Sustainable Urban Development Policies Research Articles

Assessment of the environmental quality of neighbourhoods in the context of sustainable development: case of the Plain West in Annaba, Algeria

This work is a part of the current issues related to environment and sustainable urban development concerns. It focuses on the assessment of the environmental quality of a residential neighbourhood of Plain West in Algeria by a shared diagnosis method for sustainable development “HQDIL” and the indicator repository “INDI”, whose objective is to contribute to a better performance, and improve the environmental quality in the neighbourhoods of emerging countries. This assessment targets four main parameters, namely energy, water, mobility, and landscape and visual quality. The analysis results indicate that the major problems observed in the neighbourhood are primarily related to these parameters. Specific measures and actions are conducted in order to master the current situation of the neighbourhood, such as improving energy and water resources management, and promoting alternative and sustainable modes of urban mobility, by the use of decision support tools. The application of a holistic method that includes both subjective and objective aspects is necessary to determine the advantages and the dysfunctions of neighbourhoods. These can lead stakeholders to better understand their projects. Nevertheless, some limitations are observed concerning the values of references which are not adapted to the local context. That makes it indisputable to establish an evaluation referential for Algeria, and involve a sustainable urban development policy and collaboration between all the people concerned, encouraging participation and communication, and improving legislative texts.

Coupling Relationship between Urban Expansion and Lake Change—A Case Study of Wuhan

With the development of urbanisation, the contradiction between urban expansion and lake protection becomes increasingly evident. Particularly, lake reclamation of urban construction causes serious damage to the water system and further affects the ecological environment of urban areas. On the basis of the interpretation and analysis of long time-series remote sensing images, this study evaluated the spatial pattern and dynamic changes of urban built-up areas and lakes in Wuhan from 1987–2018 and analysed the role of urban policies in this process. A coupling coordination degree model was used to analyse the correlation between them. Results show that with the continuous advancement of urban construction and renewal of urban policies, the coupling degree between urban expansion and lake change in Wuhan has been on the rise in the past 30 years. Moreover, the antagonistic relationship between urban construction and lake protection has gradually eased from severe imbalance to slightly balanced, and the negative impact of urban development on lake change has gradually decreased. The findings underscore the need for Wuhan to adhere to policies that promote lake protection. Lake supervision should be strengthened, and ecological restoration should be actively promoted. Furthermore, sustainable urban development policies should be maintained to improve the quality of urban development.

Evaluating Comparative Research: Mapping and Assessing Current Trends in Built Heritage Studies

The question leading this research is: what are the attributes and scales of comparative research that applies to built heritage studies? The paper begins by recognizing the interrelatedness of built heritage protection and sustainable urban development. While comparative research into built heritage studies analyses and documents existing practices, policies and impacts, its generalizable capacities are often lacking and therefore less applicable to policy-makers. In an attempt to further the potential contribution of such studies, the paper maps comparative built heritage research based on a critical review of over 100 articles and books. The analysis of these sources relies on an evaluative categorization of comparative built heritage studies. This categorization consists of four criteria: the number of compared cases, their geographic location, the scope of comparison and its degree of structuredness. The findings suggest that heritage studies compare a relatively small number of cases; they are quite structured; focus on local as well as national-level analysis; and lean towards Western-centered comparisons. The paper concludes by suggesting that built heritage studies can contribute to sustainable urban development policies by taking on comparative research that has a large enough N, expanding non-Eurocentric and Anglo-American research, comparing local jurisdictions in more than one country and by utilizing highly structured categories for comparison.

Scenarios and policies for sustainable urban energy development based on LEAP model – A case study of a postindustrial city: Shenzhen China

