Rate Of Land Development Research Articles

Temporal trends in sociodemographic composition and land development within U.S. fenceline communities surrounding hazardous industrial facilities: 2001–2019

Unintended releases from industrial facilities can expose fenceline communities to hazardous substances, and distance between facilities and nearby residential development can play a role in preventing exposures. Here, we assess trends in fenceline community sociodemographic characteristics, land development, and the association between the two using sociodemographic data for census tracts (n = 34 068) surrounding 2457 petroleum refining and chemical manufacturing facilities between 2001 and 2019. We find a higher median growth in percentage of Latinx populations among fenceline communities compared to neighboring communities with no industrial facilities. The increase in the median percentage of Latinx populations within fenceline communities was six times higher than for White populations overall (+6 and +1 percentage points, respectively). Though the percentage of the Black populations did not change within fenceline communities over this period, we find a minor sustained higher percentage of Black residents within fenceline communities relative to neighboring communities (20% versus 19%, respectively). Employing a spatial autoregressive model with autoregressive disturbances, we find that an increase in community percentage Latinx population is associated with a decrease in the rate of land development. Comparing fenceline and neighboring communities, we conclude that Black and Latinx populations are disproportionately located near industrial facilities, potentially contributing to inequitable exposure to unintended chemical releases. Our work lends support to the value of considering of sociodemographic composition of fenceline communities when evaluating industrial facility hazards.

Spatiotemporal variation analysis of urban land expansion in the establishment of new communities in Upper Egypt: A case study of New Asyut city

The Egyptian government set out in the 1970s to establish new cities in the desert to absorb urban sprawl and to prevent further depletion of agricultural lands. Despite such efforts, this policy has not met with much success. In the present study, LANDSAT satellite imagery and binary logistic regression analysis were employed to investigate the nature of urban sprawl in one of the most important cities in Egypt, Asyut city, as well as the area connecting it to New Asyut city by quantifying the interaction between the driving forces of land use/cover change. Various socioeconomic factors associated with land control policy were examined. The results indicated that whereas directing urban development towards the new city created a semblance of balance initially, the rate of land development in the study area outstripped the rate of population growth, especially in the new city. While establishment of the new city boosted early urban development, further development in the regions outside the Nile valley was not sustained due to a lack of supportive governmental policies. Consequently, urban residents moved back inside the valley to re-settle on agricultural lands adjacent to the old urban cores. This study is the first to quantify the driving forces of land use in this region. It offers useful data to guide planned and purposeful expansion of urban land by government policy-makers in their effort to curb urban sprawl and prevent further encroachment on agricultural land in Egypt.

Remote sensing and GIS-based assessment of urbanisation and degradation of watershed health

Water resources, ecological quality, i.e. vegetation, flora-fauna, native plants, etc., and geo-morphological characteristics are some of the important elements that represent health of a watershed. Watershed health can be assessed through some of the indirect metrics, such as change in rainfall-runoff response, depletion of groundwater, groundwater pollution and degradation of geo-morphological characteristics. In the present study, application of remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) technologies have been demonstrated for assessment of health of two urbanised sub-watersheds over a period of last 29 years (1977–2005). Investigation includes estimation of urbanisation and resulting changes in the watershed characteristics representing heath of watershed, such as change in surface runoff response, groundwater level, groundwater quality and morphological characteristics. Remote sensing images of eight years (1977–2005) have been used for extraction of land use/cover and urban growth. Change in surface runoff characteristics have been estimated using a physically based distributed storm water management model (SWMM). Groundwater analysis has been carried out in GIS to determine the change in groundwater level and quality over a period of 1992 to 2005. Results reveal that rate of land development in Ajmer is higher as compared to the population growth. Significant changes have been found in important watershed characteristics leading to deterioration of its health. Remote sensing and GIS technologies have been found to be useful for such studies.

The Changing Nature of Housing Markets in Upstate New York

The rapid rate of land development across the US. leads to what is commonly referred to as residential sprawl. This article reviewed issues related to rural residential sprawl and the forces behind it, including the role of home buyer preferences. A sample of 63,196 home sale transactions that occurred between 1998 and 2005 in the Rochester, New York housing market comprised the data set for a hedonic pricing analysis that included open space variables within the vectors of housing characteristics. Results from the analysis indicated that household preferences for more living space, site acreage, and proximity to open space were among the driving forces for residential sprawl in this housing market.