Small Urban Communities Research Articles

Practical aspects of morphological research in urban renewal projects

The small towns of North-Eastern Germany suffered great losses in historic buildings and economic dynamics during the Second World War and the subsequent decades of communist rule. Since 1990, these communities have suffered a major decrease in the number of inhabitants, resulting in a large number of buildings being empty. To adjust the urban structure to twenty-first century standards and regain economic vitality, both regional and local governments are supporting urban renewal projects. Sites inside medieval town centres are under pressure to amalgamate and be recreated as large-scale developer architecture or to fall into ultimate decay. As part of the study of medieval urban structures, a study of the site of the former Holy Spirit Hospice (Heiligengeist-Quarter) of Woldegk has been carried out. This paper shows how contextualization and a re-definition of the site, based on historic narratives developed by morphological research, inspired authorities and stakeholders to initiate a narrative-based development of the site. It demonstrates that urban renewal, based on historic narratives, creates wide public support for contemporary redevelopment in small urban communities. It further shows how morphological research is contributing to the establishment of relevant narratives.

Antibiotic prescribing intensity and community UTI resistance: a cross-sectional ecological study.

Antibiotic overuse is associated with antimicrobial resistance (AMR). It is unclear whether community AMR is driven by overall antibiotic use or by high levels of repeated (intense) use by individual patients. To determine the association between high antibiotic prescribing intensity (all antibiotic prescriptions; any indication), and rates of UTI resistance among patients within small communities. Repeated cross-sectional ecological analysis of geographical areas (population averaging 1500) from 2012-2015 using anonymised primary care data and urine cultures. For each area, we compared the percentage of antibiotic-prescribed patients who received≥5 prescriptions/3 years or≥4 prescriptions/year, with subsequent or same year UTI resistance rates. We also compared 'Average Daily Quantities' of all antibiotics prescribed, with UTI resistance rates, per year, per area. Results were adjusted for co-variates and analysed at area level using mixed effects logistic regression. Of 196,513 patients prescribed antibiotics in 69 areas, 16% were prescribed intensively (≥5 prescriptions in 3 years), receiving almost 30% of prescriptions. Of 12 308 confirmed UTI specimens (80% Escherichia Coli), 65% were resistant to at least one antibiotic (amoxicillin; cefalexin; ciprofloxacin; trimethoprim; nitrofurantoin). We found no significant association between high intensity 'any' antibiotic prescribing (same year/two preceding years) or overall 'any' antibiotic prescribing (same year) and UTI resistance. We found no relationship between concurrent high intensity 'any' antibiotic prescribing, and UTI resistance rates in small urban communities, pre-covid. Individual patient use of multiple antibiotics, even at high intensity, may not be an independent risk factor for community UTI resistance.

Settlement location and school size as determinants of subjective well-being and behavioral attitudes among adolescents

BACKGROUND: Empirical data on the effect of infrastructural and geographical factors on the subjective well-being of residents of small urban and rural communities are scarce.
 AIM: To identify indicators of subjective well-being among adolescents, as well as their behavioral attitudes and subjective assessments of the school environment.
 MATERIAL AND METHODS: We analyzed data collected from 1164 respondents residing in 25 rural and urban settlements across Siberia and the European part of Northern Russia between 2016 and 2018. The Cronbachs alpha values for the dependent variables ranged from 0.654 to 0.811. The variables used to differentiate the comparison groups included the school size, the distance of the settlement from the regional centers infrastructure, and its geographic location in relation to the Arctic zone.
 RESULTS: Various characteristics of the school environment demonstrated the effect of differentiating variables. These characteristics included the friendliness within the school environment, the attitudes of teachers, the preparedness for self-defense, and the attitudes towards the use of psychoactive substances and illegal behavior. The attitudes towards the use of psychoactive substances and the readiness for self-defense were particularly sensitive to differentiating variables.
 CONCLUSION: The results of this study can be used to develop solutions that effectively manage the risks associated with the social and personal development of adolescents residing in small urban and rural settlements within sparsely populated regions of the Russian Federation.

