Urban Planning Recommendations Research Articles

Architectural and Urban Changes in a Residential Environment—Implications for Design Science

Current spatial changes involving broad urban landscapes affect people’s perceptions of their surroundings, sense of place, and attachment to a place, constituting a disruption to these. As a result, on a social scale, they translate into people’s well-being. The following study of the impact of large-scale architectural and urban developments on the place of residence is based on the assumption that physical space determines the quality of life in the living place and the changes in the process condition residents to adapt to their new surroundings—based on the three pillars of place, people, and process (3Ps). The article consists of two parts. The first is theoretical, which conceptualises spatial change based on the theory of human dependence on place. The second part–an empirical study—discusses the transformation of the post-industrial area of Bicocca (Milan), which, 40 years after the intervention, has led to conclusions and recommendations for urban planning. The results demonstrate the different sensitivities of the urban areas to the process of functional–spatial change, the essence of the accessibility of public space, public facilities, and transport infrastructure. The planning process can positively influence social adaptation to spatial change mitigation. Residential areas may be subject to additional protection procedures. The study is relevant to a sustainable planning process in the inevitable transformation of urban areas. The interdisciplinary nature of the issue prompts the integration of research findings and knowledge transfer in the socio-technological subsystem (STS).

Navigating Post-COVID-19 Social–Spatial Inequity: Unravelling the Nexus between Community Conditions, Social Perception, and Spatial Differentiation

The 2023 SDGs report underscores the prolonged disruption of COVID-19 on community living spaces, infrastructure, education, and income equality, exacerbating social and spatial inequality. Against the backdrop of the dual impact of significant events and the emergence of digital technologies, a coherent research trajectory is essential for characterizing social–spatial equity and understanding its influential factors within the urban planning discipline. While prior research emphasized spatial dimensions and mitigated spatial differentiation to ensure urban equity, the complexity of these interconnections necessitates a more comprehensive approach. This study adopts a holistic perspective, focusing on the “social–spatial” dynamics, utilizing social perception (sentiment maps) and spatial differentiation (housing prices index) pre- and post-pandemic to elucidate the interconnected and interactive nature of uneven development at the urban scale. It employs a multi-dimensional methodological framework integrating morphology analysis of housing conditions, GIS analysis of urban amenities, sentiment semantic analysis of public opinion, and multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) analysis of correlation influential factors. Using Suzhou, China, as a pilot study, this research demonstrates how these integrated methods complement each other, exploring how community conditions and resource distribution collectively bolster resilience, thereby maintaining social–spatial equity amidst pandemic disruptions. The findings reveal that uneven resource distribution exacerbates post-pandemic social stratification and spatial differentiation. The proximity of well-maintained ecological environments, such as parks or scenic landmarks, generally exhibits consistency and positive effects on “social–spatial” measurement. Simultaneously, various spatial elements influencing housing prices and social perception show geographic heterogeneity, particularly in areas farther from the central regions of Xiangcheng and Wujiang districts. This study uncovers a bilateral mechanism between social perception and spatial differentiation, aiming to delve into the interdependent relationship between social–spatial equity and built environmental factors. Furthermore, it aspires to provide meaningful references and recommendations for urban planning and regeneration policy formulation in the digital era to sustain social–spatial equity.

Occupancy of Bombus affinis (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Minnesota is highest in developed areas when standardized surveys are employed.

