Urban Development Policies Research Articles

Sustainable urban development policies and practices in the United States

Sustainability approaches have a special significance in terms of ensuring a long-term and balanced multi-dimensional urban development. The purpose of the study is to reveal and describe the main features of sustainable urban development in the United States in terms of urban policymaking and practical implementation. In the theoretical part of the paper, various interpretations of sustainable urban development and sustainable cities were discussed and summarized. Meanwhile, a brief description of the current state of global urbanization processes was given. Through secondary data analysis (governmental reports, descriptions of missions and target activities, legislative acts, etc.), comparison and generalization, the main actors (governmental bodies at federal level) and priorities of the U.S. urban policy with a special focus on sustainability were identified and discussed. In addition, the framework of the U.S. sustainable urban development policymaking was suggested and generalized. Different city rankings (based on sustainable development goals, green development, etc.) reveal the leading role of Pacific Coast urban areas, Washington D.C., Boston and New York City in terms of urban sustainability practices. Various urban innovations are implemented in the same and other urban areas, promoting the further development of smart sustainable city concept in the United States.

Built Environment’s Non-Linear Impact on Subway Passenger Flow Through Improved Interpretable Machine Learning

Understanding the complex correlation between the built environment and subway passenger flow can provide unique insights for the development of transportation operations and urban coordination policies. Few studies have systematically analyzed the rationality of selecting built environment variables and further explored the non-linear relationships. In this study, we integrated various sources of built environmental factors and developed an interpretable machine learning analysis framework using backward elimination extreme gradient boosting and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) values analysis (BE-XGBoost-SHAP). The framework was validated by analyzing passenger flows during the morning peak, non-peak, and evening peak periods at the station level. The research results indicate that there are significant differences between built environment factors and the time-varying passenger flow. Land use characteristics significantly dominate across all three temporal periods. The importance of other variable types in relation to passenger flows varies significantly across the three time periods. It is worth noting that the relationships between all variables and passenger flow at different time periods are non-linear, with the majority displaying threshold effects. Compared with the gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT) and ordinary least squares (OLS) models, the proposed interpretive framework performs better as regards R-square, root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute error (MAE) metrics. This study offers valuable insights, elucidating the pivotal land use attributes that notably affect passenger flow, the significance of varied built environment factors across distinct time spans, and the acknowledgment of non-linearities and threshold effects within these relationships. These findings are imperative for urban planning and the enhancement of station area design.

Evaluation and driving force analysis of ecological environment in low mountain and hilly regions based on optimized ecological index.

In low mountain and hilly regions, vegetation cover is higher and plant growth has an accumulative effect, sequestering carbon more strongly. The traditional remote sensing based ecological index (RSEI) lacks the consideration of vegetation productivity, and using it to evaluate ecological environment in low mountain and hilly regions will be biased. In this study, the vegetation productivity was introduced to construct a natural remote sensing based ecological index (NRSEI) that responds to the low mountain and hilly regions, as an example of Gaizhou City, China. Additionally, this study explored the spatiotemporal evolution of ecological environment quality from 2014 to 2020 and quantified the influences of factors. The results show that the first principal component (PC1) increased from 56 to 67% to 65-87% and considered the accumulation process in the ecosystem. NRSEI was more valid. From 2014 to 2020, the quality of the ecological environment generally declined and then increased. The area with "Excellent" increased from 23 to 38%. The quality of ecosystems in the west, northwest, and south deteriorated significantly, a distribution pattern of "high in the center, low in the north and south". Landuse and topographic conditions dominate the impacts on the ecosystem in the context of social, economic and policy influences. The interactions of the factors were two-factor enhancement that together affect the ecological environment. The results contribute to the development of urban conservation policies in low mountain and hilly regions.

