Spatial Planning Decisions Research Articles

Improving essential fish habitat designation to support sustainable ecosystem-based fisheries management

A major limitation to fully integrated ecosystem based fishery management approaches is a lack of information on the spatial distribution of marine species and the environmental conditions shaping these distributions. This is particularly problematic for deep-water species that are hard to sample and are data poor. The past decade has seen the rapid development of a suite of advanced species distribution, or ecological niche, modelling approaches developed specifically to support efficient and targeted management. However, model performance can vary significantly and the appropriateness of which methods are best for a given application remains questionable. Species distribution models were developed for three commercially valuable Hawaiian deep-water eteline snappers: Etelis coruscans (Onaga), Etelis carbunculus (Ehu) and Pristipomoides filamentosus (Opakapaka). Distributional data for these species was relatively sparse. To identify the best method, model performance and distributional accuracy was assessed and compared using three approaches: Generalised Additive Models (GAM), Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) and Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt). Independent spatial validation data found MaxEnt consistently provided better model performance with ‘good’ model predictions (AUC =>0.8). Each species was influenced by a unique combination of environmental conditions, with depth, terrain (slope) and substrate (low lying unconsolidated sediments), being the three most important in shaping their distributions. Sustainable fisheries management, marine spatial planning and environmental decision support systems rely on an understanding species distribution patterns and habitat linkages. This study demonstrates that predictive species distribution modelling approaches can be used to accurately model and map sparse species distribution data across marine landscapes. The approach used herein was found to be an accurate tool to delineate species distributions and associated habitat linkages, account for species-specific differences and support sustainable ecosystem-based management.

‘Good’ Governance Principles in Spatial Planning at Local Scale

The development of countries, the economy of cities and how cities should be governed is a subject that has been studied by several organizations, in many countries, concerning different levels of public administration. Some of these studies have their focus on fields such as sustainability and environment, sensorial networks or spatial planning.Therefore, this research in based on a literature review and it is focused on the significance of governance role at local scale, for the final decisions that will address the different spatial planning policies and city shapes as a competitive physical form, according to the strengths and weaknesses of a competitive process. It will analyses the good governance principles related on spatial planning actions, considering that Governmental and non-governmental organizations utilize knowledge to reinforce their own position of power, as one of the ways of improving competitiveness, helping to achieve more efficient level of governance, exploring the technology. It will conclude about the needs to identify processes used by local governance to facilitate the involvement of local community in spatial planning decision making, concerning their city or neighborhood.

Soil function evaluation in Austria — Development, concepts and examples

Spatial planning decisions are frequently driven by short term economic interests influencing zoning regulations which determine subsequent spatial developments in the future. Not only does this frequently place constraints on prospective space for planning measures; it also leads to progressive soil loss. In order to integrate soil-related issues in decision-making processes, a broad range of specific soil services should be considered. Thus, approaches have been developed to convert available soil data to decision-relevant soil information. Soil function evaluation is used as a tool for differentiating soils due to their role in a functional context. This paper outlines development and concepts of this approach on the basis of available soil data records in Germany and Austria. It also demonstrates how an adapted hemeroby ranking can be integrated into soil evaluation. Furthermore, we present some evaluation examples from Austria, showing evaluation results and how to communicate them for better integration into spatial planning decisions. In general, this soil evaluation approach provides evidence that the results are suitable to be introduced into spatial planning procedures, which is crucial for sustainable land use in the future.

Sustainable spatial development in the Alps

This special issue of Acta geographica Slovenica discusses selected topics in spatial development in the Alps from the perspective of spatial planning legislation, stakeholder engagement in spatial planning decisions, tools that enable the effective flow of expertise and exchange of instruments, and best practices across the Alps, as well as from the economic perspective using the example of Alpine regions’ reaction to the economic crisis that affected Europe and the rest of the world at the end of the past decade. By including articles written as part of the WIKIAlps project, which was financed through the EU transnational cooperation program Alpine Space, this special issue seeks to invigorate discussions on sustainable spatial development in the Alps and thus contributes to a greater familiarity with this issue and to more prudent decisions.