Mounting evidence of bumble bee declines and the listing of the rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis Cresson) as federally endangered in the United States in 2017 and Canada in 2012 has stimulated an interest in monitoring and conservation. Understanding the influence of land use on occupancy patterns of imperiled species is crucial to successful recovery planning. Using detection data from community surveys, we assessed land use associations for 7 bumble bee species in Minnesota, USA, including B. affinis. We used multispecies occupancy models to assess the effect of 3 major land use types (developed, agricultural, and natural) within 0.5 and 1.5 km on occupancy of 7 Bombus (Hymenoptera: Apidae) species, while accounting for detection uncertainty. We found that B. affinis occupancy and detection were highest in developed landscapes and lowest in agricultural landscapes, representing an inverse relationship with the relative landcover ratios of these landscapes in Minnesota. Occupancy of 2 bumble bee species had strong positive associations with natural landscapes within 1.5 km and 2 species had strong negative associations with agricultural landscapes within 1.5 km. Our results suggest that best practices for imperiled Bombus monitoring and recovery planning depends upon the surrounding major land use patterns. We provide recommendations for urban planning to support B. affinis based on conservation success in the metropolitan areas of Minneapolis-St. Paul. We also encourage substantial survey effort be employed in agricultural and natural regions of the state historically occupied by B. affinis to determine the current occupancy state.

Development of micromobility infrastructure in Kazan

The dramatic growth in personal mobility devices, especially in large cities, determines inadequacy of transport and pedestrian infrastructure. In this regard, it is necessary to develop the urban planning policy for a complete integration of a new type of mobility in the traffic system in urbanized territories.Purpose: The development of urban planning recommendations for the formation of micromobility infrastructure for Kazan and the project implementation for the city development.Research findings: All-round analysis of urban planning conditions to determine the formation of the micromobility infrastructure in the city. Determination of the structural organization of the micromobility network in urban planning zones in Kazan.Value: The urban planning recommendations are given for the development of the micromobility infrastructure in Kazan. Boundaries and dislocation of the micromobility network are identified for the city. Planning and infrastructure formation techniques are proposed herein.

“AN ACCESSIBLE CITY” – A LOOK FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE ‘60+’ GENERATION

This paper presents the results of workshop experiments aimed at realising the concept of the accessible city and identifies key considerations for enabling seniors to function better in the city’s public space, based on the real needs of an ageing population. The study used field research (in situ), functional-spatial analysis (case studies) and data synthesis. The latest available data from the Statistics Poland on the demographic situation of senior citizens, government programmes and current legislation – depicting the current and projected situation in Poland were analysed. Faced with alarming data indicating that Poland’s population will continue to grow older until 2050, with the number of people aged 60+ reaching 40.4% of our country’s total population, field research was carried out into the accessibility of selected urban spaces and a set of architectural and urban planning recommendations were presented to address the most important needs and better functioning of the 60+ generation. As the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship is currently home to the largest total population of senior citizens, the region's capital, Kielce, was chosen as the location for the analysis.

Астана қаласының саябақ аймақтарының флорасын талдау

The scientific article is a comprehensive study of the flora of park areas of the city of Astana. Due to the rapid growth of urban infrastructure and the expansion of green areas, the study of flora is becoming a key aspect of the management and conservation of city ecosystems. The study includes the collection of vegetation samples in various parks and squares of Astana, as well as their systematic analysis. Methods from taxonomy, phytosociology and ecology were used to determine species diversity and composition of plant communities.The study results highlight the importance of biodiversity in Astana parks and its impact on environmental quality. Flora analysis identifies indicator species and provides information to improve the management of green spaces and conserve the city’s natural resources. The scientific article provides valuable data and recommendations for urban planning and sustainable development of the city of Astana, and serves as a basis for further research in the field of urban ecology and natural resource management.

Consumer adoption of autonomous delivery robots in cities: Implications on urban planning and design policies

Five hundred survey responses on consumer acceptance of autonomous delivery robots (ADRs) were collected because the pandemic has increased the emphasis on contactless deliveries, spurring some interest in ADRs to perform last-mile deliveries in urban cities. To examine consumers' intention to adopt ADRs, a comprehensive theoretical model grounded on the Health Belief Model and Task-Technology Fit Model was presented and structural equation modeling was applied to examine the survey data. The analysis revealed that the constructs from both theories have significant effects on outcome expectations and task-technology fit. Additionally, outcome expectations and task-technology fit are strong predictors of consumers' intention, as indicated by their direct and indirect effects. Thus, this study enriches existing research by interpreting consumers' intention to adopt ADRs through health and technology perspectives. It also provides practical implications and policy recommendations for urban planning and design.