Cities consume more than 67% of global primary energy, the production of which results in approximately three-quarters of global CO2 emissions, exacerbating the global warming trend and related extreme weather events and natural disasters. Therefore, it is critical for cities to use existing and new sources of energy efficiently and effectively. This paper introduces a methodology that can combine sustainable energy planning with economic analysis, proposing a form of sustainable urban energy planning that could reduce energy consumption with the minimum economic cost. Taking a postindustrial city (Shenzhen, China) as an example, this paper defines four scenarios by which to analyze future projections of energy generation and consumption from 2015 to 2030 based on the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning System model. Also developed are Sankey maps for the energy flow from the energy supply to demand sectors for different scenarios. The results show that energy efficiency improvement and energy structure upgrade policies implemented in Shenzhen would have a significant impact on its energy system. Energy consumption is projected to increase steadily up to 2030 under each scenario except for the Peak Scenario, but with different growth rates. Electricity generation in all scenarios is supposed to expand by 2030 and sustainable electricity (such as distributed photovoltaic power, waste-to-energy power, and Combined Cooling, Heating, and Power) will play an important role in the Energy structure upgrade and Peak scenarios.

Between regulatory field structuring and organizational roles: Intermediation in the field of sustainable urban development

AbstractRecent contributions in the domains of governance and regulation elucidate the importance of rule‐intermediation (RI), the role that organizations adopt to bridge actors with regulatory or “rulemaking” roles and those with target or “rule‐taking” roles. Intermediation not only enables the diffusion and translation of regulatory norms, but also allows for the representation of different actors in policymaking arenas. While prior studies have explored the roles that such RIs adopt to facilitate their intermediation functions, we have yet to consider how field‐level structuring processes influence (and are influenced by) the various and changing roles adopted by RI. In this study we focus on the mutually constitutive relations between field‐level change processes and the evolving roles of RIs by studying the rise of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI)/Local Governments for Sustainability, an RI serving as a bridge for sustainable urban development policies between the United Nations and local authorities. Using ICLEI as an illustrative case, we theorize four different processes of regulatory field structuration: problematization, role specialization, marketization, and orchestrated decentralization. We discuss their implications for RI roles in the field and further theorize the changing dynamics of trickle‐up intermediation processes as an RI gains power and influence.

Towards incorporating location choice into integrated land use and transport planning and policy: A multi-scale analysis of residential and job location choice behaviour

Residential and job location decisions have lasting impacts on the emergent structure of cities, which in turn, determines travel patterns, energy use and travel-related greenhouse gas emissions. The ability to understand and predict these choice processes are therefore crucial to long-term sustainable urban land use and transport strategies. Understanding housing-job location choice processes requires unpacking the interplay among heterogeneous attributes of decision-makers on the one hand, and various location-defining attributes observable at multiple spatial scales on the other hand. Also, to better understand the interdependence between these location choice sets, empirical examination of how the home and work locations respond to each other over time is necessary. This study responds to these empirical imperatives by exploring residential-job location choice behaviour of households and individuals in a metropolitan context in Ghana, West Africa. The study utilizes data from a cross-sectional survey of 665 households and their 1158 individual workers in the Kumasi metropolis, Ghana’s second largest metropolis. Results show variations in preferences among households and individuals for macro-scale location-defining factors as well as discrete spatial choice alternatives specified as urban-zones, dwelling types and tenancy arrangements. Retrospective analysis of the residential-job choice interdependence shows that in most cases, residential location decisions are taken first, implying a sequential choice process where job location decisions are subsequently anchored on the initial home locations. Besides the in-depth empirical contributions, the paper outlines how the findings could ultimately inform the development of planning support systems to integrate location choice into sustainable urban development and transport management policies.

Going Green Together? Placing the “Green City” Freiburg in the Debate on Sustainable Urban Development Policies and Participatory Decision Making

Going Green Together? Placing the “Green City” Freiburg in the Debate on Sustainable Urban Development Policies and Participatory Decision Making

Developing land use geospatial indices (LUGI) for sprawl measurement in alpha cities: Case study of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

This study investigated an atomic level of sprawl measurement for Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan by developing a set of Land Use Geospatial Indices (LUGI). The components of LUGI include segregated land use, development planning consistency, urban density, strip and leapfrog development, that have been tested at Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan purposely to examine the urban sprawl phenomenon at the level of alpha cities. It was carried out based on geospatial result of changed detection at earlier stage. The urban sprawl measurement was analyzed according to the six Kuala Lumpur's strategic planning zone (SPZ). The results show that segregation land use and leapfrog indices are the prominent components that identified the sprawl development within most of SPZ in Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan, while the planning consistency, strip development and urban density are recorded as the indicators that less correlation have with sprawl. These measurements also indicate that alpha cities, as Kuala Lumpur, also facing issues on sprawl especially when it relates to land use planning. Finally, it proved that the development of LUGI could provide a decision support to create an effective long-term land use planning policies for sustainable urban landscapes development.

