Quality Of Life In Cities Research Articles

Integration of citizens’ feelings and feedback into the city information modeling environment

A City Information Model (CIM) is a 3D model composed of the city structure and various interconnected city layers such as mobility, environment, and social inclusion. CIM has attracted attention in recent years, but improvements are still needed for data collection, integration, and visualization in CIM. Also, limited research is available on citizen participation and integration into CIM, which is crucial for realizing a human-centered digital replica of the city. This paper explains the thorough integration of both tangible and intangible data around mobility, road security, and social participation in CIM. The study embarks on the creation of a CIM prototype based on (1) integrating data from different sources, and (2) collaborating with residents to highlight specific feelings around the neighborhood. The general methodology comprises (1) data collection, (2) data analysis, and (3) platform build-up. This methodology is projected onto a selected neighborhood in Lille, France where collected quantitative and qualitative data is analyzed, and then visualized. This study can provide stakeholders and city planners with a means of decision-making to improve the quality of life in cities.

IoT-based intelligent waste management system

Recently, the population density in cities has increased at a higher pace, so waste generation is on the rise in most societies due to population growth. Given this concern, it would be highly important to manage waste generation. Intelligent city planning is necessary to improve the quality of city life and make cities more livable. This paper presents an intelligent waste management system (IWMS) in smart cities based on Internet of Things components like sensors, detectors, and actuators. IWMS contains three main phases. The first phase of the system is to adapt the low energy adaptive clustering hierarchy approach as an optimization process to better balance the energy consumption of smart waste bins (SBs), thus leading to extending the life of the smart waste network. The second phase is handling the missing values which are retrieved from SBs using an improved version of the k-nearest neighbor algorithm based on artificial hummingbird optimization (AHA), while the third phase presents an optimal energy-efficient route process for the routing of waste trucks that improves fuel efficiency and reduces the time to get an appropriate SB. According to the experimental results, the proposed system has achieved energy savings of 34% for the smart waste bin network. Moreover, compared to other systems, it has a lower mean error rate when generating missing values, and the results related to convergence and running time validate its superiority compared with other metaheuristic algorithms.

Mapowanie i ocena usług ekosystemów miejskich w skali ogólnopolskiej = Mapping and assessment of urban ecosystem services on a nationwide scale

The concept of ecosystem services can contribute to improving the quality of life in cities, but it has to be operationalized before being implemented in spatial planning. The study aim is to present methodological solutions to assess and map urban ecosystem services on a nationwide scale, including methods for constructing and characterizing indicators. The selected examples cover all three CICES sections: provisioning, regulating and cultural, as well as the three most frequently assessed aspects of services: potential, use and unmet demand. Sample indicators were calculated for all 20 functional urban areas with the metropolitan status in Poland: as a whole and broken down into city core and commuting zone. The results show, among others, that the metropolitan area of Lublin has the highest potential for food production. In turn, the use of trees for air purification is the lowest in Rzeszów. Furthermore, the unmet demand for nature-based recreation is seven times higher in Częstochowa than in Olsztyn. Significant differences in the values of indicators show that nationwide mapping and assessing urban ecosystem services can be of great value when comparing urban centers and the quality of life of their inhabitants, as well as when drawing up urban development strategies.

People’s Perception and the Current Policy Gap for Solid Waste Handling in Delhi

MSW management directly impacts public health and quality of life in cities. Unfortunately, solid waste management is generally considered the exclusive domain of government. However, since residents are the primary generators of municipal solid waste, there is virtually worldwide consensus among all major stakeholders that citizens must actively participate in this process. The need for more awareness among citizens and better communication between the government and citizens severely hampers this. Therefore, specific government initiatives are needed to bridge this communication gap. With this in mind, this study presents a structure for developing a waste management transmission process that recognises the public’s leading issues and the best strategies for raising public awareness. The results indicate that people’s attitudes toward solid waste could be more satisfactory. The government should also involve the public in managing regional and local waste problems.