Assessing myocardial infarction severity from the urban environment perspective in Wuhan, China.

Health inequalities are globally widespread due to the regional socioeconomic inequalities. Myocardial infarction (MI) is a leading health problem causing deaths worldwide. Yet medical services for it are often inequitably distributed by region. Moreover, studies concerning MI's potential spatial risk factors generally suffer from difficulties in focusing on too few factors, inappropriate models, and coarse spatial grain of data. To address these issues, this paper integrates registered 1098 MI cases and urban multi-source spatio-temporal big data, and spatially analyses the risk factors for MI severity by applying an advanced interpretable model, the random forest algorithm (RFA)-based SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) model. In addition, a community-scale model between spatio-temporal risk factors and MI cases is constructed to predict the MI severity of all communities in Wuhan, China. The results suggest that those risk factors (i.e., age of patients, medical quality, temperature changes, air pollution and urban habitat) affect the MI severity at the community scale. We found that Wuhan residents in the downtown area are at risk for high MI severity, and the surrounding suburb areas show a donut-shape pattern of risk for medium-to-high MI severity. These patterns draw our attention to the impact of spatial environmental risk factors on MI severity. Thus, this paper provides three recommendations for urban planning to reduce the risk and mortality from severe MI in the aspect of policy implication.

Potential of Synthetizing Climatopes and Local Climate Zones for Urban Climatic Planning Recommendations: A Case Study in Toulouse, France

The urban climatic map (UCMap) is an urban climate information tool for planning purpose commonly used in German-speaking countries while local climate zone (LCZ) scheme is developed to link the characteristics urban climate and urban morphology at the city level world widely. These two frameworks differ with each other on the aspect of data sources, classification standards, and planning implementation. This study explores the potential of integrating these two complementary frameworks to identify problematic hot spots and propose some generic urban planning recommendations according to current urban climate standards. To address this issue, the Toulouse Metropole area is taken as a case study; a hybrid Climatope-LCZ map is derived by synthetizing the classification of climatopes, based on the German standard (VDI 3787-Part 1), and LCZs at equivalent spatial positions. Furthermore, the simulated meteorological data about wind and thermal environments of Toulouse Metropole during typical summer season are introduced as evidence for analyzing the mutual benefits on urban climate study and application. According to the results, both the heterogeneous urban geometric characteristics and urban climatic issues within a climatope are well identified spatially by the corresponding composition of LCZ. Likewise, the differences of thermal stress between climatopes but in the same LCZ are also clearly illustrated. Lastly, a list of urban climatic planning recommendations for LCZs is proposed followed by the guidelines in VDI 3787-Part 1. This study proves that hybrid Climatope-LCZ map offers more detailed urban climate information to planners or decision-makers than classic urban climate map framework.

A prediction model for fast evaluation of reflective glare from surrounding buildings

Limited studies have been carried out to assess glare from surrounding buildings with in-depth analysis. This study evaluated how the façade of a building could impact the glare condition of its surrounding building by carrying out a parametric study involving 21,120 scenarios. The parametric study considered five parameters: reflectance of the affecting façade, sun position, building orientation, the height of the affecting building, and the distance between the affecting and affected buildings. Based on the simulation results, a prediction model was developed to assist designers in swiftly quantifying a target building’s total glare performance under the influence of a surrounding reflective building. The prediction model can achieve an Radj2 above 0.9 for all the design scenarios considered in this study. Besides, this study also attempted to develop recommendations for urban planning and building design with regard to mitigating reflective glare during the design phase.

