Critical Urban Infrastructure Research Articles

Seismic vulnerability assessment of tunnels in algeria: An innovative hierarchical approach

Tunnels are crucial components of civil infrastructure, serving as vital transportation routes for the public. In Algeria, where many tunnels are located in seismic zones, they face considerable risks from earthquakes, which can potentially impair their operational integrity. The susceptibility of these tunnels to seismic hazards underscores the need for robust assessment frameworks to evaluate their vulnerability. This study introduces a novel hierarchical framework for assessing tunnel vulnerability, drawing on global seismic data and experience. By integrating the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) with the Vulnerability Index (VI), we categorized tunnels into three vulnerability levels. This approach enabled the development of seismic scenarios to forecast their performance during future earthquakes. The methodology was applied to numerous tunnels across Algeria, yielding insightful results that align with observations from post-seismic assessments. By systematically analyzing various influencing parameters, including geological conditions, structural design, and operational factors, the study enhances our understanding of tunnel resilience in seismic contexts. Ultimately, this research contributes to proactive risk management strategies for tunnel infrastructure, aiming to mitigate potential damages and ensure their continued functionality in earthquake-prone regions like Algeria. By refining our assessment methods and predictive capabilities, we strive to bolster the resilience of critical urban infrastructure against seismic risks.

Energy-based coupling risk assessment (CRA) model for urban underground utility tunnels

As a kind of highly integrated urban critical infrastructure, the urban underground utility tunnel hosts various pipelines to facilitate the city life. But the integration of hazardous pipelines like natural gas pipelines and electric cables inside a confined infrastructure also brings emerging risks due to coupling effect, which have not been systematically analysed by the existing method. So, there is an essential need for a coupling risk assessment (CRA) model to tackle coupling effects and corresponding coupling accidents in utility tunnels quantitatively. A clear definition and classification of coupling effect, synergistic effect, and cascading effect are proposed in this work. By introducing the energy transfer and out-of-control theory, it is feasible to identify interacted hazards systematically and coupling accidents in utility tunnels. Natural gas explosion, cable fire, and rain-triggered ponding are identified as typical coupling accidents to perform CRA. The results indicate that the risks of the 3 coupling accidents are considerable, and fatality is possible in the case of gas explosion and ponding. It can be concluded that the current firefighting systems and drainage systems are not sufficient for risk mitigation of utility tunnels with coupling effect.

A novel framework to intercept GPS-denied, bomb-carrying, non-military, kamikaze drones: Towards protecting critical infrastructures

Protection of urban critical infrastructures (CIs) from GPS-denied, bomb-carrying kamikaze drones (G-B-KDs) is very challenging. Previous approaches based on drone jamming, spoofing, communication interruption and hijacking cannot be applied in the case under examination, since G-B-KDs are uncontrolled. On the other hand, drone capturing schemes and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons seem to be effective. However, again, existing approaches present various limitations, while most of them do not examine the case of G-B-KDs. This paper, focuses on the aforementioned under-researched field, where the G-B-KD is confronted by two defensive drones. The first neutralizes and captures the kamikaze drone, while the second captures the bomb. Both defensive drones are equipped with a net-gun and an innovative algorithm, which, among others, estimates the locations of interception, using a real-world trajectory model. Additionally, one of the defensive drones is also equipped with an EMP weapon to damage the electronics equipment of the kamikaze drone and reduce the capturing time and the overall risk. Extensive simulated experiments and comparisons to state-of-art methods, reveal the advantages and limitations of the proposed approach. More specifically, compared to state-of-art, the proposed approach improves: (a) time to neutralize the target by at least 6.89%, (b) maximum number of missions by at least 1.27% and (c) total cost by at least 5.15%.

An integrated risk assessment method for urban areas due to chemical leakage accidents

Chemical parks which hold large inventories of hazardous materials have become one important type of urban critical infrastructure. The hazardous chemical leakage such as toxic gas leakage has emerged in recent years, resulting in not only serious environmental pollution but also catastrophic consequences to certain urban areas. It is critical to make scientific risk assessment for such events to reduce negative effects. To address this issue, an integrated urban risk assessment (IURA) method coupling consequences of chemical leakage accidents and the vulnerability of local population is proposed in this work. The threat zones and hazard maps of toxic gas dispersion are present by using the ALOHA software. The population vulnerability is decided by three indicators including exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity of residents in affected areas, the Grey Correlation-TOPSIS (GC-TOPSIS) method is used to rank the vulnerability of different regions. The ArcGIS software is applied to generate an integrated risk map through superimposing the hazard map and the population vulnerability map. The original risk matrix evaluation results were subdivided using the Borda count method. A case about an industrial city in Hubei, China is analyzed to test the method. Result shows the new integrated risk assessment method is more accurate and effective, which is beneficial for the government to develop emergency plans and enhance the safety of people.