Integrated Sustainable Planning Process

Planning policies in Egypt are undergoing a transformation process, not only on the political levels, since 2011, but also on the social, behavioural and economic levels. A new vision and planning process are needed to assure sustainability. Hence, this paper attempts to view and assess the sustainable urban development policies and process applied in "Bahnstadt" railway suburb in Heidelberg, Germany and adapt it to the case of Ramses Railway neighbourhood in Downtown Cairo. It also attempts at setting guideline strategies for an integrated sustainable urban neighbourhood planning prototype.

Between Regulatory Field Structuring and Organizational Roles: Intermediation in the Field of Sustainable Urban Development

Recent contributions in the domains of governance and regulation elucidate the importance of rule-intermediation (RI), the role that organizations adopt to bridge actors playing regulatory or “rule-making” (RM) roles, and those adopting target or “rule-taking” (RT) roles. Intermediation not only enables diffusion and translation of regulatory norms, but also allows for the representation of different actors in policy-making arenas. While prior studies have explored the roles that such RIs adopt to facilitate their intermediation functions, we have yet to consider how field-level structuring processes influence (and are influenced by) the various and changing roles adopted by RIs. In this study, we focus on the mutually constitutive relations between field-level change processes and the evolving roles of RIs by studying the rise of ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives/Local Governments for Sustainability), an RI serving as a bridge for sustainable urban development policies between the United Nations and urban authorities. Using ICLEI as an illustrate case, we theorize four different processes of regulatory field consolidation and fragmentation including: problematization, role specialization, marketization and orchestrated decentralization. We discuss their implications for the RI roles in the field and further theorize the changing dynamics of trickle-up intermediation processes as an RI gains power and influence. This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Bothello, J. and Mehrpouya, A. (2018), Between regulatory field structuring and organizational roles: Intermediation in the field of sustainable urban development. Regulation & Governance, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12215. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.

Model-based analysis of urban settlement process in eco-sensitive area of developing country: a study with special reference to hills of an Indian city

Rapid and unplanned expansion of a city into its eco-sensitive areas like hills, wetlands, and forests is becoming a major concern, particularly in developing countries. Understanding the process and causes of such unplanned urban expansion is of paramount importance for framing sustainable urban development policies. This paper presents a modelling concept that relates urban settlement in such eco-sensitive areas with potential socio-economic, demographic and geographical factors. The model is applied to an Indian city Guwahati, which is experiencing serious environmental degradation due to unplanned urban settlement in its eco-sensitive hilly areas. While topographical and settlement data were derived using satellite data in GIS platform, all other necessary data were collected from relevant government organizations. On validation of the multi-linear regression model, the coefficient of determination and the root mean square error are obtained as 0.938 and 1.7, respectively. Model results show that geographical parameters are less influencing as compared to the other socio-economic and demographic factors. Sensitivity analysis of urban settlements in hills of Guwahati city carried out with respect to the considered factors reveals that land value and free space availability in the surrounding area of a hill are the most sensitive parameters. This indicates that city development plans should give more importance to outward spatial expansion in plain areas with regulated land value and zoning scheme to minimize unauthorized settlement in eco-sensitive hilly areas of Guwahati city.

The dynamics of urban expansion and land use/land cover changes using remote sensing and spatial metrics: the case of Mekelle City of northern Ethiopia