RIVER ECOSYSTEMS OF POLISYA: NATURE, CAUSES OF DEGRADATION, METHODS OF URBAN PLANNING AND LAND REGENERATION

In this article we have analyzed the current state of the ecosystems of Polesye rivers in Ukraine, the causes of their degradation. We have primarily made recommendations for urban planning and the reclamation of coastal areas of Polesye rivers in urban and suburban areas. Ukrainian rivers are classified into 3 categories: Polesye rivers, mountain rivers and rivers in river-cut valleys. In this article we analyzed the natural features of Polesye river ecosystems and the reasons and factors of their degradation. We have made some recommendations with respect to town-planning and the reclamation of coastal territories: in both urban and suburban zones.The river ecosystem is a naturally balanced formation - disturbance of the coastal area directly affects the state of the riverbed. Maintaining the natural (optimal) functioning of the river ecosystem and its catchment area helps to increase their self-cleaning capabilities and minimize the impact of extreme situations, including low-water years. Any measures for the preservation or reconstruction of the ecosystem of the river and river valley should be aimed at the reproduction of natural complexes, originally characteristic of the area and the landscape.In order to maintain, preserve, protect and restore the ecological balance, the urban organization of coastal areas of Polissya rivers in urban and suburban areas should take into account the presence of wetlands of coastal areas, the number of wetlands, small number of aquatic and air-water plants. features of Polissya river ecosystems. The dominance of the landscape direction of the urban organization of the coastal areas of Polissya will help maintain the natural balance, which is the key to maintaining the purity of Polissya rivers and the stability of coastal areas.

Use of the Natural Outdoor Environment in Different Populations in Europe in Relation to Access: Implications for Policy.

This cross-cultural study explores the relationship of natural outdoor environment (NOE) use with NOE access. Most urban planning recommendations suggest optimal accessibility to be 300 m–500 m straight distance to spaces with vegetation of at least 1 hectare. Exploring this recommendation, we used data (n = 3947) from four European cities collected in the framework of the PHENOTYPE study: Barcelona (Spain), Doetinchem (The Netherlands), Kaunas (Lithuania) and Stoke-on-Trent (United Kingdom) to obtain residential access to NOE (straight or network distances, using 300 m and 150 m buffers, to NOE larger than 1 hectare or 0.5 hectare) and use of NOE (i.e., self-reported time spent in NOE). Poisson regression models were used to examine the associations between residential access and use of NOE. The models with the strongest association with time spent in NOE in the combined sample were for those living within 300 m straight line distance to either 0.5 ha or 1 ha NOE. Noting that the only indicator that was consistent across all individual cities was living with 150 m network buffer of NOE (of at least 1 ha), this warrants further exploration in reducing recommendations of 300 m straight-line distance to 150 m network distance to 1 ha of NOE for a general indicator for cities within Europe.

Transforming Housing to Commercial Use: A Case Study on Commercial Gentrification in Yeon-nam District, Seoul

Commercial gentrification has had a significant impact on the urban environment, particularly in leading to the upscaling and expansion of food and beverage (F&B) commercial activities. F&B commercialization and proliferation has emerged from (a) the borders of newly provided urban open space and (b) seed points where small-sized commercial areas had already been formed. However, few studies have simultaneously explored the commercialization process of these different contextual sub-regions over a relatively long time period. This study of Yeon-nam district, Seoul, aims to demonstrate empirically (1) how the F&B commercial stores have been distributed over the past decade and (2) which of the factors that are the spreading center of the F&B store is the critical factor. Using kernel density estimation, the study discovered that the old–residential district has been entirely transformed to an F&B commercial district since the Gyeong-ui Line Forest Park opened in the district. Furthermore, through the analysis of standard deviational ellipses, we empirically verified that F&B commercialization was more substantial in the seed region. Based on the findings, policy recommendations for urban planning and design, especially urban gentrification management and regeneration, are provided.