Embedding Social Work into a Police Department in the South

In 2020, the Fayetteville Police Department (FPD), located in a small urban community in Arkansas, began efforts to develop alternative responses to crisis-related calls for service. The main motivation for this effort was the influx of calls related to crises involving substance use, mental health, and homelessness both before and during COVID-19, although the George Floyd protests during that summer also played a meaningful role. FPD collaborated with the University of Arkansas School of Social Work (UA) to develop an MSW internship within the department with the intent of ultimately creating a co-response program. It is crucial to determine a baseline of staff attitudes when developing a new program or implementing organizational change to assess any subsequent shifts over time. As such, this paper presents baseline data from a survey assessing attitudes among sworn and civilian staff at FPD toward incorporating a social worker into the department. Data from semi-structured interviews provide a deeper understanding of these attitudes along with insight into lessons learned during the implementation of the internship and the eventual Crisis Intervention Response Team (CIRT). Survey results indicated that overall, FPD staff were supportive but somewhat hesitant about the programmatic change, particularly regarding safety concerns when bringing unarmed civilians into the field. Themes from the interviews showed that although there was certainly doubt among FPD staff initially, the intentionally collaborative efforts made by FPD administrators and UA faculty to support organizational acceptance of the program produced early successes. By highlighting crucial aspects of the implementation process and the lessons learned along the way, the results from this study can guide future replication efforts in similarly situated localities.

(050) Vulvodynia Viewed From a Disease Prevention Framework: Insights From Patient Perspectives

Abstract Introduction Persons with vulvodynia (a chronic vulvar pain condition) suffer many barriers to diagnosis and treatment, several of which may be exacerbated by the sociocultural and geographical context in which they live. Objectives We drew on the experiences of patients with vulvodynia who were living in small urban and rural communities to learn what they perceived as the major barriers to diagnosis and treatment as well as to probe for possible solutions. Methods For this qualitative case study, we conducted 3 focus groups with a total of 10 participants, drawn from patients seen at our academic tertiary referral center, with a goal of understanding their lived experience with vulvodynia. The patient dialogue was coded into themes and temporally grouped to illustrate struggles and victories in diagnosis and treatment. Results Participants confirmed that healthcare provider knowledge and attitudes as well as system challenges (specialist and allied healthcare provider availability) are major barriers to timely diagnosis. Of novel interest are other factors that exacerbate distress and delay diagnosis such as patients’ inadequate knowledge of sexual functioning and sociocultural messages regarding “normal” sexual activity. Our work suggests that a disease prevention framework that includes comprehensive sexual education before or at the onset of sexual activity may be of benefit in reducing the burden of vulvodynia when added to strategies to increase healthcare provider knowledge and improve access to effective treatments. Conclusions While healthcare provider knowledge and attitudes are often at the forefront of barriers to diagnosis, our study suggests that to minimize patient distress and expedite diagnosis, resources must also be directed to promoting comprehensive sexual health education. Disclosure No.

Social and Emotional Learning and Early Literacy Skills: A Quasi-Experimental Study of RULER

RULER is a pre-K–12 systemic approach to social and emotional learning (SEL) that supports educators in cultivating emotion skills and provides them with pedagogical principles and tools to help them explicitly teach social and emotional skills to students. The current study tests whether preschool-level access to RULER was associated with growth in early literacy skills using a sample of 1051 preschoolers in 95 classrooms across 19 community-based centers in a small urban northeastern US community. The Preschool Early Literacy Indicators were collected three times over an academic year by district staff. Multi-level growth modeling with inverse probability weighting revealed that children in preschools with access to RULER grew significantly more in their early literacy skills than children without access to RULER—an end-of-year difference equivalent to 0.25 standard deviations, 95% CI [0.14, 0.40]. The current study demonstrates that RULER may promote young children’s early literacy skills.