Whelk (Buccinum undatum L.) stocks around the Island of Jersey, Channel Islands: Reassessment and implications for sustainable management

The exploitation of the common whelk (Buccinum undatum L.) has become an integral part of commercial fisheries in both Jersey and French waters. Since 2004 declining catches have been reported, and it has been suggested that existing management measures may not be effective. This study reports a further 8 years of annual monitoring of whelk catches from 2003 to 2011, using identical methodology and analysis as previous work. Jersey commercial whelk fishermen's logbook returns from 2007 to 2011, were also analysed for changes in effort and catch. Average catch per unit effort (CPUE) dropped by 36.7% from 3.3kg per pot to 2.09kg per pot. Since 2007, Fishermen's reported landings per unit effort for whelks, also dropped from 2.12kg per pot to 1.75kg per pot. Whilst a decline in catch rates of whelks greater than 44mm shell length was reported earlier, this study also found catch rates for smaller whelks (<44mm shell length) had declined by 54.5% from 0.44kg per pot to 0.2kg per pot, suggesting the start of possible recruitment overfishing. We found no statistical significance (repeated measures ANOVA) between the sample station grouping of ‘fished’ and ‘non-fished’, as reported previously, for either the small fraction or large fraction of the catch, both of which showed declines in CPUE. Analysis of fishermen's logbook returns showed that effort had varied over time and between statistical reporting areas. It is suggested that, given changes in fishing effort, an earlier grouping of fishing intensity is no longer relevant and we discuss the pitfalls of using such classifications and other arbitrary boundaries for spatial analyses which are then relied upon in making spatial planning and fisheries management decisions. More detailed spatial observations on fishing effort and trans-national sharing of data, along with relevant choices in joint management measures are required for the future sustainability of local whelk stocks.

Ecosystem services based spatial planning decision making for adaptation to climate changes

Climate change adaptation is a rising global issue and has become the primary issue for transnational organisations and EU institutions. Particularly in developing and dynamic cities like Istanbul, the pressure of rapid urbanisation, institutional and legislative uncertainties are expected to create new vulnerabilities in ecosystems and their services. Climate change can cause new vulnerabilities in ecosystem services (ESs) through events such as floods, heat-waves, and droughts brought on by rises in temperatures and changes in precipitation. These vulnerabilities may affect the well-being of inhabitants and interfere with the reaching of sustainable development goals in the future.Istanbul has a unique geographical location for biological diversity when compared with other settlements in the region, and the urban development dynamics of the region play a significant role in the well-being of ecological units and biological diversity of the Istanbul Metropolitan Area (Özhatay, Byfield, & Atay, 2003; Tezer, 2005; Tezer et al., 2008). This paper aims to define which ESs are vulnerable due to both LCLU change caused by urbanisation and potential impacts of climate change. Particular importance is given to the result of the survey done with related stakeholders as it is used to define and to verify the existing and future vulnerabilities of ESs in Istanbul. Regarding the close relationship between ESs and LCLU, the impact of changes in LCLU on key ESs are evaluated by developing LCLU scenarios. Climate change scenarios are used in this paper to understand the possible future climatic conditions of Istanbul and their impact on LCLU and ESs. These two sub-results are prepared according to scenario analyses and are evaluated together to address the future vulnerabilities of ESs. Integration of ESs and climate change adaptation strategies into spatial planning (EEA, 2010) seems to be both necessary and urgent. Therefore, a spatial planning framework that is climate change adapted and ESs oriented is proposed as a key tool to achieve a climate resilient, sustainable development in Istanbul. The framework used in this paper can be used to develop relevant strategies and planning tools by considering climate change adaptive policies for other rapidly developing settlements.In brief, this paper aims to integrate ecosystems and their services into spatial planning by using relevant mapping of ESs, which will be utilised for the climate adaptive spatial policy development process for the Istanbul case. This paper has been prepared under the auspices of The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) Project No. 110K350.

