Urban Environmental Quality Research Articles

Particulate Matter in an Urban–Industrial Environment: Comparing Data of Dispersion Modeling with Tree Leaves Deposition

Particulate matter represents a serious hazard to human health, and air quality models contribute to the understanding of its dispersion. This study describes particulate matter with a ≤10 μm diameter (PM10) dynamics in an urban–industrial area, through the comparison of three datasets: modeled (TAPM—The Air Pollution Model), measured concentration (environmental control stations—ECS), and leaf deposition values. Results showed a good agreement between ECS and TAPM data. A steel plant area was used as a PM10 emissions reference source, in relation to the four sampling areas, and a distance/wind-based factor was introduced (Steel Factor, SF). Through SF, the three datasets were compared. The SF was able to describe the PM10 dispersion values for ECS and leaf deposition (r2 = 0.61–0.94 for ECS; r2 = 0.45–0.70 for leaf); no relationship was found for TAPM results. Differences between measured and modeled data can be due to discrepancies in one district and explained by a lack of PM10 inventory for the steel plant emissions. The study suggests the use of TAPM as a suitable tool for PM10 modeling at the urban scale. Moreover, tree leaves are a low-cost tool to evaluate the urban environmental quality, by providing information on whether and when data from leaf deposition can be used as a proxy for air pollution concentration. Further studies to include the re-suspension of particles as a PM10 source within emission inventories are suggested.

The level of air quality at public transport stations: The Case of Torhailoch-Ayat main road in Addis Ababa

IntroductionThe increase of population and rapid spatial expansion of urban areas generate high travel demand and increase of motorization, which is directly related to air quality of urban environment. The continuous increase in traffic congestion and fuel consumption deteriorates air quality. Public transportation stations are places where people spend a considerable amount of time in the open and get exposed to transport-related emissions. The aim of this study is to investigate the level of air quality at public transport stations in Addis Ababa city along the major route from Torhailoch to Ayat focusing on the concentration of PM2.5, PM10, Air Quality Index (AQI) and CO2. Methods and materialsObservation, vehicle count and field measurements of air quality were used to collect the data. Primary data were collected via field surveying using IQAir AirVisual® pro model air quality measuring device from five public transport stations at peak and off-peak hours. ResultsThis study found that increase in peak hour traffic volume at stations contributes high concentration of PM2.5, PM10, AQI and CO2. High levels of air pollutants were found during peak hours compared to off peak hours. The maximum 30 min’ average concentrations of PM2.5 were found to be 89 μg/m3 during peak hours and 61 μg/m3 during off peak hours, which is far exceeding the WHO air quality standard (35.4 μg/m3). Regression model shows dependent variable (PM2.5) and independent variables is statistically significant. ConclusionThe temporal and spatial distributions of the air pollutants in this study demonstrated that rush hours were the most polluted, having high concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 while an off-peak hour have low concentration of air pollutants. RecommendationIt is recommended that the city government should encourage zero emission vehicles, provision of efficient public transport and green development in order to reduce the current condition of transport-related air pollutants.

Effects of Heavy Metal Content on Fungal Community Structure in Urban Soil

As an important part of the soil microbial system, fungi can clearly indicate changes in the soil environment.Human activities in the city can easily affect the soil condition, so the phenomenon of artificial heavy metal enrichment often appears in urban soil. The objective of this study was to analyze the fungal community structure in different urban functional areas and to determine the effect of heavy metal content in different urban functional areas on the soil fungal community structure. This study provides theoretical basis for protecting and repairing the urban soil ecosystem and transforming and improving urban environmental quality. Soil samples from eight sampling sites in five functional areas of Beibei District in Chongqing were taken as the research objects. The diversity and community structure of fungi in soil were studied using high-throughput sequencing technology. The content of Cd and Hg in the soil of different functional areas in Beibei District exceeded the environmental background value of Chongqing. The 20-40 cm and 40-60 cm soil layers of JD were slightly polluted. The 20-40 cm soil layer and 0-20 cm soil layer of JLD and ZYY, respectively, were in the alerting state of heavy metal pollution. The Sobs index, Chao 1 index, and Ace index of most sampling points decreased with the increase in soil depth. The NMDS analysis showed that the composition of fungal communities between the 0-20 cm and 20-40 cm soil depths in both JD and ZYY were quite different. From the perspective of community composition, Ascomycota was the most abundant phylum in the soil, followed by unclassified _k _Fungi and Basidiomycota. At the genus level, unclassified_k_Fungi, unclassified_p_Ascomycota, unclassified_o_Sordariales, Scopuloides, Robillarda, and Dactylonectria had higher abundances. The redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that Pb and Zn had the greatest effect on the samples, and the effect on the fungal community structure was significantly different. This study has deepened the understanding of the relationship between the content of heavy metals in different urban functional areas and the structure of fungal communities and has provided a scientific basis for the rational use and planning of urban soil.