Predicting structure performance of urban critical infrastructure: an augmented attention-based LSTM model

PurposeAccurate prediction of the structural condition of urban critical infrastructure is crucial for predictive maintenance. However, the existing prediction methods lack precision due to limitations in utilizing heterogeneous sensing data and domain knowledge as well as insufficient generalizability resulting from limited data samples. This paper integrates implicit and qualitative expert knowledge into quantifiable values in tunnel condition assessment and proposes a tunnel structure prediction algorithm that augments a state-of-the-art attention-based long short-term memory (LSTM) model with expert rating knowledge to achieve robust prediction results to reasonably allocate maintenance resources.Design/methodology/approachThrough formalizing domain experts' knowledge into quantitative tunnel condition index (TCI) with analytic hierarchy process (AHP), a fusion approach using sequence smoothing and sliding time window techniques is applied to the TCI and time-series sensing data. By incorporating both sensing data and expert ratings, an attention-based LSTM model is developed to improve prediction accuracy and reduce the uncertainty of structural influencing factors.FindingsThe empirical experiment in Dalian Road Tunnel in Shanghai, China showcases the effectiveness of the proposed method, which can comprehensively evaluate the tunnel structure condition and significantly improve prediction performance.Originality/valueThis study proposes a novel structure condition prediction algorithm that augments a state-of-the-art attention-based LSTM model with expert rating knowledge for robust prediction of structure condition of complex projects.

Impacts of urban heat island effect on critical urban infrastructure: a review of studies published between 2012 and 2022

The urban heat island (UHI) effect has become a prominent urban characteristic in the last few decades and brings significant changes to the local urban climate. Such changes have severe impacts on the lifetime efficiency and performance of “ critical urban infrastructure” (CUI). As CUI forms the backbone of vital urban systems and socio-economic processes, it becomes important to understand the various impacts of UHI on different CUI elements. The impacts of UHI on CUI have consequently become a prominent study area within the urban research domain. This study presents a systematic bibliometric review of 118 relevant articles published within the last decade (2012–2022), selected from a variety of indexed, scholarly databases. The articles mainly focused on developed regions and large urban areas. The review shows a consistent upward trend in the annual number of publications on UHI effects with a peak reached in 2020. Of the four major CUI groups studied for UHI impacts, built form and energy and communication (with a strong focus on increased energy consumption) are the most prominent topics in the current literature, followed by transportation, and water and sanitation. Research on other CUI elements is still quite sparse, and significant efforts would be needed to identify the nature of UHI's impacts on these factors. This review highlights that the UHI impact on CUI is a developing research area that requires further attention and illustrates the state of knowledge and gaps present in current research. These findings provide a clear direction for future UHI impact studies.

THE EVOLVING ROLE OF GEOSPATIAL INTELLIGENCE IN ENHANCING URBAN SECURITY: A REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS AND OUTCOMES

Geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) has emerged as a pivotal tool in addressing the complexities of urban security, offering insights crucial for effective decision-making and resource allocation in the face of evolving threats. This review examines the multifaceted applications and outcomes of GEOINT in enhancing urban security, encompassing its utilization in surveillance, risk assessment, disaster management, and infrastructure protection. The proliferation of advanced satellite imaging, aerial photography, and geographic information systems (GIS) has revolutionized urban security efforts. Through the integration of various data sources, GEOINT enables the comprehensive mapping and monitoring of urban landscapes, facilitating the identification of vulnerable areas and potential security risks. This proactive approach empowers authorities to preemptively deploy resources and implement targeted interventions, thereby mitigating potential threats before they escalate. Moreover, GEOINT plays a pivotal role in enhancing situational awareness during emergencies and crises. By providing real-time updates on evolving situations, including natural disasters or terrorist activities, GEOINT facilitates rapid response and coordination among emergency responders. Furthermore, its ability to overlay spatial data with demographic and socio-economic information enables a nuanced understanding of the urban environment, ensuring more effective emergency management strategies tailored to specific community needs. Furthermore, GEOINT is instrumental in safeguarding critical urban infrastructure, such as transportation networks, power plants, and water supply systems, from potential security breaches. Through comprehensive spatial analysis, vulnerabilities within infrastructure networks can be identified, and security measures can be optimized to mitigate risks and ensure resilience against potential threats. This review also explores the emerging trends and future directions in the utilization of GEOINT for urban security, including the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms for predictive analytics and anomaly detection. Additionally, the ethical and privacy implications associated with the widespread adoption of GEOINT in urban security are discussed, emphasizing the importance of responsible data governance and transparency. The evolving role of GEOINT in enhancing urban security underscores its indispensability in addressing contemporary security challenges. By leveraging spatial data and advanced analytics, GEOINT offers a comprehensive and proactive approach to safeguarding urban environments, thereby ensuring the safety and resilience of communities in an increasingly complex threat landscape.
 Keywords: Intelligence, Security, Geospatial, Technology, Review.