Monitoring and assessing of sustainable development in the urban area of Ouagadougou based on SDG 11.3.1 indicator and the city biodiversity index

Urban growth can induce changes in the use and transformation of urban land. In the context of rapid urbanization, monitoring key indicators of sustainable development is essential. The aim of this study was to monitor and assess the level of sustainable development in the city of Ouagadougou between 2002 and 2022, based on global indicators such as Sustainable Development Goal 11.3.1 indicator and the Singapore City Biodiversity Index. A remote sensing and Geographic Information System approach was used to acquire and analyze open-source geospatial data. The results show an increasing inefficiency in land use, with excessive consumption to population growth until 2013. Between 2013 and 2022, this trend declined, but urban biodiversity nevertheless decreased significantly, with a 40% loss of natural areas between 2002 and 2022. Fragmentation of natural areas, due to infrastructure development, has amplified this degradation, posing ecological risks to the city. This study underlines the importance of strengthening the ecological connectivity of urban spaces to improve their sustainability and resilience. It also recommends reorienting urban strategies by integrating nature-based solutions and placing biodiversity preservation at the heart of sustainable urban development policies.

Sustainable Human Development and Human Resource Management Strategies in Building Sustainable Cities

While the context of rapid urbanization and increasing challenges faced by cities worldwide, the role of Human Resource Management (HRM) in fostering sustainable urban development has garnered significant attention. This paper presents a comprehensive review of existing literature on HRM strategies aimed at building sustainable cities. Thus, a detailed analysis of the prominent findings of studies on “human resource management” and “sustainable cities” in Google Scholar, Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases was presented by a literature review. The review synthesizes insights from a range of sources including academic articles to identify key themes, trends, and best practices in HRM for urban sustainability and reveals that effective HRM strategies play a crucial role in addressing urban challenges such as population growth, environmental sustainability, social inclusion, and economic resilience. Furthermore, the review highlights the importance of aligning HRM strategies with broader urban development goals and policy frameworks and emphasizes the need for collaboration among government agencies, businesses, academia, and civil society to implement integrated HRM approaches that promote sustainable urban growth and enhance the quality of life for urban residents. The findings from this literature review also contribute to a deeper understanding of the role of HRM in building sustainable cities. Therefore, this paper concludes with recommendations for future research directions and practical implications for human resource (HR) professionals, policy makers, and urban planners seeking to create more sustainable urban environment.

Sociodemographic factors of per capita electricity consumption and their implications for urban planning: A case study of the residential sector in Mendoza, Argentina

Argentina faces distinctive challenges with its politicized electricity pricing and aging infrastructure, prompting government efforts to reduce energy demand and promote efficiency. Focusing on Mendoza, this study investigates the sociodemographic factors (SDF) influencing residential electricity consumption (Ec) in its Capital and Godoy Cruz departments. Using data from the CONICET Center, the research develops a model to estimate Ec, incorporating various SDF and climatic factors through regression analyses. This comprehensive approach aims to guide urban planning and policy development to enhance energy efficiency (EE) and sustainability while providing targeted recommendations for Mendoza's urban energy management. Despite its localized focus, the study contributes valuable insights into the broader dynamics affecting Ec and urban planning. Our study involves the development of a model to estimate the Ec of residential users in Mendoza's urban region. The proposed model's outcomes reveal a high degree of precision in estimating per capita electricity consumption (Ec /Capita), as indicated throughout the process of error analysis. Analysis of Ec /Capita determinants identified three key SDF: dwelling composition (DC), dwelling rent ratio (DRR), and room crowding ratio (RCR). Unexpectedly, RCR showed a positive correlation with Ec /Capita. Generally, increased crowding implies that energy use for heating and cooling is shared among more people, which typically reduces per capita consumption. This result indicates that the impact of crowding on energy use is complex and potentially linked to other variables like rental status, for example. This study enhances understanding of how urban contexts in Mendoza affect Ec patterns and explores whether these factors align with or differ from those in other regions.