Ecological Landscape Design and Evaluation in Public Charging Facilities for Electric Vehicles.

The deterioration of the environment in the 21st century has made environmental issues one of the most severe tests for modern society. With this comes a change in energy structure from high-carbon to low-carbon direction, and electric vehicles are gradually developing into the darling of a city with low-carbon transportation and safe travel. This paper carries out a systematic analysis of landscape design and environmental protection in the development of new energy electric vehicle charging facilities in urban habitat. By categorizing the content and provisions of published domestic and international standards, new requirements for standardization are obtained, including barrier-free design, electromagnetic radiation, child safety protection, and urban landscape integration. Among them, ecological landscape public charging facilities can enhance the overall quality of urban environment. This paper analyzes the necessity of landscape design in charging facilities, explores the ecological concepts extended by macroscopic landscape design principles and the problems of public charging facilities, and proposes a design and evaluation method of ecologically landscaped public charging facilities based on hierarchical analysis and neural networks. The hierarchical analysis method is introduced to establish a landscape design assessment index system, and then a neural network is introduced to describe the characteristics of electric vehicle charging, and the landscape design assessment learning samples are trained to establish a landscape design assessment model. Finally, a comparison experiment is conducted with other landscape design assessment methods using specific examples, and the results show that the proposed method has more obvious advantages in ecological landscape public charging facility design assessment with high accuracy, faster landscape design assessment, charging efficiency, and environmental protection.

Emerging investigator series: ozone uptake by urban road dust and first evidence for chlorine activation during ozone uptake by agro-based anti-icer: implications for wintertime air quality in high-latitude urban environments.

High-latitude urban regions provide a unique and complex range of environmental surfaces for uptake of trace pollutant gases, including winter road maintenance materials (e.g., gravel, rock salts, and anti-icer, a saline solution applied to roads during winter). In an effort to reduce the negative environmental and economic impacts of road salts, many municipalities have turned to agro-based anti-icing materials that are rich in organic material. To date, the reactivity of both anti-icer and saline road dust with pollutant gases remain unexplored, which limits our ability to assess the potential impacts of these materials on air quality in high-latitude regions. Here, we used a coated-wall flow tube to investigate the uptake of ozone, an important air pollutant, by road dust collected in Edmonton, Canada. At 25% relative humidity (RH) and 50 ppb ozone, γBET for ozone uptake by this sample is (8.0 ± 0.7) × 10-8 under dark conditions and (2.1 ± 0.1) × 10-7 under illuminated conditions. These values are 2-4× higher than those previously obtained by our group for natural mineral dusts, but are not large enough for suspended road dust to influence local ozone mixing ratios. In a separate set of experiments, we also investigated the uptake of ozone by calcium chloride (i.e., road salt) and commercial anti-icer solution. Although ozone uptake by pure calcium chloride was negligible, ozone uptake by anti-icer was significant, which implies that the reactivity of anti-icer is conferred by its organic content. Importantly, ozone uptake by anti-icer-and, to a lesser extent, road dust doped with anti-icer-leads to the release of inorganic chlorine gas, which we collected using inline reductive trapping and quantified using ion chromatography. To explain these results, we propose a novel pathway for chlorine activation: here, ozone oxidation of the anti-icer organic fraction (in this case, molasses) yields reactive OH radicals that can oxidize chloride. In summary, this study demonstrates the ability of road dust and anti-icer to influence atmospheric oxidant mixing ratios in cold-climate urban areas, and highlights previously unidentified air quality impacts of winter road maintenance decisions.