Protocol for a parallel group, two-arm, superiority cluster randomised trial to evaluate a community-level complementary-food safety and hygiene and nutrition intervention in Mali: the MaaCiwara study (version 1.3; 10 November 2022)

BackgroundDiarrhoeal disease remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among the under-fives in many low- and middle-income countries. Changes to food safety practices and feeding methods around the weaning period, alongside improved nutrition, may significantly reduce the risk of disease and improve development for infants. We describe a protocol for a cluster randomised trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a multi-faceted community-based educational intervention that aims to improve food safety and hygiene behaviours and enhance child nutrition.MethodsWe describe a mixed-methods, parallel group, two-arm, superiority cluster randomised controlled trial with baseline measures. One hundred twenty clusters comprising small urban and rural communities will be recruited in equal numbers and randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio to either treatment or control arms. The community intervention will be focussed around an ideal mother concept involving all community members during campaign days with dramatic arts and pledging, and follow-up home visits. Participants will be mother–child dyads (27 per cluster period) with children aged 6 to 36 months. Data collection will comprise a day of observation and interviews with each participating mother–child pair and will take place at baseline and 4 and 15 months post-intervention. The primary analysis will estimate the effectiveness of the intervention on changes to complementary-food safety and preparation behaviours, food and water contamination, and diarrhoea. Secondary outcomes include maternal autonomy, enteric infection, nutrition, child anthropometry, and development scores. A additional structural equation analysis will be conducted to examine the causal relationships between the different outcomes. Qualitative and health economic analyses including process evaluation will be done.ConclusionsThe trial will provide evidence on the effectiveness of community-based behavioural change interventions designed to reduce the burden of diarrhoeal disease in the under-fives and how effectiveness varies across different contexts.Trial registrationISRCTN14390796. Registration date December 13, 2021

Rural development. The case of two communities

The article was elaborated within the MarginalRural project, a grant of the Romanian Academy, carried out between 2019 and 2022. The purpose of the grant was to collect data from several rural and small urban communities and analyze the demographic data but also data regarding infrastructure, health and education services, sources of income, local employers and more. The analysis included different perspectives, respectively an institutional one (through the opinions of representatives of public institutions), an entrepreneurial one (through the reflected opinion in interviews with local entrepreneurs) and that of vulnerable groups (through the opinions of interviewed disadvantaged people). The objective of the project was to analyze the phenomenon of rural development/underdevelopment and reveal the factors that influence development or marginalization.

Considerations on the Influence of the Globalization Phenomenon on Small-sized Communities

"The present study is the result of a field research carried out in July 2022 in the municipality of Calafat in Dolj county. The findings of the study draw attention to global trends in urbanization. Currently, urbanization is an indicator of social development, and on a global level we find that societies registered on positive development trends also go through an intense process of urban development. This is also due to the fact that the city is at the same time both the result and the engine of the development of a society. In the case of small communities in Romania, we observe a reverse process, of deurbanization of small urban communities. Forced industrialization from the communist period was followed by the lack of solutions necessary for economic performance. The consultation of statistical data and the correlation with the way the population of small towns perceives the reality allow the estimation that globalization has had a destructive effect on the incompletely developed small towns by focusing only on industrial production and ignoring all the necessities of the urbanization process. "

Numerical Modeling of Flash Flood Risk Mitigation and Operational Warning in Urban Areas