SEARCH FOR WAYS OF INTENSIFICATION USE OF CITY TERRITORY

The article considers Land Management as an effective technique for improving the quality of life in cities. It emphasizes the importance of the distribution of socio-economic activities according to various parameters to increase the efficiency of the use of the urban area. Major categories of activities such as residential, commercial, transport, public and government institutions are considered in order to maintain a balance between them. The article also notes the importance of land use planning for sustainable development and optimal use of resources in conditions of limitation. It highlights that urban areas with high population density should be developed according to master plans that include land use plans. The article also notes that urbanization needs adequate leadership, which is provided through regional planning, urban planning, land use planning, transport policy, and public administration. The paper also highlights the advantages of compact cities with multiple uses, such as reducing fuel consumption, urban land use, and ensuring sociocultural development.
 Studying the experience of Europe, the USA and Australia proved the expediency of promoting spatially compact cities with various goals. It has been studied that compact cities offer the opportunity to reduce fuel consumption for travel, as homes, work and recreation are located close to each other. They are also favored because urban land can be reused, while rural land outside the city is protected. A good quality of life is believed to be supported by a high concentration of people, which provides social conditions conducive to liveliness, vivacity, and cultural production and consumption.

Greening and browning of urban lawns in Geneva (Switzerland) as influenced by soil properties

Urban green spaces with healthy vegetation play a key role in improving the quality of life in cities. However, urban soils, the basis of the urban greenery, are under strong anthropogenic influence and can considerably differ from natural soils. In this study, we observed short-term greening and browning of lawns during one vegetation period in urban parks of Geneva (Switzerland). We related the temporal trajectory of seasonal Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) (8 days median) as a proxy of vegetation condition at different test sites to the physical soil properties (soil depth, coarse material, bulk density, conditioned air and water content) and Soil Organic Carbon (SOC). Strong drops of NDVI during dry periods in summer were related to shallow soil depths (<40 cm) and a high amount of coarse material (>10%) as well as lower SOC. Bulk density of the fine earth and the soil structure quality (expressed by air and water content of soil cores conditioned at a soil water potential of −100 hPa) had a significant influence on grass growth in spring but not in summer. Dense soils with conditioned air content closer to the trigger value of degraded soil structure resulted in lower NDVI values in spring. Our approach of using Earth Observation (EO) data for observing short-term greening and browning patterns, in this case the rise and decline of NDVI values, revealed that the role of the soil properties changed with the season. This approach may contribute to digital soil mapping and the assessment of soil ecosystem services in urban contexts. Urban planners are advised to save natural soils from over-building and keep them for green spaces. If soil has to be restored to create new green spaces, it should be deep and should not contain much coarse material, even for grassy vegetation.

The Impact of the Intuitionistic Fuzzy Entropy-Based Weights on the Results of Subjective Quality of Life Measurement Using Intuitionistic Fuzzy Synthetic Measure.

In this paper, an extended Intuitionistic Fuzzy Synthetic Measure (IFSM) with intuitionistic fuzzy (IF) entropy-based weights is presented. This method can be implemented in a ranking problem where the assessments of the criteria are expressed in the form of intuitionistic fuzzy values and the information about the importance criteria is unknown. One example of such a problem is measuring the subjective quality of life in cities. We join the debate on the determination of weights for the analysis of the quality of life problem using multi-criteria methods. To handle this problem, four different IF entropy-based weight methods were applied. Their performances were compared and analyzed based on the questionnaires from the survey concerning the quality of life in European cities. The studies show very similar weighting systems obtained by different IF entropy-based approaches, resulting in almost the same city rankings acquired through IFSM by using those weights. The differences in rankings obtained through the IFSM measure (and only by one position) concern the six cities included in the analysis. Our results support the assumption of the equal importance of the criteria in measuring this complex phenomenon.