Communicating spatial planning decisions at the landscape and farm level with landscape visualization

Abstract: Landscape visualizations have the potential to support participatory environmental planning at different spatial scales and decision levels from international to farm level. However, it is yet unclear what specific demands are relevant for visualization on the different decision levels. In this context more knowledge is needed about visualization objectives and the respective tasks, intended effects and suitable techniques for the specific levels. Especially the farm level has been neglected in research, although farmers make many decisions that affects public interests in the visual landscape. Farmers need to communicate these decisions to the public in an understandable way. The question of how visualization can support participation in the planning process at the municipal level is examined in this paper by drawing on the findings of the Interactive Landscape Plan Koenigslutter, Germany (IALP) about the preferences and reactions of citizens to visualizations used in the landscape planning process at the local decision level. On this basis, we examined the applicability and differences of the findings for the farm level. Furthermore, in order to explore visualization opportunities at the farm scale, the farm management system MANUELA was used as an example of an information platform that could serve as a basis for farm scale visualizations. By transferring landscape planning results to the farm level, we developed recommentations about the application of visualization, intended effects and appropriate techniques at the farm scale. The general findings for the municipal level show that visualization can improve participation by providing participants with a common image of the planning proposals for discussion and collaborative decisions. Different visualization methods offer different capabilities for supporting participation in the different planning phases. At the farm scale, 2D visualizations and diagrams are often sufficient to communicate information to customers about farm performance for providing ecosystem services. They may consist of maps and supporting information that is easily generated from GIS data. However, for a higher (more interactive) level of communication and participation activities, such as discussions with affected neighbors about land use changes or the integration of citizens’ proposals, more sophisticated visualization techniques would be required. Visualization techniques are needed that farmers can use to easily simulate visual impacts of land use changes at the landscape scale.

Great skua (Stercorarius skua) movements at sea in relation to marine renewable energy developments

Marine renewable energy developments (MREDs) are an increasing feature of the marine environment. Owing to the relatively small number of existing developments and the early stage of their associated environmental monitoring programmes, the effects of MREDs on seabirds are not fully known. Our ability to fully predict potential effects is limited by a lack of knowledge regarding movements of seabirds at sea. We used GPS tracking to improve our understanding of the movements at sea of a protected seabird species breeding in Scotland, the great skua (Stercorarius skua), to better predict how this species may be affected by MREDs. We found that the overlap of great skuas with leased and proposed MREDs was low; particularly with offshore wind sites, which are predicted to present a greater risk to great skuas than wave or tidal-stream developments. Failed breeders overlapped with larger areas of MREDs than breeding birds but the overall overlap with core areas used remained low. Overlap with wave energy development sites was greater than for offshore wind and tidal-stream sites. Comparison of 2011 data with historical data indicates that distances travelled by great skuas have likely increased over recent decades. This suggests that basing marine spatial planning decisions on short-term tracking data could be less informative than longer-term data.

SCENARIO MODELLING TO SUPPORT STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT: APPLICATION TO SPATIAL PLANNING OF COASTAL WETLANDS IN LA ARAUCANÍA REGION, CHILE

In order to support Strategic Environmental Assessment of spatial plans, different scenarios were developed for the future configuration of wetlands along the coast of La Araucanía Region for 2020. To assess each scenario, landscape metrics related to landscape dynamics and structure were used. The results indicate that in general terms the wetland cover diminished and fragmented under different scenarios, including one which was designed for the sustainability of natural areas. It is concluded that the techniques used were relatively easy to implement by means of GIS technologies, which facilitate spatially explicit modelling of future scenarios. Furthermore, landscape metrics were a key element for assessing the effects of each model. There are currently only few experiences on the use of spatially explicit scenarios in SEA and our research suggests that this may be a useful and valid tool for supporting spatial planning decisions.