This paper aims to demonstrate the research-to-application and operational use of numerical hydrologic and hydraulic modeling to (a) quantify potential flash flood risks in small urban communities with high spatial resolution; (b) assess the effectiveness of possible flood mitigation measures appropriate for such communities; and (c) construct an effective operational urban flash flood warning system. The analysis is exemplified through case studies pertaining to a small community with dense housing and steep terrain in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, through numerical simulations with a customized self-contained hydrologic and hydraulic modeling software. Issues associated with limited data and the corresponding modeling are discussed. In order to simulate the extreme scenarios, 24-h design storms with return periods from 1 to 100 years with distinctive temporal and spatial distributions were constructed using both daily and hourly precipitation for each month of the rainy season (May–October). Four flood mitigation plans were examined based on natural channel revegetation and the installation of gabion dams with detention basins. Due to limitations arising from the housing layout and budgets, a feasible plan to implement both measures in selected regions, instead of all regions, is recommended as one of the top candidates from a cost-to-performance ratio perspective. Numerical modeling, customized for the conditions of the case study, is proven to be an effective and robust tool to evaluate urban flood risks and to assess the performance of mitigation measures. The transition from hydrologic and hydraulic modeling to an effective urban flash warning operational system is demonstrated by the regional Urban Flash Flood Warning System (UFFWS) implemented in Istanbul, Turkey. With quality-controlled remotely sensed precipitation observations and forecast data, the system generates forcing in the hydrologic and hydraulic modeling network to generate both historical and forecast flow to assist forecasters in evaluating urban flash flood risks.

Social support is associated with reduced stigma and shame in a sample of rural and small urban adults in methadone treatment

Background Social support from family, friends, and others promotes retention, decreased substance use, and other positive outcomes for people in substance use treatment. Methadone treatment-related stigma makes social support vital for clients. Little is known about the relationships between stigma, shame, and social support for methadone treatment clients in rural and small urban communities. This study examines these relationships among such clients at an opioid treatment program (OTP) in Michigan. Methods Adults (N = 267) at the OTP completed a web-based survey, including measures of general social support, friend support, demographic variables, opioid use-related shame, frequency of hearing negative comments about methadone treatment, past-year opioid use, and other variables not included in the present analysis. Multiple regression was used to examine associations between general social support (model 1), friend support (model 2) and other included variables. Results Half of the participants (48.3%) reported past-year opioid use. In multiple regression analyses, male gender was inversely associated with general social support. Opioid use-related shame and experiencing treatment-related stigma were inversely associated with general social support and friend support. Conclusions This study adds to the methadone treatment literature by highlighting how shame and stigma might be reduced amongst methadone treatment clients. Greater social support may reduce shame and stigma, making favorable treatment outcomes more likely. Clients with greater opioid-use-related shame and who more frequently experience treatment-related stigma may be particularly vulnerable and need additional supports to maintain recovery. Interventions to enhance support should thus address shame and stigma.

Cumulative barriers to retention in methadone treatment among adults from rural and small urban communities

BackgroundThough methadone has been shown to effectively treat opioid use disorder, many barriers prevent individuals from accessing and maintaining treatment. Barriers are prevalent in less populated areas where treatment options are limited. This study examines barriers to retention in methadone treatment in a small Midwest community and identifies factors associated with greater endorsement of barriers.MethodsPatients at an opioid treatment program (N = 267) were recruited to complete a computer-based survey onsite. Surveys assessed demographics, opioid misuse, depression and anxiety symptoms, trauma history and symptoms, social support, and barriers to retention in treatment (e.g., childcare, work, housing, transportation, legal obligations, cost, health). Descriptive statistics were used to examine individual barriers and multiple regression was calculated to identify demographic and psychosocial factors associated with greater cumulative barriers.ResultsMost participants reported at least one barrier to retention in treatment and more than half reported multiple barriers. Travel hardships and work conflicts were the most highly endorsed barriers. Past year return to use (B = 2.31, p = 0.004) and more severe mental health symptomology (B = 0.20, p = 0.038) were associated with greater cumulative barriers. Greater levels of social support were associated with fewer barriers (B = − 0.23, p < 0.001).ConclusionThis study adds to the limited research on barriers to retention in methadone treatment among patients in rural and small urban communities. Findings suggest flexible regulations for dispensing methadone, co-location or care coordination, and family or peer support programs may further reduce opioid use and related harms in small communities. Individuals with past year return to use reported a greater number of barriers, highlighting the time following return to use as critical for wraparound services and support. Those with co-occurring mental health issues may be vulnerable to poor treatment outcomes, as evidenced by greater endorsement of barriers. As social support emerged as a protective factor, efforts to strengthen informal support networks should be explored as adjunctive services to methadone treatment.