Surat’s sustainable future: analyzing compact urban development and population density trends

Rapid urbanization is a challenge for the cities of developing countries like India. The share of an urban area is rapidly increasing in dynamically growing cities. Due to this, the land use is altered, causing sprawl and unplanned development. The consumption of resources is greater, and the impact on the surroundings is negative. The compact city concept is always more efficient and cost effective compared to unplanned organic growth. The compact city optimizes available land resources with its maximum possible capacity in accordance with other available natural resources. The primary study objective is to assess the growth trend of Surat city using satellite images, geographic information system techniques, and census data for the last few years. The analysis considers population density for different city wards from 1991 to 2020. Based on the land use land cover change carried out using the maximum likelihood method from the satellite images, the rate of spreading out, its direction, and causes are also found. In this study, population density is a crucial attribute of the compact city concept. The study shows that wardwise density is increasing in a specific direction and making that portion of the city a dense, compact development. This is observed in ward numbers 48, 42, and 35 in the east, north, and southeast directions from Central Business District, respectively. The average population density in persons per sq. km is continuously increasing from 5006 to 20329 at city level which also shows the compact city development for Surat. The governing authorities must incorporate the compact city concept into the planning policy for sustainable urban development. By this, policymakers can understand housing needs to promote affordable housing, invest in infrastructure development and public services, and identify areas where sustainable transportation options, such as public transit, walking, or cycling, need improvement.

Predicting land use dynamics, surface temperature and urban thermal field variance index in mild cold climate urban area of Pakistan

Rapid urbanization attributed to population growth is affecting the built environment's thermal and landscape dynamics. Using Landsat satellite datasets, this study investigated the complex interplay between urban Land Cover (LC) modification, fluctuation in Land Surface Temperature (LST) and severity of Urban Heat Island (UHI) from 1990 to 2020 in Peshawar City, Pakistan. Thermal bands were used to calculate LST and severity of UHI using the Urban Thermal Field Variance Index (UTFVI). Furthermore, through Cellular Automata (CA), Logistic Regression (LR), and Artificial Neural Network (ANN), future predictions on thermal characteristics associated with land use changes were made. The results showed that the urban areas expanded by ∼25 % from 1990 to 2020, while a ∼10 % decrease occurred in urban vegetation. The city is projected to expand by ∼45 % and ∼56 % in 2035 and 2050, respectively. Notably, the results also demonstrated that urban hotspots were found the warmest with the strongest UHI severity (∼34 °C), followed by the barren land (∼32 °C), and vegetation. The results further predicted an increase of LST (∼55 % and ∼82 %) and UTFVI (∼62 % and ∼83 %) in 2035 and 2050, respectively. These findings provide useful insights for policymakers and city planners to mitigate heat stress and create a sustainable urban environment through the development of effective urban land use policies and urban greening.

Exploring the equitable inclusion of diverse voices in urban green design, planning and policy development: a scoping review protocol

IntroductionDespite the increasingly evidenced positive impacts of green space on human physical and mental health, green spaces remain inequitably distributed across different socioeconomic groups. Urban planning and design should prioritise...