CORRUPTION AND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT BASED ON STOCHASTIC ANALYSIS

&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The effects of corruption in urban development and urban affairs management in several south Asian countries are examined through a series of specific, distinctive, and provocative cases for which the data is more readily available. The stories and themes provide a starting point for analyzing corruption as a symptom and factor of underdevelopment, affecting efforts to use and allocate scarce resources for a higher quality of life in cities. It shows how corruption stifles imaginative and creative solutions to urban challenges while increasing future revenue sources. 3Ps has provided a chance for the public section to look at various funding expertise and options from the business sector to prepare the public infrastructure. On the other hand, governments in the source of budget limitations and other competing demands for state sources can&amp;amp;rsquo;t supply each citizenry&amp;amp;rsquo;s infrastructure. Besides, the private sector has been considered a better resource manager, and the government should concentrate on policymaking. Where P3s are put to fair use, the advantages are immense. Unfortunately, vulnerable to bribery. This is the case; whatever benefits 3P offers in reducing the urban infrastructure deficit may be eroded due to corruption, which could lead to an increase in construction or facility costs.&amp;amp;rsquo; rehabilitation. Secondly, a PPP process marred by corruption could lead to inferior construction substances. One of the fund&amp;amp;rsquo;s big chunks will be diverted to the public officials&amp;amp;rsquo; bribing via the project company. Thirdly, a corrupt process could compromise officials&amp;amp;rsquo; integrity that has been charged with accountability for inspecting and approving construction works.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;

The Role of Environmental Conditions and Purchasing Power Parity in Determining Quality of Life among Big Asian Cities

This article has examined the role of environmental conditions and purchasing power parity in deciding the quality of life among big Asian cities. The study has constructed an index for quality of life with the help of housing, crime rates, death rate, average life expectancy, environmental degradation, and level of education. Quality of life has been selected as the dependent variable and the level of pollution, availability of health care facilities, local purchasing power, availability of groceries, level of democracy, cost of living, restaurants, level of traffic, and level of rents are selected explanatory variables. For empirical analysis, this study uses data for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019. The estimated results show that pollution has a negative and significant impact on the quality of life in the case of Asian cities. Local purchasing power has a positive and significant relationship with the quality of life in the cities of Asia. Groceries and democracy are very important parts of the daily life of human beings but they have insignificant impacts on the quality of life in Asian cities. Restaurants have a positive and significant impact on quality of life. This study finds that level of traffic and the level of rent have a negative and significant impact on the quality of life in the case of Asian cities. The overall results conclude that selected indicators play a significant role in determining the quality of life in Asian cities.

Synergy of climate change with country success and city quality of life

Most people around the world have felt the effects of climate change on their quality of life. This study sought to achieve the maximum efficiency for climate change actions with the minimum negative impact on the well-being of countries and cities. The Climate Change and Country Success (C3S) and Climate Change and Cities’ Quality of Life (C3QL) models and maps of the world created as part of this research showed that as economic, social, political, cultural, and environmental metrics of countries and cities improve, so do their climate change indicators. For the 14 climate change indicators, the C3S and C3QL models indicated 68.8% average dispersion dimensions in the case of countries and 52.8% in the case of cities. Our research showed that increases in the success of 169 countries saw improvements in 9 climate change indicators out of the 12 considered. Improvements in country success indicators were accompanied by a 71% improvement in climate change metrics.