Long-term monitoring of drug consumption patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic in a small-sized community in Brazil through wastewater-based epidemiology.

The abuse of legal and illegal drugs is a global public health problem, also affecting the social and economic well-being of the population. Thus, there is a significant interest in monitoring drug consumption. Relevant epidemiological information on lifestyle habits can be obtained from the chemical analysis of urban wastewater. In this work, passive sampling using polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS) was used to quantify licit and illicit drugs biomarkers in wastewater for the application of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). In this WBE study, a small urban community of approximately 1179 inhabitants was monitored from 18 March 2020 to 3 March 2021, covering the mobility restriction and flexibilization periods of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. Consumption was estimated for amphetamine, caffeine, cocaine, MDMA, methamphetamine, nicotine, and THC. The highest estimated consumption among illicit drugs was for THC (2369 ± 1037 mg day−1 1000 inh−1) followed by cocaine (353 ± 192 mg day−1 1000 inh−1). There was a negative correlation between consumption of caffeine, cocaine, MDMA, nicotine, and THC with human mobility, expressed by cellular phone mobility reports (P-value = 0.0094, 0.0019, 0.0080, 0.0009, and 0.0133, respectively). Our study is the first long-term drug consumption evaluation during the COVID-19 pandemic, with continuous sampling for almost a whole year. The observed reduction in consumption of both licit and illicit drugs is probably associated with stay-at-home orders and reduced access, which can be due to the closure of commercial facilities during some time of the evaluated period, smaller drug supply, and reduced income of the population due to the shutdown of companies and unemployment. The assay described in this study can be used as a complementary and cost-effective tool to the long-term monitoring of drug use biomarkers in wastewater, a relevant epidemiological strategy currently limited to short collection times.

Comorbid Affective and Substance Use Disorders of Medicaid/Medicare Beneficiaries at an Opioid Treatment Program Serving Small Urban and Rural Communities.

ObjectivesIdentify rates and correlates of comorbid affective and substance use disorders among an understudied population, Medicaid/Medicare beneficiaries receiving care at an opioid treatment program serving patients from small urban and rural areas. Examine whether past-year non-medical opioid use status differentiates comorbidity status.MethodsA cross-sectional, venue-based design was used to recruit a convenience sample of patients treated with methadone for opioid use disorder. Measures were assessed across three domains: (1) demographic characteristics, (2) opioid use characteristics, and (3) comorbid disorders. Brief validated screeners categorized probable comorbid disorders. Bivariate analyses examined correlates of comorbid disorders and determined variable selection for multivariable analyses.ResultsIn this sample (N = 210; mean age = 38.5 years; female = 62.2%; Non-Hispanic White race/ethnicity = 86.1%), comorbid disorders were common. Rates were as follows: current anxiety (48.1%), depression (41.1%), and PTSD (33.7%), and past-year stimulant (27.6%), marijuana (19.0%), alcohol (14.9%), and sedative (7.6%). In bivariate analyses, past-year non-medical opioid use and a greater accumulation of opioid use consequences were associated with most disorders. When including demographic and opioid use characteristics in multivariable analyses, past-year non-medical opioid use was associated with anxiety, PTSD, stimulant use disorder, and sedative use disorder.ConclusionsFew studies have investigated comorbid disorders among this understudied population. This analysis highlights a high burden, especially for affective disorders. Our findings demonstrate that routine, ongoing assessment of non-medical opioid use may be a promising and feasible strategy to detect patients needing integrated care. Future research should investigate whether changes to assessment protocols at opioid treatment programs in small urban and rural settings facilitate care coordination.