Digital Earth – A sustainable Earth

All life, particularly human, cannot be sustainable, unless complimented with shelter, poverty reduction, provision of basic infrastructure and services, equal opportunities and social justice. Yet, in the context of cities, it is believed that they can accommodate more and more people, endlessly, regardless to their carrying capacity and increasing ecological footprint. The 'inclusion', for bringing more and more people in the purview of development is often limited to social and economic inclusion rather than spatial and ecological inclusion. Economic investment decisions are also not always supported with spatial planning decisions. Most planning for a sustainable Earth, be at a level of rural settlement, city, region, national or Global, fail on the capacity and capability fronts. In India, for example, out of some 8,000 towns and cities, Master Plans exist for only about 1,800. A chapter on sustainability or environment is neither statutorily compulsory nor a norm for these Master Plans. Geospatial technologies including Remote Sensing, GIS, Indian National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), Indian National Urban Information Systems (NUIS), Indian Environmental Information System (ENVIS), and Indian National GIS (NGIS), etc. have potential to map, analyse, visualize and take sustainable developmental decisions based on participatory social, economic and social inclusion. Sustainable Earth, at all scales, is a logical and natural outcome of a digitally mapped, conceived and planned Earth. Digital Earth, in fact, itself offers a platform to dovetail the ecological, social and economic considerations in transforming it into a sustainable Earth.

The profile of executive function in OCD hoarders and hoarding disorder

Hoarding disorder is a new mental disorder in DSM-5. It is classified alongside OCD and other presumably related disorders in the Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders chapter. We examined cognitive performance in two distinct groups comprising individuals with both OCD and severe hoarding, and individuals with hoarding disorder without comorbid OCD. Participants completed executive function tasks assessing inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, spatial planning, probabilistic learning and reversal and decision making. Compared to a matched healthy control group, OCD hoarders showed significantly worse performance on measures of response inhibition, set shifting, spatial planning, probabilistic learning and reversal, with intact decision making. Despite having a strikingly different clinical presentation, individuals with only hoarding disorder did not differ significantly from OCD hoarders on any cognitive measure suggesting the two hoarding groups have a similar pattern of cognitive difficulties. Tests of cognitive flexibility were least similar across the groups, but differences were small and potentially reflected subtle variation in underlying brain pathology together with psychometric limitations. These results highlight both commonalities and potential differences between OCD and hoarding disorder, and together with other lines of evidence, support the inclusion of the new disorder within the new Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders chapter in DSM-5.

Water safety and spatial development: An institutional comparison between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands

The Netherlands and the United Kingdom are known for their different traditions of river flood risk management, which is reflected in their respective institutional frameworks. Whereas the Dutch have focused almost exclusively on reducing the probability of flooding by defining high safety standards, British flood managers are known for their propensity to influence spatial planning decisions as a means to reduce the potential impacts of flood events. This paper scrutinizes this alleged major difference in institutional arrangements and planning practices, so as to evaluate the room for elements of the risk approach in the Netherlands. Using Ostrom's IAD framework, we analyze the rules-in-use in two cases in which a new hospital is being planned in a flood-prone area. It will be shown that in spite of some important differences observed in the rules-in-use, the Dutch institutional configuration has absorbed several elements of the risk approach, and displays a higher similarity in planning practice to the UK than expected. It thus seems that Dutch flood risk management is gradually evolving into the direction of a more integral approach to water safety in spatial planning.

Use of the ecosystem services concept in landscape management in the Netherlands

Increasing reference to the ecosystem services (ES) concept is made in publications on the need to use natural resources sustainably, to protect and enhance biodiversity, and to alleviate poverty in developing countries. To examine the significance of the concept in densely populated industrialized countries, this case study investigates its use in several sustainable landscape management projects in the Netherlands. Guidance by the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity project (TEEB) for local and regional policy and management serves as a reference. The projects studied show that the ES concept is seen as a tool for enhancing biodiversity, creating more sustainable regional development plans, supporting better spatial-planning decisions on soil sealing, and, most importantly, for getting the involvement of much broader stakeholder groups--not just to make better decisions, but also to attract more funding for the plans. Not only does the Netherlands have a high demand for various ecosystem services and a desire for multifunctional land use, it also has a long tradition of consensus-seeking. As a result, "Dutch practice" is complex and involves many different stakeholders. Because of increasing recognition of the role ecosystem services play in enhancing the visibility of natural resources in decision making, the ES concept seems to be gaining a foothold. However, the number of projects is still limited, and neither the use of the methods nor the results are monitored. So far, this has made it impossible to say whether the approach leads to more sustainable decisions-in other words, to the better protection and management of natural resources.