Dewey, Implementation, and Creating a Democratic Civic University

Dewey, Implementation, and Creating a Democratic Civic University

MP66-05 FACTORS AFFECTING APPLICATION RATES TO UROLOGY RESIDENCY PROGRAMS

You have accessJournal of UrologyCME1 Apr 2023MP66-05 FACTORS AFFECTING APPLICATION RATES TO UROLOGY RESIDENCY PROGRAMS F. Pearce Kudlata, Salil S. Ghamande, William M. Pearson, Luke G. Scanlan, Brittany Ange, John J. de Caro, and Martha K. Terris F. Pearce KudlataF. Pearce Kudlata More articles by this author , Salil S. GhamandeSalil S. Ghamande More articles by this author , William M. PearsonWilliam M. Pearson More articles by this author , Luke G. ScanlanLuke G. Scanlan More articles by this author , Brittany AngeBrittany Ange More articles by this author , John J. de CaroJohn J. de Caro More articles by this author , and Martha K. TerrisMartha K. Terris More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1097/JU.0000000000003329.05AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookLinked InTwitterEmail Abstract INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Interest in urology has risen sharply in recent years, creating an increasingly competitive match. Many factors attract or repel applicants, but it remains unclear which factors truly affect application rates. This project aimed to elucidate the factors that influence application rates so both urology residency programs and applicants can employ evidence-based strategies to increase their number of applicants and odds of acceptance, respectively. METHODS: A list of programs and de-identified applicant data was obtained from the AUA/SAU. Usage analytics from 4/1/19-3/31/22 of identified social media accounts were determined using popsters.com. Program size and rankings were acquired from Doximity, city population was obtained from US census data, and city quality of life (QOL) was retrieved from Niche. Statistics were assessed using Spearman’s rank correlations and Dwass, Steel, Critchlow-Fligner multiple comparison tests. RESULTS: Affecting Factors: From 2019-2022, the number of applicants increased with program size and city population (Table 1). Programs with a Twitter presence (90.7%) had significantly more applicants in 2019-2022 than those without (p<.01). The mean number of applicants increased with a program’s Twitter followers, following, and total posts (Table 1). After adjusting for multiple variables, programs in higher research and reputation rank quintiles received more applications over the 4 years (p<.0001). Program size and Twitter activity were significantly correlated with reputation quintile (p<.0001). Non-Affecting Factors: From 2020-2022, program city QOL was not associated with increased applications (Table 1). AUA Section also had no significant impact on applicant numbers (p>.05). There was no significant correlation between YouTube or Instagram activity and applicant numbers (Table 1). CONCLUSIONS: Urology residency programs and student applicants should prioritize medical Twitter activity over other social media platforms. Programs should focus on promoting city population, program size, research, and reputation rather than city QOL or geographical region to attract more applicants. Applicants should spread their applications and preference signals to programs across all rank quintiles to adjust for application numbers and potentially increase their match rate. Source of Funding: None © 2023 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 209Issue Supplement 4April 2023Page: e933 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2023 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.MetricsAuthor Information F. Pearce Kudlata More articles by this author Salil S. Ghamande More articles by this author William M. Pearson More articles by this author Luke G. Scanlan More articles by this author Brittany Ange More articles by this author John J. de Caro More articles by this author Martha K. Terris More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement PDF downloadLoading ...

The Residual Spaces of Developmental Urbanism as Opportunity for Green Cities and Improvement of Human Wellbeing

City densification and greening are two priority urban-policy objectives, for the coming years, aimed at making cities more resilient to climate change, slowing the spread of urbanization and improving the quality of life in cities. These are sometimes contradictory objectives that require fine and deep analysis to create approaches and methods that combine them. The most recent research has presented so-called small urban green spaces (SUGSs) as a viable alternative to achieve this double objective. This was the starting point of this research, which used GIS digital analysis and microscale fieldwork to study the possibilities of greening an excessively dense and low-quality urban space in the city of Pamplona (Spain). The results thereof showed that the urban structure of this neighbourhood contains a large number of small spaces with no specific use or function—residual, surface and vertical spaces—and that are simply undefined remnants between buildings and streets, or party walls that were never built. Only these surface spaces occupy a total area that is twice the size of the existing green spaces. Based on these results, this work explores the possibility of increasing the green areas of the neighbourhood through new SUGSs and the creation of a green corridor that increases environmental and social connectivity and the quality of life in the studied space.