Analysis of faulting destruction and water supply pipeline damage from the first mainshock of the February 6, 2023 Türkiye earthquake doublet

In 2023, two consecutive earthquakes exceeding a magnitude of 7 occurred in Türkiye, causing severe casualties and economic losses. The damage to critical urban infrastructure and building structures, including highways, railroads, and water supply pipelines, was particularly severe in areas where these structures intersected the seismogenic fault. Critical infrastructure projects that traverse active faults are susceptible to the influence of fault movement, pulse velocity, and ground motions. In this study, we used a unique approach to analyze the acceleration records obtained from the seismic station array (9 strong ground motion stations) located along the East Anatolian Fault (the seismogenic fault of the MW7.8 mainshock of the 2023 Türkiye earthquake doublet). The acceleration records were filtered and integrated to obtain the velocity and displacement time histories. We used the results of an on-site investigation, jointly conducted by China Earthquake Administration and Türkiye’s AFAD, to analyze the distribution of PGA, PGV, and PGD recorded by the strong motion array of the East Anatolian Fault. We found that the maximum horizontal PGA in this earthquake was 3.0 g, and the maximum co-seismic surface displacement caused by the East Anatolian Fault rupture was 6.50 m. As the fault rupture propagated southwest, the velocity pulse caused by the directional effect of the rupture increased gradually, with the maximum PGA reaching 162.3 cm/s. We also discussed the seismic safety of critical infrastructure projects traversing active faults, using two case studies of water supply pipelines in Türkiye that were damaged by earthquakes. We used a three-dimensional finite element model of the PE (polyethylene) water pipeline at the Islahiye State Hospital and fault displacement observations obtained through on-site investigation to analyze pipeline failure mechanisms. We further investigated the effect of the fault-crossing angle on seismic safety of a pipeline, based on our analysis and the failure performance of the large-diameter Thames Water pipeline during the 1999 Kocaeli earthquake. The seismic method of buried pipelines crossing the fault was summarized.

Seismic fragility analysis of subway station structure subjected to sequence-type ground motions

As a critical urban infrastructure, the subway station damaged in an earthquake not only leads to interruption of underground transportation, but may also result in serious casualties and economic losses. The current seismic design of underground structures only considers the mainshock effects but ignores the potential hazards of aftershocks. However, most mainshocks are often followed by aftershocks in a short period of time. In the past earthquakes, it was reported that the mainshock-damaged engineering structures suffered more serious structural damage and even complete collapse when subjected to aftershocks before restoration. This paper proposes a framework for the development of seismic fragility curves of underground structures subjected to sequence-type ground motions. Finite element models of a two-story, three-span subway station considering nonlinear dynamic soil-structure interaction (SSI) was established in this study. A comprehensive assessment of the seismic performance of the subway station structure under the sequence-type ground motions was conducted on the SSI model. Both the mainshock-aftershock fragility analysis of the intact structure and the aftershock fragility analysis of the mainshock-damaged structures were performed by combining the traditional seismic probability demand model and the back-to-back mainshock-aftershock probability demand model. The numerical results indicated that the impact of aftershocks on the seismic performance of subway station structures cannot be ignored. The aftershock fragility of the structure is highly dependent on the mainshock-damaged state. The failure probability of a severely mainshock-damaged subway station structure is much higher in the aftershocks than structures in other damage states. Besides, the probability of the mainshock-damaged structure transferring to a more severe level of damage state increases with the increase of the intensity of aftershock motions. For the subway station under sequence-type ground motions, the transition probability of one severer level of damage state is greater than 40 % for the 1.0 g peak ground acceleration of aftershocks and the transition probability of more than two severer level of damage state is less than 10 %.