ABSTRACTInformation on the rate and pattern of urban expansion is required by urban planners to devise proper urban planning and management policy directions. This study evaluated the dynamics and spatial pattern of Mekelle City’s expansion in the past three decades (1984–2014). Multi-temporal Landsat images and Maximum Likelihood Classifier were used to produce decadal land use/land cover (LULC) maps. Changes in LULC and spatial pattern of urban expansion were analysed by post-classification change detection and spatial metrics, respectively. The results showed that in the periods 1984–1994, 1994–2004, and 2004–2014, the built-up area increased annually by 10%, 9%, and 8%, respectively; with an average annual increment of 19% (100 ha year−1), from 531 ha in 1984 to 3524 ha in 2014. Between 1984 and 2014, about 88% of the gain in built-up area was from conversion of agricultural lands, which decreased by 39%. Extension of existing urban areas was the dominant growth type, which accounted for 54%, 75%, and 81% of the total new development during 1984–1994, 1994–2004, and 2004–2014, respectively. The spatial metrics analyses revealed urban sprawl, with increased heterogeneity and gradual dispersion in the outskirts of the city. The per capita land consumption rate (ha per person) increased from 0.009 in 1984 to 0.014 in 2014, indicating low density urban growth. Based on the prediction result, the current (2014) built-up area will double by 2035, and this is likely to have multiple socioeconomic and environmental consequences unless sustainable urban planning and development policies are devised.

A study of best practices in promoting sustainable urbanization in China

In the past twenty years, various sustainable urban development policies and methods had been implemented within China, such that sustainable urbanization is now more widely accepted. Some of these policies and methods have been found to be successful in improving the sustainability of cities in China. Those practices can be defined as the best practices of sustainable urbanization, which can provide useful references for future urban developments. However, few existing studies examine how to learn from these best practices. Combining the methods of content analysis and social network analysis, this paper conducts a comprehensive study on 150 best practices of sustainable urbanization in China. The methods and outcomes of the 150 best practices are identified. The research findings demonstrate the statistics of categories, methods and outcomes of the 150 best practices and the main adopted methods. The achieved outcomes in different regions of China are also presented.

The EU integrated urban development policy: managing complex processes in dynamic places

ABSTRACTOne of the European Union’s 2014–2020 cohesion policy’s new aims is to promote integrated urban development strategies that enhance sustainable urban development. Following the emergence of the integrated urban development policy, city policies in EU show a trend in that direction but overall changes towards a sustainable integrated urban development are limited. One of the major problems for planners and implementing actors seems to be the management of complexity, which originates in three sources: the policy, the planning and implementation processes as well as the implementation place. The paper elaborates on the question: what is triple complexity and how can planning and implementing actors of the EU integrated sustainable urban development policy manage it? The paper suggests the use of a place-oriented theory and proposes a theory-guided ex-durante (ongoing) evaluation called Place Scan. I assume that the method can support planners and implementing actors to manage complexity and to improve quality of ex-durante evaluations.

A New Urban Agenda: Introduction to the Special Issue on “Sustainable Urban Development”

Since the start of the 21st century, humanity has been a predominantly urban species. This Special Issue is about the future of cities and how urbanization will develop when based on principles of sustainability. It explores the underlying dimensions of the transformation of existing cities and the design of low carbon green precincts and their urban systems. The view of the papers presented in this Special Issue is holistic and takes questions of social sustainability into account. This editorial highlights the contents and methodologies of 13 selected papers, while presenting diverse issues in strategies, concepts and policies for sustainable urban development.

한국-아부다비 공간정보 격차분석을 통한 아부다비 공간정보인프라의 발전 방안 연구

The Emirate of Abu Dhabi is swiftly rising into a newly industrialized country by achieving economic prosperity among the Islamic cultural regions of Middle East and North Africa(MENA). Abu Dhabi Emirate is performing the conversion from oil economy to non-oil economy and the sustainable urban development policy. However, there are various social and environmental problems in Abu Dhabi. In order to solve the urban problems caused by the rapid economic growth and the changes in society and environment, Abu Dhabi is recognizing the importance of spatial information and triggering the establishment of spatial information. Spatial information is regarded as a basic infrastructure for urban construction and enlarged as a blue ocean market in Abu Dhabi. However, the base of spatial data infrastructure in Abu Dhabi is not well managed in comparison to that of Korea. Especially, Abu Dhabi has some characteristics that it depends on foreign multinational companies and it does not have its own systemic organization and law system. To advance into Abu Dhabi spatial data market under-controlled by global vendors, it is necessary to identify the advantage and disadvantage on spatial data infrastructure of Abu Dhabi and required to establish the advance methods into niche markets by considering priority order of spatial information. Thus, this study aims to analyze the gap of spatial information between Abu Dhabi and Korea and suggest the short and long term development methods for spatial data infrastructure of Abu Dhabi. The results of gap analyses will be the milestone for Korean companies' advance into MENA.