Relationships between Meteorological and Particulate Matter Concentrations (PM2.5 and PM10) during the Haze Period in Urban and Rural Areas, Northern Thailand

Meteorological parameters play a crucial role in the ambient air quality of urban and rural environments. This study aims to investigate the relationship between meteorological parameters (including temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed) and the concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 in the urban area and the rural area, northern Thailand during the haze period (January to April) from 2016 to 2020. Statistical analyses of the Spearman-Rank correlation coefficient and the multivariate gaussian regression were used to investigate the relationships. The secondary data of ambient PM2.5 and PM10 concentration and meteorological parameters were acquired from the Thai Pollution Control Department. The measurements are obtained using the Beta Ray attenuation method. The results showed that approximately 24% to 65% of daily average PM2.5 concentrations in the urban area over the study period exceeded Thailand’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The average PM2.5/PM10 ratios in the urban and the rural areas over the haze period were 0.69 and 0.66, respectively. Our analysis established a significant correlation between atmospheric temperature ( r = 0.624) and relative humidity ( r = −0.722) with the concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10. In both areas, PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were also positively correlated with temperature. In contrast, relative humidity was significantly related with the decrease of PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations. However, wind speed does not affect PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations. Additionally, the daily backward trajectories using the hybrid-single particle Lagrangian integrated trajectory model also demonstrated air mass movement in March mostly came from the southwesterly direction, which moved through the highlands, the large biomass burned areas, upwind neighboring provinces, and transboundary transports before reaching the air monitoring stations. Our findings improve the understanding of particulate matter pollution and meteorological patterns during annual haze periods in the urban and rural areas. We expect the output of this study can help improve existing haze mitigation measures for improving the prediction accuracy of air pollution under variable meteorological parameters.

How do urban population growth, hydropower consumption and natural resources rent shape environmental quality in Sudan?

Despite the overwhelming research and useful outcomes on the relationship between hydropower consumption, urban population growth, and environmental quality, the empirical studies have mostly relied on partial indicators of environmental quality and employed conventional econometric models in which structural shocks are not controlled. Therefore, this study aims to offering a new perspective for the dynamic connection between hydropower consumption, urban population growth, natural resources rent, and ecological footprint within the context of Sudan during the period spanning 1990Q12018Q1. The study applied SVAR model to monitor the structural shocks, by decomposing shocks through relevant matrices and composite shocks through recursive impulse responses via a triangular matrix. In addition, the study employed the wavelet coherence technique to explore the lead-lag relations among the purposed variables. The findings of SVAR model uncover that hydropower consumption and economic growth significantly reduce the pollution in the long run, while urban population growth can do so in the short run. Moreover, natural resources rent, and industrial production are found to have detrimental effects on environment quality. The wavelet coherence analysis discloses that ecological footprint is lagging in hydropower consumption and natural resources rent. Meanwhile, ecological footprint leads the rest of the variables. The findings clearly reveal that hydropower plays an essential role in the fight against the environmental pollution in Sudan. Accordingly, the study suggests that throughout the energy sector reforms, more emphasis should be placed on the expansion of hydropower plants accompanied by strong environmental measures. Furthermore, the study recommends implementing efficient and sustainable urban policies by coordinating actions across state and regional urban institutions.