Wood-based policies as a driver for the climate transition

Abstract In the context of global accelerating urbanization, the total floor area of buildings is expected to double by 2060, with a significant impact on the environment. While cities made consistent progress towards increasing energy efficiency, accounting for, and reducing embodied emissions for new and renovated constructions represents one critical priority for mitigating this impact and reaching genuine carbon neutrality. Wood is a renewable and carbon-positive material, which can have a meaningful contribution to changing paradigms on net-zero carbon ambitions of cities, but still faces the challenge of an immature integration into urban development policy framework. Through the Horizon 2020 “Build-in-Wood” project we addressed the challenge of translating novel wood building systems, pilots, wood value chains for the construction of multi-storey wood buildings, and promising practices into policy. As a result, we formulate transferable lessons learned, recommendations, and criteria that can serve as guidance for municipalities and policymakers who aim to channel their efforts toward creating a more sustainable built environment by prioritizing wood, either implicitly or explicitly. We achieved this by working on understanding the real needs of cities and territories, the drivers, and the key entry points and preconditions for new policies supporting multi-storey wood buildings and genuine carbon neutrality. Specifically, the findings are based on the close collaboration with seven affiliated cities (Early Adopter Cities in Europe), outlining and integrating the results of (i)Multi-criterial urban planning, strategic and regulatory context analysis, (ii)Participatory and co-design approaches implemented with their local stakeholder ecosystem from the wood construction value chains and (iii)Research of different best practice policies at national, regional and local level from different parts of the globe, that incentives through informative, financial, research or regulatory instruments building with wood. The entire process is presented in the form of a Build-in-Wood Policy Catalogue [1], offering insights on working with Early Adopter Cities and guidance for improving policy, governance, and the decision-making process for subnational governments. The research was not intended to be exhaustive in documenting all existing policies because of the field’s dynamics, but rather to provide an overview and understanding of different policy instruments’ applicability and potential impact.

Visual Analytic for Traffic Impact Assessment

This study strives to promote the state of traffic impact assessment through high-end visual analytics by incorporating spatial and temporal data visualization to enhance traffic management. Based on a dataset on traffic flow at three major intersections, we married data cleaning, integration, and transformation to set out for a detailed visual analysis. Thus, the critical materials comprise the traffic count in multiple lanes, vehicle types, and saturation flow rates to understand the road network's capacity. They essentially explored the traffic volume variations daily and hourly and pattern identification using heat maps, parallel coordinate charts, and bar plots. Thus, the findings expose the remarkable traffic volume and pattern differences by distinguishing peak and off-peak hours on weekdays and weekends. The level of service at each junction was determined by the volume-to-capacity ratio, identifying potential congested areas. As such, this work points to the importance of further improvements to visual analytic techniques to accurately predict traffic patterns and evaluate traffic management strategies effectively. Predictive models based on visual analytic findings can pave the way for proactive traffic control and congestion mitigation, making urban traffic management more efficient and safer. The current study provides a scaffold for additional exploration of the above-detailed methods and their penal outcomes in urban development planning and policy provision in terms of developing sustainable traffic control strategies and real-time decision-making improvements.

NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS' IMPACT ON URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY: A CASE STUDY OF AIN BEIDA CITY, ALGERIA

The city of Ain Beida struggles with a complex interplay of natural and technical characteristics that significantly influence its urban development, environmental quality, and overall sustainability. The city's natural components present both opportunities and challenges for urban planning and development. This paper explores the impacts of these factors on urban development and environmental quality. Additionally, it delves into the consequences of natural characteristics on urban development policies, addressing the dilemma between preserving green spaces and the imperative for urban expansion. Artificial obstacles pose challenges to urban expansion and impact security, as well as overall environmental health. Furthermore, the paper discusses the risks associated with natural and technological elements emphasising the importance of safety measures and emergency response protocols. The urban development policies of Ain Beida have undergone a shift primarily driven by limited land availability. Urban densification, aimed at optimizing land use, has been adopted, but it comes with environmental trade-offs. Considering the challenges and opportunities identified, the paper concludes with a set of recommendations.

Responsible urban development policy: criteria, subjects, prospects

This article examines the primary directions of contemporary urban development policy, along with the issues and contradictions associated with its scientific research and practical implementation. The study aims to conceptualize the concept of “responsible urban development” as a complex of approaches and practices that hold promise for integration into practical urban and regional development policies, and to typologize potential approaches to implementing such policies. The authors use an institutional approach, the methodology of identity studies, the structural-functional approach and a case study. The article investigates quantitative and qualitative indicators, the key challenges and tasks of urban development policy, with a particular focus on the resources of modern urban development. The authors note that relying on a limited set of indicators does not provide the capacity for decision-making necessary to update and transform urban development policy to ensure its ability to promptly and flexibly respond to the numerous problems and challenges arising under conditions of socio-political instability. The article addresses and analyses several cases of contemporary urban development and the implementation of corresponding policies. Based on this analysis, the authors conclude that one of the central and most pressing issues in the policy of responsible urban development and the socio-political dynamics of cities is the inefficiency of the communication process between civil actors and stakeholders, on the one hand, and city authorities and the city administration, on the other. This communication deficit can only be partially addressed through digitalization, as the primary obstacles to improved communication are administrative barriers and the dominance of the interests of certain groups, such as large corporations and financial institutions.