System Dynamics Modeling for Urban Economic Growth and CO2 Emission: A Case Study of Jakarta, Indonesia

In 2008, the economic growth of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, reached 6,44% with the GDP amount of IDR 501,771,735 million (Central Statistic Bureau, 2008). The high growth of economic contributes to the rapid growth of the number of motorcycle vehicles around 8% or up to 5.798.000 units(Central Statistic Bureau, 2011). This model is expected to reduce CO2 emissions without affecting the growth of GDP or economic growth. High economic growth is still needed by Jakarta to improve the welfare of the population. First, a BAU scenario (business as usual scenario) has been defined, in which the variables of the model were parameterized according to the observed tendency during the period 2008-2012, assuming a geometric growth rate during the period 2009–2029. The second scenario, called EGCO2-1 is characterized by reducing CO2 emission intervention by the developed green open space during the period 2009-2014.In the third scenario, called EGCO2-2 scenario, besides assuming the renewable energy share increased, we imposed the decreasing of the fossil energy share up to 15%. The result of this study is the estimation of economic growth and CO2 emissions in 2029 in each scenario. In the BAU scenario, CO2 emission is 11.492 million tons. In the second scenario, CO2 emission is 0.529 million tons, and in the third scenario, CO2 emission is 7.250 million tons. GDRP is relatively stable at IDR 1,544,570,856 million and economic growth is 5.49%. Finally, main outcome of this work can be role model to Jakarta sustainable urban development policy. These are most important to environmentally aspect and enhancing economic growth for a better future.

Strategies for sustainable urban development: towards green(er) Chinese cities?

In the face of more and more environmental pollution and the rapid pace of urbanisation, sustainable urban development has become an increasingly important issue for China. As the country aims to bring urbanisation levels up to 70% by 2035, the way its cities develop and the control of resources consumed for growing urban activity are of paramount importance. Yet, despite a rhetoric pushing for the realisation of sustainable cities, urban development practices currently show a persistently different picture, casting doubts over the effectiveness of policies adopted at the different levels of government. The different dimensions of environmental management in sustainable urban development policies still encounter important obstacles in their implementation.

Does commuting time tolerance impede sustainable urban mobility? Analysing the impacts on commuting behaviour as a result of workplace relocation to a mixed-use centre in Lisbon

Sustainable urban development policies promote the development of accessible mixed-use suburban centres. They are believed to reduce car dependency and stimulate sustainable mobility. We test this assumption through an analysis of workplace relocation to such a centre located in the inner suburbs of Lisbon, Portugal and examine its impact on commuting. We use primary data concerning previous and current commuting patterns, collected through a survey of employees working at the site. Binary and multinomial logistic models were developed to identify the explanatory variables of the observed impacts on commuting behaviour. Our findings showed a significant increase in commuting distance and the use of the car, and an insignificant change in commuting time. The relocation affected city centre residents most negatively. This demonstrates a strategy that aims to maintain commuting time within acceptable limits. Car use is greater when travel time increases and there is transportation mode inertia within the acceptable travel time. In this case, workplace relocation to a suburban mixeduse transit-oriented centre did not trigger the expected changes in mobility pattern, suggesting that the structure needs to be complemented by other travel demand measures to discourage workers from using their cars to commute.

Transformation Through Sustainable Qualification: A Sustainable Railway Neighbourhood in Ramses Area

Since the revolution of 25th of January 2011, Egypt is going through a transition phase. Different planning policies all over Egypt and especially for Greater Cairo are undergoing a transformation process, not only on the political levels but also on the environmental, social, behavioural and economic levels. A new planning vision is needed to assure a sustainable way of life. Hence, this paper attempts to adapt the sustainable urban development policies applied in “Bahnstadt” Railway suburb in Heidelberg, Germany to the case of Ramses Railway neighbourhood in Downtown Cairo. It also attempt to set guideline strategies for a sustainable urban neighbourhood prototype in Cairo.