Structure and Ecosystem Services of Three Common Urban Tree Species in an Arid Climate City

Urban forests play a critical role in improving the quality of life in cities, but in arid environments, little is known about the potential benefits and growth conditions of different tree species. Our study aimed to fill this gap by investigating the relationships between tree dimensions, above-ground biomass carbon storage, and shading potential in three common urban trees in the arid city of Jericho, Palestine, (i.e., Ficus nitida, Delonix regia, and Phoenix dactylifera). The trees were chosen according to their distribution in urban locations and tree vitality, with ages ranging from 20 to 90 years. Based on the results from tree structure measurements, the carbon storage and shading potential were calculated using the City Tree model. The results indicate a moderate to strong relationship between tree height, crown diameter, and crown volume for F. nitida and D. regia (R2 = 0.28–0.66), but no relationship for P. dactylifera (R2 = 0.03–0.06). The findings suggest that the analyzed tree species can considerably contribute to the potential benefits of trees in improving the climate of an arid city: D. regia shows a higher median of above-ground biomass carbon storage of 155 kg C tree−1, while P. dactylifera 91 kg C and F. nitida 76 Kg C. D. regia and F. nitida have a higher median of shading potential, (31 m2–41 m2), respectively. Information on the ecosystem services from urban trees and their relationships in terms of species, age, and tree planting urban location are very important for city planners, in relation to sustainable urban green spaces in arid cities.

Spatio-temporal air quality analysis and PM2.5 prediction over Hyderabad City, India using artificial intelligence techniques

Air pollution is one of the most serious environmental issues faced by humans, and it affects the quality of life in cities. PM2.5 forecasting models can be used to create strategies for assessing and warning the public about anticipated harmful levels of air pollution. Accurate pollutant concentration measurements and forecasting are critical criteria for assessing air quality and are the foundation for making the right strategic decisions. Data-driven machine learning models for PM2.5 forecasting have gained attention in the recent past. In this study, PM2.5 prediction for Hyderabad city was carried out using various machine learning models viz. Multi-Linear Regression (MLR), decision tree (DT), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Random Forest (RF), and XGBoost. A deep learning model, the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model, was also used in this study. The results obtained were finally compared based on error and R2 value. The best model was selected based on its maximum R2 value and minimal error. The model's performance was further improved using the randomized search CV hyperparameter optimization technique. Spatio-temporal air quality analysis was initially conducted, and it was found that the average winter PM2.5 concentrations were 68% higher than the concentrations in summer. The analysis revealed that XGBoost regression was the best-performing machine learning model with an R2 value of 0.82 and a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 7.01 μg/ m3, whereas the LSTM deep learning model performed better than XGBoost regression for PM2.5 modeling with an R2 value of 0.89 and an MAE of 5.78 μg/ m3.

Syrian Migration and Active Citizenship in Turkey: Rethinking the Possibility of Living Together and Social Cohesion

The sudden and intense migration that emerged as a result of the Syrian crisis in 2011 had significant effects on cities and municipalities in our country as well as in the world. Considering that the vast majority of Syrians currently live in urban areas, municipalities that have a significant proportion of Syrian immigrants compared to their resident population faced a challenge of delivering the same quality municipal services to more populations due to unexpected increase in the number of people waiting for service, but with the same budget, personnel, equipment and organizational structure. This situation negatively affects the quality of life in cities and threatens local sustainable development. The main idea of our study is to open the theoretical framework of the “active citizenship” model for discussion. The model is based on the idea that, active citizenship model is the most important resource to be mobilized in increasing the resilience of municipalities at the local level in the face of added urban issues such as mass migration and pandemic, and living together and a sustainable quality of life in cities. After making conceptual fixations in the study, answers will be sought to possible questions on how active citizens are involved in the political and social participation processes; their roles; why it is necessary to be an active citizen; how to establish an enabling environment for this to occur and what the duties of municipalities are in this context.

Beyond Cleansing: Ecosystem Services Related to Phytoremediation.

