitan labor market outcomes. I use an outcomes-based cluster-discriminant analysis to test whether or not metropolitan areas with growth in bachelor’s or higher degree (BA ) attainment from 1990 to 2010 that is above the national average experienced improvements in the local labor market. Increased BA attainment leads to two distinct set of local labor market outcomes: one in which earnings per job increases but inequality, unemployment, and poverty rates rise, and the other in which income inequality growth is low and unemployment and poverty rates decline but earnings per job are stagnant or negative. I find evidence that “educational segregation,” restrictive land-use policies, crime, and changes in military employment all predict outcomes.

Will Talent Attraction and Retention Improve Metropolitan Labor Markets?

Since the early 1990s, metropolitan entities and local governments have targeted incentives, policies, and investments with the goal of highly educated and skilled workers to locate in their communities. These efforts focus on attracting workers who hold a bachelor?s degree or higher and have had a profound effect on the form and management of metropolitan areas, but there is not clear evidence that growth in bachelor?s or higher degree attainment improves metropolitan labor market outcomes. I use an outcomes-based cluster-discriminant analysis to test whether or not metropolitan areas with growth in bachelor?s or higher degree (BA+) attainment from 1990 to 2010 that is above the national average experienced improvements in the local labor market. Increased BA+ attainment leads to two distinct set of local labor market outcomes: one in which earnings per job increases but inequality, unemployment, and poverty rates rise, and the other in which income inequality growth is low and unemployment and poverty rates decline but earnings per job are stagnant or negative. I find evidence that ?educational segregation,? restrictive land-use policies, crime, and changes in military employment all predict outcomes.

A crowdsourcing solution to collect e-commerce reverse flows in metropolitan areas

On the forward side, the growth of E-commerce in recent years substantially generates additional packets and parcels for distribution; meanwhile, on the reverse side, collecting returned goods is also becoming a preoccupation of sustainability, especially in metropolitan areas. Inspired by the concepts of crowdsourcing and the Physical Internet, in this paper, we propose an innovative solution that seeks to exploit the extra loading capacity and constant mobility from taxis in metropolitan areas to collect and delivery the e-commerce returns from final consumption points back to retailers. We assume that, on one hand, e-retailers will have incentive to outsource this task; on the other hand, taxi drivers will also be motivated because they can earn a little extra money from the shipments that they have fulfilled. As an alternative to the traditional ways, the solution proposed is more sustainable because it could simultaneously reduce the economical (pick-up and transportation costs), environmental (CO2 emissions, energy consumption, traffic congestion in city), and social (the wastes of the impulse buying, reduced incitation of online shopping) impacts resulted from reverse flows management in metropolitan areas. As the first qualitative and quantitative study of the concept, this paper uses open databases of taxi GPS traces and locations of shops in a large city in China for investigating the feasibility and viability of the solution proposed. Two collection strategies are proposed and evaluated by an optimization-based simulation model. The results generate several useful insights to the implementability and managerial issues of the concept.

Waste Management in Metropolitan Areas

This pre-feasibility study prepared by the Centro Studi D.E.I Desarrollo Etico Internaciònal - in collaboration with the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Buenos Aires aims to prefigure a course of study - research - design that will be useful to the Municipality of the Metropolitan Norte (AMN) to set about solving the issue management and treatment of waste in their territories. This study starts from the direct observation by Expert DEI, local systems of waste management in the Province of Buenos Aires and, in particular, in the territorial area of the Rio Reconquista, which fall in the area 4 of the 5 Municipalities of AMN (Cuenca baja del Rio Reconquista) . Direct observation , it adds to the experience of BTP in the search for innovative technological solutions and management standards and technologies developed on a European and Italian that can easily adapt to the realities of urban Argentine population densities are high , right from the search Italo-Argentine of has developed an integrated method of MSW management , composed of both systems , high-tech integrated systems of collection, which is registered with the trademark Argentalia® . This pre-feasibility study demonstrates , at the outset, that it is useful to explore the theme through a next step , in a real feasibility study that supports municipalities in dell'AMN important choices to put in place concrete activities and virtuous in which the waste issues can move from the problem situation to that resource.

As Regiões Metropolitanas no Brasil e o problema institucional de cooperação: a trajetória das Regiões Metropolitanas de Natal e Aracaju

O trabalho analisa a evolução do processo de institucionalização das Regiões Metropolitanas brasileiras, tendo como objeto empírico os casos de Natal-RN e Aracaju-SE. Por meio da análise institucional histórica e comparada sobre a constituição dos arranjos normativos das Regiões Metropolitanas de Aracaju e Natal, busca-se compreender como se deu o processo de formação, cooperação na gestão das áreas metropolitanas analisadas. Apesar dos diferentes contextos específicos respectivos de cada Região Metropolitana, observa-se como característica comum em ambas que não existem mecanismos institucionais e de cooperação tanto Federativos quanto intrametropolitanos que incentivem o interesse por parte dos entes federados para a cooperação. Ainda que exista uma frágil motivação política nos dois casos analisados, estes mostram uma baixa institucionalização, o que caracteriza estas duas regiões metropolitanas como um quadro de cooperação incipiente tornando inviável avançar em termos de gestão metropolitana.

New Approaches for Traffic Management in Metropolitan Areas

The paper outlines concepts and results for innovative approaches in urban traffic management. The increasing availability of traffic sensor data from stationary as well as floating car data sensors have been improved the methodology for traffic monitoring, traffic forecast and traffic management strategies. In the paper the technical features of a real-time FCD system operated in various German and European cities like Berlin, Stuttgan, Vienna etc. are described. Furthermore, the developed data processing algorithms for the reconstruction link-based and spatial traffic data are underlined. Finally, a traffic control strategy for urban areas will be discussed.

IDNDR International Conference on Disaster Management in Metropolitan Areas for the 21st Century, AichilNagoya, Japan, 1–4 November, 1993

IDNDR International Conference on Disaster Management in Metropolitan Areas for the 21st Century, AichilNagoya, Japan, 1–4 November, 1993