THE PROFILE OF A RURAL COMMUNITY: VITOMIRESTI, OLT COUNTY

The article is based on a data collection from the project Marginal Rural, a grant of Romanian Academy, carried out between 2019 and 2022. The aim of the project was to collect data from several rural and small urban communities and analyze socio-demographic data, but also look at indicators regarding infrastructure, health and education services, sources of income, local employers, or the phenomenon of migration for working. The analysis included different perspectives, respectively an institutional one (through the opinions of representatives of public institutions), an entrepreneurial one (through the opinion reflected in interviews with local entrepreneurs) and the vulnerable groups’ one (through the opinions reflected from the focus group organized with disadvantaged people). We looked at the phenomenon of rural development/underdevelopment and potential marginalized rural areas. Marginalization represents a social phenomenon, fuelled by the socio-economic context that followed the 1989 revolution. The completion of the transition from the socialist regime towards free-market economy implied high social costs for a part of the population, including poverty and social exclusion.

Development and transient performance analysis of a decentralized grid-connected smart energy system based on hybrid solar-geothermal resources; Techno-economic evaluation

The world energy sector is going to change over from its present state of centralized energy generation to a future state with a larger share of distributed generation. In this respect, an innovative smart energy system based on hybrid solar-geothermal energies is proposed in this work, and transient performance assessment and techno-economic analysis are presented to evaluate its dynamic performance applying TRNSYS software. The proposed system is developed to provide power, heating, and cooling demands for a small urban community as the case study. The system consists of PVT panels, thermal energy storage tanks, a turbine, an absorption chiller, and a heat pump as the main components. Also, other subsidiary components like controllers and diverters are incorporated to guarantee the proposed system performance in a smart manner in various ambient conditions of the year. The results show that the system not only provides the annual electrical demand for the considered case study but also a considerable amount of excess power is produced, which can be sold to the power grid to compensate for some expenses of the system. The highest and the lowest exergy efficiency for the proposed system is attained in July and December with the values of 55.9% and 22.8%, respectively. Also, the highest and the lowest values of system unit product cost are obtained for January and July, respectively, as 8.38 and 32.77 $/GJ.

Research on functional space of community-based medical-nursing combined facilities for the aged in small cities

ABSTRACT The aging of the population is accelerating. In China, the relationship between the differences in aged care and medical resources is being explored, but there is a lack of research on the aged care and medical needs of older people in the community and the functional space of aged care institutions. In this paper, questionnaires, interviews and observations were conducted with older adults over 60 years of age in a small urban community. Statistical methods were used to analyze their real needs in terms of living and health requirements. The results showed that 1) The number of members in the whole family was significantly associated with the choice of home care model. 2) There was a high demand for day care, emergency stations and home services among the seniors in the community. 3) Watching television, drinking tea, and growing vegetables and flowers were the most popular activities among the seniors. 4) There was a high demand for nursing services, medical services and medical equipment among the seniors in the community. Conclusion. Family service station, ornamental room, tea room, vegetable garden and healthy green environment should be the most basic functional spaces. Professional medical places for the seniors should be provided in the community.

Regional differences in resilience of social and physical systems: Case study of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria

Physical infrastructure networks in diverse urban settlements are designed to be robust and reliable, while the socio-economic systems offer the necessary adaptive capacity at household, city, and regional scales to recover from major service disruptions resulting from disasters. Here, our urban resilience analyses are based on exploring explicit links between the physical infrastructure/assets and the socio-economic systems. Increased availability of high-quality data from mobile devices allows quantification of diverse socio-economic metrics and thus enables tracking city- and regional-scale community recovery from disasters. Here, recovery trajectories for five regions within Puerto Rico island with differences in socio-economic status (e.g., median income) after Hurricanes Irma and Maria are analyzed using large-scale mobility data and are combined with earlier synthesis of seven global cities based on capital portfolio analysis. Systemic inequalities are manifested in highly variable ability to cope with chronic shocks and recovery from extreme events. Island urban communities face the geographic-isolation effect, legacy socioeconomic constraints, and chronic inefficiencies in governance, all of which delay recovery from disasters. Hurricane recovery efforts include two types of responses. First, in larger urban areas, households use their social ties and financial resources to evacuate to larger cities and return when damaged facilities and infrastructure are repaired. Second, smaller urban communities are already adapted to coping with inadequate critical services and experience disproportionate impacts of disasters. Lacking socio-economic resources, such communities self-organize to access local and external resources and actively engage in repairing and rebuilding damaged facilities. However, recovery is much slower than their counterparts in larger cities. Given the interdependencies of connected social and physical systems and cross-scale feedbacks, such inequalities must be addressed at both city and regional scales to continue progress in urban community preparedness for and recovery from disasters.

Can urban greening using abandoned places promote citizens’ wellbeing? Case in Daegu City, South Korea

This study investigates the multidimensional health benefits of revitalizing abandoned urban spaces versus the adverse impact of vacant properties on residents. We examined the city of Daegu, South Korea, which has endeavored to change vacant spaces into small urban farms and community shelters. In the study, in-depth interviews and intercept surveys were conducted with nearby residents. The results show that various problems are caused by abandoned housing and re-appropriating vacant lots has a multidimensional influence on residents’ wellbeing. Resident interview data shows that converting empty houses into community green spaces improved citizens’ mental wellbeing and reduced unfavorable perceptions of abandoned places. The intercept survey also identified positive factors that promote citizens’ mental welfare. In addition, these projects offered residents potential health benefits by promoting physical activity, stress relief, and mutual interaction. For cities experiencing urban shrinking and decline, both in South Korea and in other developed countries, there are considerable opportunities for converting abandoned places into urban green places conducive to promoting citizens’ wellbeing.

Energy and economic assessment of distributed renewable gas and electricity generation in a small disadvantaged urban community

A methodology for assessing the efficiency and economic viability of renewable gas generation and energy conversion to compliment residential PV is proposed and demonstrated for the 10,000 resident example community of Oak View in Huntington Beach, California. Renewable fuel production processes included in this work are (1) processing of community-produced organic fraction of municipal solid waste in an anaerobic digester, and (2) using solar generation paired with water electrolysis. Six pathways – three ending in natural gas pipeline injection and three ending in solid oxide fuel cell electricity production – were evaluated for each PV capacity scenario. The renewable fuel production potential based only upon waste from the studied community was determined to be 2400 MMBtu per year of renewable natural gas (RNG) from anaerobic digestion, and up to 28,500 MMBtu of hydrogen from electrolysis using only excess solar PV electricity. With current costs the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for renewable fuel production is $40–203/MMBtu, depending upon the energy pathway and scale. The LCOE for renewable electricity production is $0.37–1.28/kWh. A combination of LCFS and tipping fees as low as $20 per ton can yield renewable fuel at $2 per MMBtu. Likewise, a tipping fee of $32 can lead to the production of renewable electricity at $0.18 per kWh. Using future costs, the unsubsidized cost of electricity can drop as low as $0.15 per kWh, and renewable fuel can be produced at $18 per MMBtu. If Low Carbon Fuel Credits exist in 2050, a tipping fee of less than $9 per ton can yield renewable fuel at $2 per MMBtu. On an energy basis, over 80% of the community electrical demand can be met through a combination of local solar PV, anaerobic digestion, and fuel cell operation (80% zero net electricity). In this scenario, solar PV meets 52% of the community electrical load, while excess solar production produces hydrogen that is passed through a fuel cell to meet 26% of the electrical load. The remaining 3% is met using RNG produced through anaerobic digestion using only organic waste from the studied community. This analysis indicates that the production of renewable fuel in the urban environment is currently not economically feasible but will become competitive with conventional energy in the future.