The sanitary sewer unit hydrograph model: A comprehensive tool for wastewater flow modeling and inflow-infiltration simulations

Sanitary sewer systems are critical urban water infrastructure that protect both human and environmental health. Their design, operation, and monitoring require novel modeling techniques that capture dominant processes while allowing for computationally efficient simulations. Open water flow in sewers and rivers are intrinsically similar processes. With this in mind, we formulated a new parsimonious model inspired by the Width Function Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph (WFIUH) approach, widely used to predict rainfall-runoff relationships in watersheds, to a sanitary sewer system consisting of nearly 10,000 sewer conduits and 120,000 residential and commercial sewage connections in Northern Virginia, U.S.A. Model predictions for the three primary components of sanitary flow, including Base Wastewater Flow (BWF), Groundwater Infiltration (GWI), and Runoff Derived Infiltration and Inflow (RDII), compare favorably with the more computationally demanding industry-standard Storm Water Management Model (SWMM). This novel application of the WFIUH modeling framework should support a number of critical water quality endpoints, including (i) sewer hydrograph separation through the quantification of BWF, GWI, and RDII outflows, (ii) evaluation of the impact of new urban developments on sewage flow dynamics, (iii) monitoring and mitigation of sanitary sewer overflows, and (iv) design and interpretation of wastewater surveillance studies.

Livelihoods as everyday heritage: urban redevelopment, heritage discourses and marketplace trade in Moore Street, Dublin

ABSTRACT While central to the origins, evolution and provisioning of cities, traditional markets are under threat globally as urban renewal supporting particular forms of economic development comes centre-stage. Design-led placemaking and built heritage policy have become tools of local, regional and national development, and urban heritage has become economically instrumentalised. In this paper, we argue for an alternate conceptualisation. Through a case study of Moore Street market in Dublin, Ireland, we interpret heritage as a complex of activity, place and time, drawing attention to the act of traditional livelihood building through market trading as a form of ‘everyday heritage’, and thus deserving of protection and support. We recognise that heritage can be produced at multiple scales that escape the bounding of ‘designation’. As well as contrasting this living heritage with narrowly defined views of ‘heritage’ represented by elites, we highlight the potential of more inclusive approaches to heritage that stand in direct opposition to, and challenge, the discourses created by and authorised through particular assemblages at specific moments. We also challenge thee homogenisation of working-class heritages in particular places. We conclude that recognising living heritage as critical urban infrastructure could offer a pathway from precarity to sustainability for vulnerable urban communities.

Towards a Smarter Urban Park: Busan Citizens Park

Among various types of external space, a park, which is a critical urban public infrastructure, must be planned and redeveloped as a smart park that can reflect new technologies rather than being designed and managed in a traditional way. This study sets Busan Citizens Park, a representative urban park of Busan in Korea, as a case study site and presents guidelines for transforming the existing park into a smart park. To set the direction for presenting the guideline for park smartization, the role and function of desirable urban park in the 4th industrial age are defined. After that, smart technologies concerning park management are comprehensively organized through precedent project studies and literature research to examine the applicability of smart technologies. Based on the information obtained through field surveys, manager interviews, specialist interviews, and literature review, the management and usage status of Busan Citizens Park are identified. In order to improve Busan Citizens Park into a smart urban park, we propose smart technologies that can be applied to five components of the park: furnishings and facilities, water, green space, pavement and roads, and users. This study also suggests ways to distinguish management as urban and local dimensions by categorizing the hierarchy of technologies as urban, park, and facility scale. In conclusion, this presents guidelines for the introduction of next-generation technologies that can be applied to urban parks as a way to actively respond to changes that have already begun.

Investigating the Possibilities for Simulation of the Interconnected Electric Power and Communication Infrastructures

In recent years, we have seen an increasing dependency between different urban critical infrastructures, which raises the demands on their analysis and cybersecurity. Current open-source solutions do not provide simulations of interconnected data networks and power grids, which are essential for analysing of both infrastructures weak parts and reducing the risk of emerging threats. The main purpose of this paper is to describe the design of a simulation platform that provides this type of simulation to customers using the virtual user interface. The paper describes the development of a complex model of interconnected power and data infrastructures. Created virtualization platform that consists of several open-source tools is described in detail. Outputs of this paper can be used for analysis of critical infrastructures at the level of urban networks.

Urban Living Labs and Critical Infrastructure Resilience: A Global Match?