资源型城市土地利用转型及其对生境质量的影响——以乌海市为例

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 资源型城市土地利用转型及其对生境质量的影响——以乌海市为例 DOI: 10.5846/stxb202105261372 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家重点研发计划项目（2017YFC0504401） Land use transition in resource-based cities and its impact on habitat quality: a case of Wuhai City Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: The National Research Program of China(2017YFC0504401) 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:资源型城市前期发展导致了生境丧失或退化，实现高质量转型需要深入理解城市转型与生态环境质量之间的关系，土地利用转型特征及其对生境质量的影响规律研究为此提供依据与支撑。以资源型城市--乌海市为研究区，通过地学信息图谱和InVEST模型探究2005-2018年乌海市土地利用转型特征、生境质量时空变化及土地利用转型对生境质量的影响。结果表明：（1）2005-2018年乌海市土地利用变化趋势发生改变，土地利用转型明显，土地利用变化图谱单元数量逐渐增加78.14%，分布范围逐渐广泛。主要表现为草地与建设用地、采矿用地之间的相互转化，第一阶段（2005-2015年）草地大面积减少，建设用地和采矿用地大面积增加，第二阶段（2015-2018年）趋势相反。（2）乌海市生境质量变化呈现先强退化后弱提升趋势。2005-2015年乌海市18.75%的区域生境质量退化，提升面积较小；2015-2018年生境质量提升面积略大于退化面积。（3）2005-2015年草地向采矿用地、建设用地转化是区域生境质量降低的主要原因，2015-2018年区域生境质量提升的主导因素是采矿用地和建设用地向草地转化。研究结果揭示了资源型城市土地利用转型过程中生境质量的响应规律，可为资源型城市土地利用转型决策提供参考。 Abstract:The early development of resource-based cities leads to habitat loss or degradation. In order to achieve high quality urban transformation, it is necessary to deepen the understanding of the relationship between urban transformation and ecological environment quality, and the study of land use change characteristics and its impact on habitat to provide basis and support. In view of the lack of such research, this paper takes Wuhai, a resource-based city, as the research area, and explores the characteristics of land use transition, the spatial and temporal changes in habitat quality, and the impact of land use transition on habitat quality in Wuhai from 2005 to 2018 by using geo-informatic Tupu and InVEST model. The results indicate the following. (1) The trend of land use changes varied from 2005 to 2018, and the land use transition was obvious in Wuhai City. The number of land use change map units gradually increased by 78.14%, and the distribution range was gradually wider. In the first period (2005-2015), a large area of grassland decreased, accounting for 11.61% of the total area, while a larger area of construction land and mining land increased, accounting for 7.45% and 6.63% of the total area, respectively. In the second period (2015-2018), the trend was opposite. The grassland area increased by 1.88%, and the land used for construction and mining decreased by 5.16% and 2.93%, respectively. (2) Habitat quality changes in Wuhai showed a trend of strong degradation followed by weak enhancement. 18.75% of the regional habitat quality in Wuhai was extensively degraded in 2005-2015, while the area of improvement was small, accounting for only 5.43% of the total area. During 2015-2018, the area with improved habitat quality accounted for 10.86% of the total area and the degraded area accounted for 9.82% of the total area in Wuhai. (3) From 2005 to 2015, the conversion of grassland to mining land and construction land was the main reason for the decrease of regional habitat quality, and the contribution of habitat degradation was more than 70%. From 2015 to 2018, the conversion of mining land and construction land to grassland was the dominant factor for the improvement of regional habitat quality, and the contribution rate of habitat quality improvement was 70.5%. The results can provide reference for the decision-making of land use transition in Wuhai City, and have importantly significance for promoting the sustainable development of social economy and environment in resource-based cities. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

The correlation between residential property prices and urban quality indicators ‎

The study aimed at identifying the fundamental factors influencing the cost of housing as an element of the urban environment quality. Five sets of indicators were considered: the indicators of planning districts; normalized indicators of the urban quality of planning districts; the indicators of the volume and planning characteristics of capital projects; the measures of capital construction capitalization; the indicators of territorial transport services for regulating building density. The au

Атласная информационная система «Региональные столицы Юга Европейской России»

Regional capitals are an important category of cities in the South of European Russia, where more than a quarter (25.6 %) of the population of the macroregion lives and a significant demographic potential of the region is concentrated. The south of European Russia includes regions with natural population growth which are rare for modern Russia, regions and capitals with high rates of migration growth, as well as territories with an unfavorable demographic situation. To study territories with such a differentiated multidimensional demographic situation, geoinformation technologies were used to consolidate statistical data from various sources, conduct spatial analysis, model and visualize the processes under study. The realization of this request is possible with the use of atlas information systems (AIS), which are actively used in various subject areas, including the study of socio-economic and demographic processes. As part of the research, we have developed an atlas information system “Regional Capitals of the South of European Russia”, consisting of 2 main blocks: a structural block includes a basic GIS platform, a cartographic framework, a geodata database and a modeling and visualization unit responsible for the preparation of cartographic and visual models. AIS contains 6 thematic sections: ethnodemographic and migration processes (“Population size”, “Demographic indicators”, “Migration indicators”, “Ethnic structure of the population”), “Covid-19” (contains indicators for the sick, deceased, cured of coronavirus infection, natural population growth), “Big Data (Big Data)” consolidating indicators on the real estate market and the urban environment quality index as important factors in the formation of the demographic and migration situation. This makes it possible to conduct modeling, thematic mapping, creation of various visual plots for comprehensive complex spatial analysis. It allows to increase the level of analytics in the process of making economically determined management decisions in the regional capitals of Southern European Russia. Additionally, the possibility of integrating AIS with Web services is described.