Development of an Urban Growth Model Using Geographical Information System in Malaysia: A Review

Urbanization is one of the major problems faced by various countries over time. The process by which rural regions transform into cities and people move from rural to urban areas is known as urbanization. Urban land use development is influenced by a variety of factors, including physical, socioeconomic, and environmental issues. While urbanization benefits many stakeholders by enhancing social, economic, and infrastructure aspects, it also poses risks to people's safety and harms the physical, social, and cultural landscape as more buildings are constructed. Consequently, spatial models for urban growth are often used in planning to develop strategies for controlling land use actions, such as GIS, GIS-based remote sensing, CA-Markov, AHP, and MCE. GIS and CA-Markov are among the models widely employed by researchers to simulate land use change. Malaysia also tends to utilize urban growth models as part of its efforts to plan for sustainable cities in the future. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess and review the use of GIS in developing an urban growth model in the Malaysian context. The results indicate that GIS and other models or techniques can serve as a strategic framework for urban development policy.

Diversification strategies for indirect real estate. Intersection of business, economics, and society in shanghai mixed-use developments

This study examines the impact of large mixed-use developments on the financial performance of publicly listed real estate firms in Shanghai from 2009 to 2019. The research uses a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approach, considering 14 key performance indicators (KPIs) across three categories: Corporate and Financial Information, Strategy Indicators, and Specifics of Mixed-Use Development. The article analyses the performance of large, listed investors on the Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Singapore Stock Exchanges, providing insights into their evolution over the past decade. The literature review highlights the relationship between companies’ performance and corporate finance, capital structure, and financial ratios. It identifies an existing gap in research related to mixed-use assets and indirect real estate. By using the MCDM framework, the study evaluates these assets and provides actionable insights for global investors, asset managers, and developers, helping them make informed decisions in indirect real estate investment. The findings contribute to understanding investment strategy formation in dynamic real estate markets and support informed diversification and urban policy development. This paper offers a useful appraisal framework for future MCDM risk assessments, assisting stakeholders in navigating the complexities of the real estate landscape in one of the world’s foremost metropolitan hubs. It also offers recommendations and insights on best practices for global listed firms while providing a framework for future research in the field of property investment.

Behind the budget: analysing the factors driving sustainable urban development financing in Spain

ABSTRACT This study addresses the factors that determine EU-funded resources in the context of urban development policies in Spain. The interplay of institutional capacity, prior inertia, and local characteristics emerge as determinant variables on Spanish urban financing dynamics. The analysis of the 121 funded cases in the 2021 Spanish call for sustainable urban development reveals the presence of specific local characteristics to be crucial in assessing funding. Stable small and medium-sized municipalities with previous funding experience are more likely to secure funding. The Spanish case emerges as paradigmatic, illustrating how current urban funding frameworks recognise cities with unique characteristics as exemplary models.