Spatial planning as a driver of change in mobility and residential energy consumption

This paper analyses the impact of territorial structures upon energy consumption in the Walloon Region (Belgium). The rationale for this research is to consider the long-term influence of spatial planning decisions upon energy consumption in both residential building stock and home-to-work commuting. The analysis has been conducted on a regional scale (16,844km2) and includes urban, peri-urban and rural settlements. Those settlements that perform well in mobility also appear to perform well in terms of building energy consumption. Even though this is not generally the case, it further reveals that some rural settlements characterized by low density show good performance in terms of energy efficiency. This permits a much more progressive approach in terms of spatial planning, whereby compact cities may be viewed as part of the solution, albeit not the whole solution.

The role of ecohydrology in creating more resilient cities

The increasing global rate of urbanisation and concurrent global climate changes create new challenges and new opportunities for managing cities, water resources and related quality of life. In most strategies, however, water ecosystems, which are the fundamental component of the integrated urban water resources management (IUWRM), are regarded as objects of protection or rehabilitation; not, as postulated by ecohydrology, as management tools. This paper addresses the possibilities of: (i) the functional incorporation of aquatic ecosystems into the IUWRM; (ii) optimising their functioning by local ecohydrological approach; and (iii) integration of ecosystem functions on a city scale to build system solutions for more resilient cities. Two case studies of the UNESCO MAB/IHP demonstration network representing different urban development patterns are given. The City of Łódź (Poland) uses water-resource based urban retrofitting for improving the quality of life and attracting inhabitants, departing from the analysis of longitudinal dynamics of nutrient transition in the river–reservoirs system, towards proposing an alternative concept of spatial city development. The city of Lyon (France), with intensive periurban development and population growth, provides a hierarchy of stream reaches to cope with combined sewer overflows to help municipalities to better position future urban runoff outlets. This article envisions also the future management of urban waste and storm waters using urban rivers, assuming resilient cities will depend on the integrity of environmental, technical and spatial planning decisions. The virtues of ecohydrology are discussed in this respect.

Climate change, urban energy and planning practices: Italian experiences of innovation in land management tools

Climate change and energy saving are challenging the city and the territorial organization. Innovative spatial and urban planning methods and procedures are required, and new approaches and instruments must be elaborated and applied in order to shift from the building scale to the urban and territorial ones. In fact, while energy saving and emission control measures are usually applied to single buildings, plants and technological systems, the urban and territorial scales are not fully considered, although energy consumption and greenhouse gases reduction are connected to the urban form and density, to activities allocation, to mobility, etc., thus involving spatial and land-use planning decisions. It is therefore urgent to overcome the divide between energy and urban planning by elaborating and using new implementation tools. In general, the usual top-down, public-led actions are no longer politically and economically viable, whereas new methods based on public–private partnerships are being progressively adopted. This is a major change, which may set new objectives for planning practices in terms of urban quality, equity, and energy efficiency. This perspective requires redefinition of the usual methods for development rights assignment, and the activation of new planning procedures based on the assessment of actions in terms of performance instead of conformance to pre-defined rules. The expected results regard a more efficient land market and better performing development (or re-development) choices.The article focuses on the Italian case and analyzes the possibility of integrating energy planning with spatial planning, the effectiveness of plan implementation mechanisms, and the prospect of integrate public-led interventions with market tools. Recent innovations in the legislative framework support the inclusion of energy saving and climate change adaptation and mitigation goals in plan implementation procedures.

Addressing cumulative effects in Strategic Environmental Assessment of spatial planning

Strategic environmental Assessment (SEA) is a decision support instrument for predicting and evaluating the likely environmental effects of implementing a policy, plan or programme. SEA can consider the cumulative impacts of more than one project or activity on the same environmen- tal component. This paper discusses the analysis of cumulative effects in SEA, with reference to spatial planning by: providing a review of key concepts and methods related to cumulative effects literature; presenting a rationale for the inclusion of cumulative effects in SEA of spatial plans; advancing a proposal to address cumulative effects in different SEA stages. The paper concludes that SEA offers the opportunity to support a better management of cumulative effects arising from many local-level spatial planning decisions. Three aspects emerged as critical to ensure good practices: the selection of valued environmental components, the adoption of future-oriented approaches, and the use of spatially-explicit information.