URBOECOSYSTEM ECOLOGICAL STATUS ASSESSMENT BY THE MORPHOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF PICEA ABIES L. (ON THE EXAMPLE OF IVANO-FRANKIVSK CITY)

The bioindicative prospects of Picea abies L. in the conditions of an urbanized environment are analyzed based on the complex of morphological parameters of the species' vitality. The preference of conifers as phytoindicators of populated areas is substantiated due to the peculiarities of their physiology and structure. Simple, convenient and informative phytoindicative morphological markers of Picea abies vitality are applied: weight, length and type and degree of needle necrosis, as well as the general sanitary condition of the species individuals. The use of morphological indicators of coniferous plants vitality is proposed as an alternative to physiological and biochemical methods of biomonitoring, or analytical methods of ecological monitoring of the urban environment. The research is conducted in the conditions of functional zones of Ivano-Frankivsk city, selected on the principle basis of urban areas functional zoning. A decrease in the needles mass in the conditions of the transport routes zone and residential development zone is established by 1.9 and 1.6 times, relative to the background values, respectively. At the same time, the length of needles is a constant parameter and does not undergo a significant decrease compared to the background area. In the conditions of the urban ecosystem of Ivano-Frankivsk a decrease in the functional state of Picea abies individuals is observed in the following series of functional zones: background zone → zone of complex greening → zone of residential development → zone of transport routes. The highest necrosis degree of Picea abies needles is observed in the zone of the city's transport routes, while the dominant type of necrosis is apical. This is a sign of the heavy metals accumulation and other anthropogenic pollutants at the tips of the needles, which is an adaptive mechanism in response to stress. In the conditions of the Ivano-Frankivsk ecosystem the most common degree of necrosis of Picea abies needles is the first and fifth degrees. At the same time, the highest percentage of needles with signs of drying is observed in the transport routes zone of the city - 39%. In the area of complex greening and residential development this parameter is approximately 20%, and in the background area - 2%. The first class of damage refers to individuals of Picea abies growing in the complex greening zone, the second class of damage is observed in individuals existing in the residential development zone, and the third class of damage is fixed in individuals existing in the transport route zone of Ivano-Frankivsk city. Picea abies is a promising biological indicator of the urban environment quality and is recommended for wider implementation in the practice of greening urban ecosystems.

ИЗУЧЕНИЕ РАСТИТЕЛЬНОГО ПОКРОВА МАЛЫХ И СРЕДНИХ ГОРОДОВ РОССИИ: СОВРЕМЕННОЕ СОСТОЯНИЕ

In the review article, the authors give the analysis of scientific publications related to the study of vegetation in small and medium-sized Russian towns over the past 10 years. The main topical areas in which research is currently being carried out include the study of urban flora, analysis of plantings state, assessment of the vegetation state as an indicator of the urban environment quality (bio-indication), selection of trees assortment for urban andscape design and introduction of species, the features of landscaping in different natural conditions, and the formation of urban ecological framework. It is noted the fragmentary nature of vegetation studies in small and medium-sized towns of Russia, not being conducted in most regions at all. There predominate empirical studies focused on describing the state of the vegetation cover in separate towns. Comprehensive research is not carried out widely. It is mainly used the inventory research methods. In the publications, there are no vegetation maps for small and medium-sized towns. Furthermore, there is no retrospective analysis of the urban flora and vegetation transformation. The authors of the most publications note the prevalence of inherited problems in the state of urban green spaces in the country, caused by the planning spontaneity in the Soviet period, the failure to incorporate environmental factors into the urban development planning, including the location of industrial enterprises, as well as the lack of programs for the development of green urban infrastructure, the perception of green plantings as an element of land improvement, rather than an environmentally significant factor.

ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ РАЗВИТИЯ ТУРИЗМА В МУНИЦИПАЛЬНЫХ ОБРАЗОВАНИЯХ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ ГЛАЗАМИ НАСЕЛЕНИЯ

Introduction: the financial constraints of local budgets stimulate the local authorities to search for new opportunities in promoting the tourist attractiveness of the territories. The need to involve local communities into the management practices of tourism develop- ment raises the importance of the study into motivation and assessments of the residents and their readiness to interact with authorities in the sphere of tourism. Objectives: to determine the prospects for tourism development in the Russian Federation municipalities based on the analysis of the population opinions and assessments. Methods: questionnaire survey of the Russian municipalities’ residents. The final sample, spontaneously selected, included municipalities from 28 Russian regions. Results: the obtained results illustrate the confidence of the majority of respondents (64.7 %) in the possibility of attracting tourists to their town / rural settlement. Despite such optimistic opinions, 2/3 of the respondents (66.8 %) believe that promoting tourist attractiveness is a secondary task (the urgent needs to address being hospitals, roads, communal services, etc.). According to those interviewed, the key instruments of tourism development are the tourist infrastructure modernization (49.8 %), creating attractive tourist sites (45.1 %), improving the urban environment quality” (44.8 %). Conclusions: the results of the study showed a contradiction between the public opinion recognition of tourism as the basis for the financial recovery of the territory on the one hand, and the attitude to the costs of developing this industry as irrational due to the presence of unsolved social problems – on the other. The respondents support to the need of involving local residents into building the tourist attractiveness of the territory can be considered a potential opportunity for a wider use of social resources in the local communities and the internal sources of territorial development (traditions, authenticity of cultural patterns, historical heritage, etc.). According to the respondents, tourism development tools are associated with traditional practices that require significant financial investments: the development of tourism infrastructure and tourist attraction sites. Creative ideas on branding the territory or organizing inter-municipal cooperation received less support.

СОЦИАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ МАЛЫХ ГОРОДОВ В ЗЕРКАЛЕ ИНДЕКСА КАЧЕСТВА ГОРОДСКОЙ СРЕДЫ

The article presents some research results of 16 small towns in Russia: Likhoslavl, Kimry, Sokol, Krasavino, Aksai, Millerovo, Izobilny, Novoaleksandrovsk, Balakhna, Zavolzhye, Sredneuralsk, Irbit, Shelekhov, Winter, Bolshoy Kamen and Spassk-Dalny. The problems of small towns with different historical genesis, social and industrial infrastructure, differing in area, population, and development of the urban environment are shown. Special attention is paid to the problems of the socio-cultural sphere, with access to political and managerial practices. Difficulties of access to medicine, education, culture against the background of outdated infrastructure and organization of the urban environment are noted. In the field of education, there is a shortage of places in kindergartens and schools, the deterioration of old buildings, which in some places is 50% or more, and the need for major repairs of old schools and the opening of new ones, outdated material base requiring renovation, a shortage of teaching staff, the absence of specialized training institutions, poor Internet quality. In small towns, organizations of additional education for children — cultural, sports and leisure — are poorly represented. The indicators of the urban environment quality index of these small cities for 2018-2021 and the winners of the competition for the best projects of a comfortable urban environment are analyzed. The compliance with the realities of the name of the project "All-Russian competition of the best projects for creating a comfortable urban environment in small towns and historical settlements", which is expressed in the point improvement of individual urban areas of small towns, is questioned.