The challenges to public policy brought by climate change are some of the biggest challenges for cities around the world. These challenges are costlier and more substantial for low-income communities given the existence of their greater social and economic vulnerability. Among the existing tools, this paper highlights the role played by urban living labs (ULLs), which have been discussed in the literature as a booster of urban resilience in a more sustainable direction. By considering ULLs as strategic institutional arrangements that seek resilience for the critical urban infrastructure challenges of climate change, the main target of this paper is to analyze ULLs as a strategy for increasing critical infrastructure resilience in the region of the Global South. These labs were initiated in developed countries, so we can ask: How are developing countries adapting this strategy in order to mitigate the problems of climate change? To achieve this goal, we reviewed previous literature on ULLs, specifically looking for case studies with ULL projects and highlighting the processes of public innovation policies and transfers of knowledge between countries; in order to complement our empirical analysis, we carried out a case study on Brazil. Despite the limitations of the sample, the data suggest the existence of different barriers to the implementation of ULL projects in Brazil compared to those in European cities.

Emplacing Some, Displacing Others: Ethnic Minority Enterprises as Critical Urban Infrastructure in Lodge Lane, Liverpool

Drawing on ethnographic research on Lodge Lane, the main commercial street within Toxteth (Liverpool), this paper reveals how fundamental ethnic minority enterprises (EMEs) have been to the regeneration of this marginalized area due to public disinvestment. Acting as critical infrastructure, they have transformed the materiality of the locale, and by extension, they have afforded new kinds of encounter and convivialities. Ultimately, EMEs appear to have a critical emplacing and displacing power, which involves urban inhabitants in a differential way over time, depending on their positionality toward the material and discursive aspects of place.

A PIGEON'S EYE VIEW OF A UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

Increasing urbanization over the last century has resulted in a greater abundance of invasive species. Invasive feral pigeons (Columba livia) damage critical urban infrastructure and pose risks to human health. Universities, including Texas Tech University (TTU), located in Lubbock, Texas, have difficulty decreasing adverse effects caused by pigeons. Assessing reliable estimates of population demographics is an important first step to understanding and managing damaging pigeon populations. Our goal was to estimate pigeon abundances at TTU and understand the underlying mechanisms that facilitated pigeon persistence on campus. We surveyed 23 independent locations from March to April 2017 to estimate pigeon abundance across the entire campus. Separately, we also examined pigeon densities on two campus buildings from March to December 2017 to assess and quantify variation in pigeon detection probabilities and abundance both during the diurnal period and among calendar seasons. Our estimates suggested campus abundance was comparable to other urban areas (1,584.4 pigeons/km2, SE = 43.58, 95% CI = ±1,969). Our results indicated hot spots (i.e., high pigeon abundances) existed on campus; for example, we estimated ∼2,819 pigeons (SE = 76, 95% CI = ±138) on a single building on campus during our surveys. Enumeration of pigeon abundance on two campus buildings (mean = 326, SE = 16, 95% CI = ±11) indicated abundance was greatest in the fall and during the morning hours, and peak abundance occurred shortly after 0700 h and declined during the day. Our results suggested pigeons were abundant on campus due to structure and composition of buildings that facilitated nesting and loafing spots that likely maximized efficiency and effectiveness of thermal regulation as well as direct access to water during the study period. In general, pigeons clustered on two buildings on campus and our findings suggested success of population-control measures may be maximized if they are implemented around these buildings.

High level architecture-based framework for modeling interdependent critical infrastructure systems

Interdependencies among urban critical infrastructure systems (CISs) significantly impact the reliability and performance of CISs and the resilience of modern societies. Although several approaches exist for modeling interdependent CISs and studying their behavior, models developed in previous studies often fail to incorporate CIS domain knowledge, capture systemic heterogeneities among the CISs, and accurately model CISs interdependencies. Consequently, existing models have a limited ability to simulate interdependent CISs with sufficient detail and accuracy. To address these limitations, this study proposes a high-level architecture (HLA)-based framework for modeling interdependent CISs that can leverage and integrate well-tested practices, knowledge, data and simulation tools accumulated over years of wide usage in various CIS domains. The framework provides a methodology for co-simulating heterogeneous fine-grained CIS domain-specific models and modeling complex interactions between them and with their external environments, hence reproducing with high fidelity the complex coupled systems. A case study of two interdependent power and water systems was conducted, which demonstrated the efficacy of the proposed framework. Simulation results revealed that the HLA-based CISs model could capture the heterogeneous behaviors of the CISs and reveal a variety of failure-induced system vulnerabilities and feedback loops which may not be observable when using other existing modeling approaches.