Examining the 100‐Year Floodplain as a Metric of Risk, Loss, and Household Adjustment

An understudied, but central aspect in understanding flood impacts is the way we conceptualize, identify, and delineate risk. The 100-year floodplain is the longstanding metric in the United States for determining and acting upon the possibility of an area being inundated. This spatial delineation guides local planning and development decisions, triggers insurance purchases and other household adjustments, and serves as the fundamental indicator for whether it is safe to build a structure on a particular site. However, increasing evidence suggests that the 100-year floodplain is neither accurate nor sufficient in guiding communities and household decisions to mitigate the adverse economic impacts of floods. In this perspective, we examine the effectiveness of the 100-year floodplain as an appropriate marker of risk. First, we review existing studies on location and flood damage. Next, we apply these concepts to repetitive flood losses data in Harris County, Texas. We conclude that the apparent inability of the floodplain designation to effectively capture the likelihood of property damage and potential loss of human life in coastal areas has left potentially millions of property owners unaware of the flood risk and unprepared to mitigate their adverse impacts. Relying on traditional 100-year floodplain boundaries, local decision makers are hampered in their ability to ensure community development occurs in a resilient manner. Finally, we set forth an agenda for future research to better capture the conditions associated with flood risk and account for the large percentage of damage outside the designated floodplain.

Towards a Sustainable Spatial Organization of the Energy System: Backcasting Experiences from Austria

The transition to a sustainable energy system faces more challenges than a simple replacement of fossil energy sources by renewable ones. Since current structures do not favor sustainable energy generation and use, it is indispensable to change the existing infrastructure. A fundamental change of the energy system also requires re-organizing spatial structures and their respective institutions and governance structures. Especially in Austria, urban sprawl and unsustainable settlement structures are regarded as one of the main developments leading to increased energy demand. One of the aims within the project E-Trans 2050 was to identify socio-economic constellations that are central to the further transformation of the energy system and to focus on actors and their socio-technical framework conditions. Based on a sustainable future vision for the year 2050 a backcasting workshop was conducted to identify necessary steps for the envisaged transition to a more sustainable energy system. The results shed light on the necessary changes for a transformation towards sustainability in the specific Austrian situation. Critical issues are region-specific production of energy and its use, settlement and regional structures and values and role models, which all have a determining influence on energy demand. Combining the knowledge of extensive energy use with available energy resources in spatial planning decisions is a main challenge towards a long term sustainable energy system.

Triple Helix in Disaster Management: Case Study of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for Government Office Relocation Planning of Padang City, Indonesia

Disaster management is the dynamic form of series of integrated and sustainable activities that is carried out before, during and post disaster in order to realize the optimum protection to the community, social assets, economy and environment (Rachmat, 2004). National and local governments play a key role in it, especially in the disaster risk reduction by establishing the policies, plans and programs. Universities and research institutions supports the effort by providing expertise in the tools and methodology as well as providing education and training for the government's personals. Businesses, in form of private consultancies, get involved in the project level by processing and analyzing the data using the appropriate methods.Strategic and environmental assessment is the keywords in Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). Strategic means that it happens in an early enough stage in the decision making process that it can have a significant influence on key decisions. Environmental is considered in the broadest sense which means that besides natural or bio-physical impacts, it may also include related social and economic aspects (Looien, 2009).This paper would like to present how SEA is utilized in the spatial planning decision for relocating Padang City Government office to a free hazard area while considering the socio-economic environment. The methodology used in this work is a case study of site selection for relocation of Padang City Government office and look at the interaction of government, academics and business in the process. It is followed by the discussion on the triple helix model that applies, including the cooperation and mutual relationship with international bodies in terms of exchange of hardware and software equipment with relevant data. The paper will result in the conceptual triple helix model that applies in disaster management. As a case study, the result of the work has its limitation but provide insight about the innovation in building infrastructure in hazard prone areas.