SUSTAINABLE NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE CONTEXT OF PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ENERGY LITERACY IN AN URBAN AREA: FIELD STUDY

Complex contemporary social, economic, and environmental problems create challenges in terms of urban environmental quality, infrastructure, transport and energy. Concurrently, considerable pressures are exerted, resulting in serious environmental consequences. "Sustainable cities" are the cities we must create and leave a legacy for the future generations. The design of public spaces, roads, sidewalks, squares, cycle lanes, waste collection and waste management are fundamental issues in the context of sustainable urban development, for which, if local governments implement policies for sustainable urban planning and design and if there is funding, accessible technology, and education, it will enhance citizens’ quality of life, provide comfort, increase accessibility, and significantly minimize the amount of energy consumed while reducing the human impact on the environment. However, most cities are already facing many problems such as urban environmental degradation, traffic congestion, inadequate urban infrastructure, and lack of public services, like waste management. Hence, Urban Environmental Management is the key target of sustainability in terms of ensuring quality management. Respectively, informing citizens, educating them, and strengthening their environmental literacy, notably the energy one, is the main pillar for the reduction or elimination of the issues affecting the urban quality of life. The children’s active participation in an exploratory study, through education in relevant issues, provides the opportunity for them to be informed, learn, and develop their critical thinking. Hence, a two-month work plan was implemented in October and November 2020, which involved students in active and experiential ways of learning, both theoretically and in the field of study. After concluding the teaching approaches, the fourth graders of primary school were divided in 18 groups and carried out a week-long research. They observed and reported issues related to the quality of their neighborhood structure in combination with the processes and services of the town municipality. The study results initially outline the children's developing cognitive ability to critically approach the urban issues, to adopt models of sustainable development related to energy. The research highlights the lack of parking infrastructure, the adequate width of sidewalks, the absence of adequate road signs and pedestrian crossings in neighborhoods, the existence of not only an adequate number of waste containers but also the need to replace them systematically, as well as the citizens’ rational attitude concerning waste disposal. Furthermore, it seems that it is necessary for the municipal public services to implement additional training programs for the cleaning service staff. Additionally, questions concerning the limited number of recreational parks for children and the need for better management and maintenance of the existing ones were noted. Moreover, the need arises for the implementation of a general campaign regarding safety precautions by the local government to improve driver behavior in accordance with the Highway Code. Lastly, exploring these issues maximized the children’s active participation in the field of study by making them into critical observers, strong critical thinkers, and informed citizens of tomorrow who currently understand the actions and social practices that take place in the urban realm.

Urban development and interethnic intolerance: Evidence from Russia

This work is devoted to the study of the impact of urban development on interethnic intolerance. Although studies on the impact of urbanization and the economic well-being of cities on interethnic intolerance have been conducted in other countries, no similar scientific work has been conducted in Russia. The purpose of this paper is to determine factors related to urban development that influence the level of interethnic intolerance in a Russian city and to clarify the nature of this influence. The assumption of the presence of such an influence is based on the fact that the comfort of the urban environment can play the role of an indicator of economic well-being, while the exacerbation of social conflicts during periods of economic instability is scientifically substantiated. This influence is studied using an econometric study on a sample of 66 Russian cities with a population of over 100 thousand people, where 2 or more crimes motivated by interethnic intolerance were committed during the period 2007–2019. The information base for the study was obtained from the website of the SOVA Center for Information and Analysis, the statistical databases of Rosstat and EMISS, and the official website of the urban environment quality index. Based on the results obtained, it is concluded that interethnic intolerance is reduced due to a comfortable urban environment. Also, according to the study, in more populated Russian cities the level of interethnic intolerance is higher, whereas the incomes of city residents reduce it.

Urban development and interethnic intolerance: Evidence from Russia

This work is devoted to the study of the impact of urban development on interethnic intolerance. Although studies on the impact of urbanization and the economic well-being of cities on interethnic intolerance have been conducted in other countries, no similar scientific work has been conducted in Russia. The purpose of this paper is to determine factors related to urban development that influence the level of interethnic intolerance in a Russian city and to clarify the nature of this influence. The assumption of the presence of such an influence is based on the fact that the comfort of the urban environment can play the role of an indicator of economic well-being, while the exacerbation of social conflicts during periods of economic instability is scientifically substantiated. This influence is studied using an econometric study on a sample of 66 Russian cities with a population of over 100 thousand people, where 2 or more crimes motivated by interethnic intolerance were committed during the period 2007–2019. The information base for the study was obtained from the website of the SOVA Center for Information and Analysis, the statistical databases of Rosstat and EMISS, and the official website of the urban environment quality index. Based on the results obtained, it is concluded that interethnic intolerance is reduced due to a comfortable urban environment. Also, according to the study, in more populated Russian cities the level of interethnic intolerance is higher, whereas the incomes of city residents reduce it.