Advancing index-based climate risk assessment to facilitate adaptation planning: Application in Shanghai and Shenzhen, China

One of the key issues in climate risk management is to develop climate resilient infrastructure so as to ensure safety and sustainability of urban functioning systems as well as mitigate the adverse impacts associated with increasing climate hazards. However, conventional methods of assessing risks do not fully address the interaction of various subsystems within the city system and are unable to consolidate diverse opinions of various stakeholders on their assessments of sector-specific risks posed by climate change. To address this gap, this study advances an integrated-systems-analysis tool - Climate Risk Assessment of Infrastructure Tool (CRAIT), and applies it to analyze and compare the extent of risk factor exposure and vulnerability over time across five critical urban infrastructure sectors in Shanghai and Shenzhen, two cities that have distinctive geo-climate profiles and histories of infrastructure development. The results show significantly higher level of variation between the two cities in terms of vulnerability levels than that of exposure. More specifically, the sectors of critical buildings, water, energy, and information & communication in Shenzhen have significantly higher vulnerability levels than Shanghai in both the 2000s and the 2050s. We further discussed the vulnerability levels of subsystems in each sector and proposed twelve potential adaptation options for the roads system based on four sets of criteria: technical feasibility, flexibility, co-benefits, and policy compatibility. The application of CRAIT is bound to be a knowledge co-production process with the local experts and stakeholders. This knowledge co-production process highlights the importance of management advancements and nature-based green solutions in managing climate change risk in the future though differences are observed across the efficacy categories due to the geographical and meteorological conditions in the two cities. This study demonstrates that this knowledge co-creation process is valuable in facilitating policymakers' decision-making and their feedback to scientific understanding in climate risk assessment, and that this approach has general applicability for cities in other regions and countries.

Flood susceptibility assessment for ungauged sites in urban areas using spatial modeling

AbstractIn urban areas, flood susceptibility assessment is of special importance because of the high settlement population, properties, and infrastructures. Geospatial information science (GIS) provides a tool for investigating flood susceptibility based on several aspects including economic damages and critical infrastructures in cities. This study aims to provide a tool based on GIS analyses to support decision‐makers in identifying flood hazards in urban areas, in which previous flood data, flood causative factors, and urban infrastructure data are not adequately available. To assess flood susceptibility in the study area, the related spatial high‐resolution data were produced. Then, flood zones were estimated for different recurrence intervals using meteorological data. Finally, susceptibility was assessed in urban areas for different urban infrastructures using GIS modeling. The model was designed based on the assumption that any critical urban infrastructure, such as power towers, was affected by flood zones and, in addition to flooding, could cause hazards by itself. Moreover, five scenarios were defined to calculate susceptibility when in the problematic locations of the floodway. DoAsb Floodway was chosen as a case study located in Zanjan city, northwest of Iran. The results indicated the high‐susceptible areas around the floodway. Moreover, the flood susceptibility level for each urban infrastructure in the study area was calculated and classified into five classes from low susceptible to very high susceptible. Also, the results of the five scenarios showed if some parts of the floodway had problems, the susceptibility rate would be high. The generated flood susceptibility maps of this model can be used to plan suitable programs in order to avoid flood damage and ensure public safety.

Development potential of Chinese smart cities and its spatio‐temporal pattern: A new hybrid MADM method using combination weight

AbstractTaking advantage of information communication technology, a smart city is a city that has its critical urban infrastructure upgraded to optimise resources allocation and maintenance activities. It serves as a new technology‐based solution to mitigate urban diseases and to improve urban development in China. However, unbalanced and uncoordinated smart city development potential (SCDP) would impede the future construction of the smart city. Consequently, this study aims to measure SCDP and further examine the equality of its spatial distribution in China. In this regard, a brand‐new hybrid multiple attribute decision‐making (MADM) model is proposed to evaluate SCDP. Subsequently, a series of spatial analyses are introduced to uncover the spatial differentiation of SCDP. The results suggest that (a) overall SCDP in China has a continuous upward tendency, and the SCDP compositions of six subsystems contribute variously; (b) over time high‐SCDP cities agglomerated in the east, whereas most of the low‐SCDP cities clustered in the west. This feature indicates that SCDP in China is unevenly distributed; (c) high‐SCDP cities preferred to cooperate in coordinated efforts rather than develop independently. This study makes new contributions to smart city development research in terms of methodology and empirical evidence.