Isovist indicators as a means to relieve pedestrian psycho-physiological stress in Hong Kong

The creation of a psychologically friendly outdoor environment has important quality-of-life implications for urban residents who live in cities with extremely high population density, such as Hong Kong. Prospect Refuge Theory is the most widely recognized theory that explains environmental emotional influence by referring to urban planning and architecture, and it can be quantified by applying isovist indicators. We aim to (a) conduct field measurements that record dynamic psycho-physiological stress, (b) calculate isovist indicators by introducing a new indicator-isovist time difference and then analyse their effects on stress, and (c) draw on findings to provide recommendations for urban planning and design. The experiment is conducted for the first time in a high-density city where 30 participants are asked to walk a predefined route. Each participant wears a portable smart band that records skin conductance response and a global positioning system (GPS) that records geographic coordinates. The results demonstrate that (1) an open space with a visual target set at a distance is the dominant factor that creates positive emotions in Hong Kong; (2) the new indicator-isovist time difference (D1) is valuable, as it is more significantly related to stress than the isovist level; (3) the living environment and cultural differences play an important role in the final result, i.e. people in Europe prefer relatively closed spaces while people in Hong Kong feel stress when the space is highly enclosed.

Home-based work in cities: In search of an appropriate urban planning response

Home-based work is becoming an increasingly popular form of work in cities, fuelled by technological advances, lifestyle preferences, demographical change and rapid evolution of the knowledge economy. In many cities, particularly those planned and developed with intentional separation of land uses, this return of economic activities to residential neighbourhoods brings along both lifestyle opportunities and spatial challenges. Attempts to formulate appropriate urban planning responses are hindered by the limited understanding of home-based workers’ needs and aspirations, as well as their impacts on the built environment. Responding to this knowledge gap, this paper presents the results of a survey focused on urban planning implications of home-based work within the City of Gold Coast (Queensland, Australia). The findings provide strong evidence of home-based workers’ preferences for neighbourhoods that integrate residential amenities with place-making initiatives to enhance economic performance, networking and collaboration. Several urban planning recommendations are provided in three separate scenarios to facilitate the formulation of strategies prompting a gradual evolution of residential neighbourhoods towards live/work urban environments.

Local Climate Zone classification for climate-based urban planning using Landsat 8 Imagery (A case study in Yogyakarta Urban Area)

Urbanization of the last decade contributed to the urban morphological changes in Yogyakarta Urban Area (YUA). These conditions have an impact on local climate zone variations. There is an urgent need for enhanced climate-based urban planning. This study aims to: 1) Classify the Local Climate Zone (LCZ) in YUA using the World Urban Database Access and Portal Tool (WUDAPT) method, and 2) develop climate-based urban planning recommendations of the classification results. WUDAPT method used in this research based on the concept of LCZ framework by utilizing Landsat 8 imagery. LCZ classification of the whole area is determined using random forest classifier algorithm by SAGA GIS. The results of this study indicate that there are 12 LCZs in YUA, consisting of 6 types of LCZ based on building type and 6 LCZs based on land cover type. The highest increase of LST are in LCZ 3 and LCZ 5. Consequently, there’s a change in diurnal temperature from low to medium. Therefore, the thermal comfort aspect define by four components of LCZ is important in YUA urban planning strategy.

Em busca do bom lugar

O espaço público da rua tem sido alvo de planejamento e ações projetuais fundamentais para intervenções urbanas contemporâneas, quando assume um novo papel de responsabilidade no planejamento das cidades e na qualidade de vida das pessoas, de forma a contribuir na criação de oportunidades econômicas e na promoção de equidade social; promovendo também a saúde da população e auxiliando nas práticas que envolvem a segurança pública. Portanto, a rua é hoje um elemento chave para as boas práticas de planejamento urbano que visam à sustentabilidade ambiental e econômica do lugar. Através da visão conceitual e antropológica de DaMatta (1997), sobre o exercício da cidadania no Brasil, e das recomendações urbanísticas de Ghel & Svarre (2018), que promovem o uso da rua como um espaço cidadão, experiências com projetos de parklets executados na cidade do Recife (Brasil) e emToronto (Canada) são analisados e a rua é discutida enquanto espaço de cidadania nas duas cidades. Nestas, as culturas e formas de ver e vivenciar a rua se mostram diferentes, refletindo, consequentemente, diferentes soluções projetuais para o uso da mesma, bem como para o uso e apropriação do espaçopúblico urbano.