Do China's Urban-Environmental Quality and Economic Growth Conform to the Environmental Kuznets Curve?

The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) expresses the relationship between environmental quality and economic growth. Based on the defects of previous studies on EKC using only environmental pollution indicators, this study holds that environmental quality is the result of pollutants after treatment, absorption, and self-purification, including two dimensions of pollution and absorption. Therefore, the environmental pollution and absorption data of 74 key environmental monitoring cities in China from 2005 to 2017 were selected, and a comprehensive index of environmental quality was constructed using the vertical and horizontal grading method. Then, based on the relevant economic growth indicators of these cities, they were divided into first-tier and new first-tier, second-tier, third-tier, and below. It was found that the EKC of the total sample, the first-tier and new first-tier cities, and the second-tier cities presented an inverted N-shape and had passed the second inflection point, where environmental quality continues to improve with the deepening of economic growth. There was no EKC in the third-tier and below cities. The findings have important implications. China can cross the second inflection point of the EKC and improve environmental quality at a low income level. Therefore, by vigorously developing cleaner production technologies and raising residents’ awareness of environmental protection, it is possible to improve environmental quality at a lower income level than expected, which provides a useful reference for other developing countries.

Fine-Granularity Urban Microclimate Monitoring Using Wearable Multi-Source Sensors

With the development of urbanization, the environment is the key to the safety of residents’ life and health and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Urban environmental changes and microclimate problems have attracted widespread attention. For the SDGs, monitoring the urban microclimate more accurately and effectively and ensuring residents’ environmental health and safety is particularly important when designing applications that can replace the traditional fixed-point urban environment or pollution monitoring. Based on the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System platform, this paper proposes a fine-granularity urban microclimate monitoring method using wearable multi-source (PM2.5, PM10, and other air pollutants) sensors innovatively, which includes the satellite position function by adopting the satellite pseudo-range differential positioning technology, environmental data perception through the embedded system and wireless transmission, as well as the GIS data processing and analysis system. The wearable sensor acquires position and service information data through the satellite positioning system and acquires environmental parameters through integrated mobile multi-source sensors. The data are cached and wirelessly transmitted to the cloud server for digital processing. The urban microclimate is evaluated and visualized through algorithm and map API. Mobile monitoring can be flexibly applied to complex and diverse urban spaces, effectively realizing all-weather, all-directional, and accurate microclimate monitoring of urban environmental quality.

The acoustic quality and health in urban environments (SALVE) project: Study design, rationale and methodology

Sound pressure levels expressed in variations of decibel (dB) formulations are a common approach to describe the urban acoustic environment (AE) in regard to noise and health exposure. However, as noise descriptors mainly focus on sound pressure level, further concepts are needed to analyze the effects of the AE on human health. In recent years, different approaches to describe the AE have gained traction, like the soundscape ecology approach that focuses on sound in the natural environment. To determine the feasibility of applying this approach to cities, a comprehensive dataset of high-quality sound recordings with high spatial and temporal resolution is essential.The acoustic quality and health in urban environments (SALVE) project aims to establish a spatially and temporally high-resolution dataset of the urban AE to connect it to human health as well as to the built environment. Since 2019, we have assessed the AE at selected places in the densely populated city of Bochum, Germany. For a high temporal resolution, we used automatic devices at 52 locations that recorded every 26 min for three minutes. For a high spatial resolution, we used manual devices to perform a five-minute recording four times a year at 730 selected locations. So far, we sampled 1,500,493 min of sound recordings. Comprehensive health data used were already available from the ongoing epidemiological Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study, in the Ruhr Area, Germany.The aim here is to outline our sampling design, methods used, and applied quality procedures in order to achieve a well-defined and high-quality dataset. To the best of our knowledge, our study provides one of the most extensive datasets currently available. This will allow for the next steps, analyzing in-depth associations between the urban AE, urban fabric and human health.