Phytotechnologies used for cleaning up urban and suburban polluted soils (i.e., brownfields) have shown some weakness in the excessive extent of the timeframe required for them to be effectively operating. This bottleneck is due to technical constraints, mainly related to both the nature of the pollutant itself (e.g., low bio-availability, high recalcitrance, etc.) and the plant (e.g., low pollution tolerance, low pollutant uptake rates, etc.). Despite the great efforts made in the last few decades to overcome these limitations, the technology is in many cases barely competitive compared with conventional remediation techniques. Here, we propose a new outlook on phytoremediation, where the main goal of decontaminating should be re-evaluated, considering additional ecosystem services (ESs) related to the establishment of a new vegetation cover on the site. The aim of this review is to raise awareness and stress the knowledge gap on the importance of ES associated with this technique, which can make phytoremediation a valuable tool to boost an actual green transition process in planning urban green spaces, thereby offering improved resilience to global climate change and a higher quality of life in cities. This review highlights that the reclamation of urban brownfields through phytoremediation may provide several regulating (i.e., urban hydrology, heat mitigation, noise reduction, biodiversity, and CO2 sequestration), provisional (i.e., bioenergy and added-value chemicals), and cultural (i.e., aesthetic, social cohesion, and health) ESs. Although future research should specifically be addressed to better support these findings, acknowledging ES is crucial for an exhaustive evaluation of phytoremediation as a sustainable and resilient technology.

Environmental efficiency of the fossil fuels to electricity transition in Eastern Siberia cities

In many regions of the world, the primary source of domestic heating and cooking is still coal or wood, which severely threatens people's health. Low-pipe stove emissions negatively impact about 2.4 million urbanized residents in Eastern Siberia. Through Lagrangian dispersion modelling, this study estimated the effectiveness of coal and firewood to electricity transition in the context of reducing hazardous concentration zones of Benzo [a]pyrene (BaP) and Particulate matter (PM10) in six cities. The calculation experiments showed that a transition of half of the households to electricity could be practically reduced to zero zones of the negative impact of pollutants in the ground layer. The GRAMM/Gral model enabled it to implement pollutant particle tracking and calculate hourly changes in their concentrations at 2 and 10 m. The study results are oriented to support practical solutions to improve the quality of life in cities by reducing the pollution of their atmosphere.

Computer-Aided Greenery Design—Prototype Green Structure Improving Human Health in Urban Ecosystem

Increasing population and urbanization, with climate change consequences, such as rising temperatures, influence public health and well-being. The search to improve the quality of life in cities becomes one of the priority objectives. A solution can be found in the role of greenery in an urban environment and its impact on human health. This opens a path toward experimentation on microclimate green structures that can be inserted into dense urban spaces providing human and environmental benefits. The article proposes an automated greenery design method combined with rapid prototyping for such interventions. A theoretical analysis of the problem preceded the introduction of the method. The research process was developed in accordance with the main objectives of the CDIO framework (Conceive, Design, Implement, and Operate) with the SiL (Software in the Loop) and HiL (Hardware in the Loop) methods. Moreover, the applied test model allows for complex evaluation in order to ensure quality and directions for further development.

Health Impact Assessment in protected areas: a proposal for urban contexts in Brazil.

The use of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in the establishment of an urban protected area can enhance the positive impacts and mitigate the negative impacts resulting from its implementation. Brazil hosts some of the most important biodiversity hotspots in the world and the HIA may benefit biodiversity and human health. These areas are commonly created without any preceding survey to assess their impacts on health. Protected areas located in urban zones are essential to maintain environmental balance and quality of life in cities. It promotes positive impacts on health, providing ecosystem services and salutogenic benefits. However, they can generate negative impacts such as the violation of human rights, property speculation, spread of vectorial diseases, and psychosocial stress. Based on the identification of the potential impacts of urban protected areas on health and best practices, this qualitative and exploratory study justifies the use of HIA in urban protected areas, especially in the Brazil, and indicates the main elements for the construction of a methodological approach to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and one of its alternatives, the Buen Vivir approach.