Democratic discrepancies in urban sustainable development

AbstractCities are critical for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Their urban sustainable development (USD) plans and policies cover a wide range of issues, such as biodiversity protection, transportation or poverty reduction. Yet, such policy-making may lack democratic legitimacy if these policies are out of step with the demands and concerns of residents. Considering this, the present study compares residents’ preferences about USD policy issues with the priorities set out in existing USD policy plans. We scrutinized the preferences of 5,800 residents across eight European cities through the application of survey experiments and simultaneously examined 166 existing USD policy plans from these cities and compared them with the survey results. Our findings indicate an on average high acceptance of USD (72.61%) but with substantial democratic discrepancies: while USD policy plans predominantly prioritize issues, such as biodiversity, education and transportation, residents expressed preferences for issues linked to their essential and everyday needs, such as cost of living, public health and poverty. These democratic discrepancies between residents’ priorities and the content of USD policy plans highlight the necessity of securing basic human needs as integral aspects of USD to foster a more profound and democratically supported urban socio-ecological sustainability transformation.

Development of a photocell-based system supported by simulations for road vehicle counting and particle emissions estimation

This work presents the design and implementation of an innovative system that utilizes photocells for road vehicle counting and computational simulations to estimate traffic-related particulate (PM10) emissions. The integration of photocell technology has resulted in a robust system with reduced counting errors, ensuring high accuracy in correlating traffic counts with emission values. The system was evaluated under various environmental conditions, demonstrating its effectiveness in providing reliable real-time data on the impact of road traffic on particle emissions. The methodology included the use of the ADMS-Urban model for emission estimation and simulations with Ansys Fluent, enabling the acquisition of dependable real-time data. The results indicate a strong agreement between measured and calculated PM10 concentrations, with the system maintaining precision comparable to direct observations. The observed values of 5.0 µg/m3 and 19.2% for absolute and relative errors, respectively, demonstrate the system's remarkable performance, supported by a robust correlation represented by R2 = 0.88. This strong correlation underscores the reliability of the employed model, suggesting its capability to capture and explain a substantial portion of the variability in PM10 concentrations. Validation campaigns conducted on a street in Portugal confirmed the system's ability to accurately count vehicles and estimate particle emissions. The analysis revealed a significant agreement between measured and calculated average PM10 concentrations, with standard deviation values of 7.0 µg/m3 for measured concentrations and 7.5 µg/m3 for calculated concentrations, suggesting consistency between the datasets. These conclusions confirm that the system is a valuable tool for researchers and policymakers, providing crucial insights for the management and improvement of urban air quality, contributing to the development of urban planning policies and environmental sustainability.

Urban growth simulation and scenario projection for the arid regions using heuristic cellular automata

Arid regions tend to form compact urban patterns that have significant implications on urban growth and future urban patterns. Spatial simulation and projection using cellular automata (CA)-based models are important for achieving sustainable urban development in arid regions. In response to this need, we developed a new CA model (GSA-CA) using the gravitational search algorithm (GSA) to capture and project urban growth patterns in arid regions. We calibrated the GSA-CA model for the arid city of Urumqi in Northwest China from 2000 to 2010, and validated the model from 2010 to 2020, and then applied to project urban growth in 2040. The results indicated that the optimal performance of the model was achieved when the fraction of the population was 0.5. GSA-CA achieved an overall accuracy of 98.42% and a figure of merit (FOM) of 43.03% for the year 2010, and an overall accuracy of 98.52% with FOM of 37.64% for 2020. The results of the study help to adjust urban planning and development policies. The developed model has the potential to be employed in simulating urban growth and future scenarios in arid regions globally, including Northwest China and Africa.

Culture as a driver of sustainable urban development - Methodological approaches

The article analyzes the concept of creative economy and Cultural and Creative Industries’ (CCIs) role. Culture’s connection with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals is highlighted, as well as the important position it has recently obtained as far as urban development policies are concerned.In the empirical analysis the European Commission Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor is examined, while the "Cultural and Creative Cities Index" (C3 Index) is utilized in two methodological approaches. Twenty nine countries, which are included in the Monitor, constitute the object analysis.Effective conclusions for the countries and the cities that participate in the Monitor emerge from the findings, proving the dynamic interaction between creative industries and economy. Moreover, through the article it is suggested to the local and regional authorities to unlock the potential of the creative economy ιn order to promote policies and partnerships, aiming at urban development and revitalization.