Spatial characteristics of physical environments for human settlements in Jinsha River watershed (Yunnan section), China

In recent years, natural disasters such as earthquakes, landslides, mudslides, collapses, drought, and extreme temperature occur frequently in Yunnan Jinsha River watershed, causing deterioration of physical environments for human settlements in some areas of the watershed. Although several studies have addressed individual environmental elements in the study area, efforts for integrated analysis of environmental factors and human settlements are still lacking. Therefore, it is important to identify the spatial distribution of physical environments for human settlements to support population distribution planning. This study includes 10 factors (topography, landform, vegetation, elevation, fault, rock, soil, earthquake intensity, temperature, and precipitation) as indicators for the assessment of human settlement suitability based on the analytic hierarchy process and grey correlation methods. Geographic information system functions were used to help understand the spatial distribution of human settlements and the causal factors. This study reveals different spatial units of the watershed suitable for human habitation from the viewpoint of physical environment and provides recommendations for urban planning and siting, land use planning, and disaster mitigation in the watershed.

Land Use/Land Cover and Accessibility: Implications of the Correlations for Land Use and Transport Planning

Land use and transport shape our cities. The central place of integrated land use transport strategy in improving urban sustainability has been a widespread acceptance. The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between land use/land cover types and transport characteristics. Traffic zones, as the spatial analysis unit, are generated by partitioning parcels with single land use/land cover type. Driving accessibility, cycling accessibility and walking accessibility are proposed to quantify the transport characteristics of traffic zones. Taking Eindhoven, the Netherlands as study area, the three accessibility patterns differ but all show strong positive spatial autocorrelation. Clustering method is adopted to synthesize accessibility indicators and group traffic zones with similar transport characteristics into clusters. An contingency table analysis indicates that land use/land cover types are significantly associated with clusters, on which the validation and quantification of experience in the relationship of land use/land cover and transport are based: residential area and commercial area mainly concentrate in high accessible clusters (6 and 7); industrial area and open space tend to favor clusters (4 and 6) with adequate driving accessibility; the high percentage of natural area in medium accessible clusters (4 and 5), especially in less accessible clusters (1, 2 and 3) corroborates the low demands of natural area on mobility service. Clustering map and accessibility patterns can identify the gaps in coverage of mobility service and in efficiency of land use/land cover pattern. The applicability of these tools is demonstrated by two cases. Recommendations for urban planning are obtained from this study considering both land use and transport aspects.

Large-eddy simulations of air ventilation in parametric scenarios: comparative studies of urban form and wind direction

ABSTRACTThis study evaluates effects of building form and wind direction on urban ventilation using a large-eddy simulation (LES) model. Numerical simulations of air flow in 80 sets of parametric scenarios are conducted and the results are cross-compared. Main findings and potential recommendations for urban planning are: First, high mean building height is generally not good for ventilation, as vertical momentum is prevented from penetrating inside the street canyon. Second, inhomogeneous building heights tend to decrease the variance of site-averaged velocity ratios compared to homogeneous scenarios. Horizontal ventilation is moderated by the vertical momentum generated by inhomogeneous building heights. Third, rectangular (1:2 horizontal size) building arrays may allow better ventilation than square (1:1 horizontal size) building arrays. Moreover, given a moderate ground coverage ratio in square building arrays, 45° wind input allows better ventilation than 0° wind input. Finally, in cases of square arrays, higher ground coverage ratios result in lower site-averaged velocity ratios. But in the case of rectangular arrays, this negative relationship may be reversed.