Urban Infrastructure Services Research Articles

Analysis of the Spatiotemporal Differentiation and Influencing Factors of Land Use Efficiency in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Urban Agglomeration

Optimizing urban land use is of significant practical importance for promoting economic development, enhancing the standard of living for individuals residing in metropolitan areas, enhancing urban infrastructure and public services, driving urban transformation and upgrading, and attaining synchronized progress of the economy, society, and environment. This paper uses the super-efficiency SBM model to measure the urban land use efficiency (ULUE) of 13 cities in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) urban agglomeration from 2005 to 2020 and explores the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and influencing factors of ULUE in this urban agglomeration using analysis of spatial data and application of geographic detector methods. The results show that (1) from 2005 to 2020, the ULUE of the BTH urban agglomeration had an initial rise followed by a decline; however, the overall efficiency score is above 1, suggesting an overall effective state; (2) a distribution pattern with Beijing as its core was established, exhibiting greater ULUE in the northern region and poorer efficiency in the southern region, with significant correlation characteristics in efficiency values between adjacent cities; and (3) capital input, labor input, social welfare, and ecological environment are all influencing factors that promote the improvement in ULUE in the BTH region, and the interaction of any two factors explains the ULUE in this region better than a single factor. The empirical research results can provide useful references for improving the input–output ratio of land units and further spatial planning and policy formulation in the BTH region.

Land Value, and Urban Transport and Amenities: Evidence From Antananarivo, Madagascar

Although urbanization is an engine of growth, many African cities are overly crowded with massive traffic congestion and high housing prices, pushing the poor away to unfavorable settlements or remote suburban areas and making them commute long. The paper sheds light on the relationship between land value and urban attributes in a rapidly growing African city, Antananarivo, Madagascar. It shows that the land value gradient is steep with an elasticity of −0.78 with respect to trip time to the city center. Thus, housing prices are overshooting. Better urban planning is needed through improving transport accessibility by minibus. Other urban infrastructure services, such as piped water and garbage collection, and urban amenities are also important to add to land values. Spatial heterogeneity is found across different locations in the city. While some areas require clean water and climate resilience, others need more city amenities, such as parks.

Modeling future land use and land cover under different scenarios using patch-generating land use simulation model. A case study of Ndola district

Accurate predictions of changes in Land-use and Land-cover (LULC) are crucial in climate modeling, providing valuable insights into the possible effects of land-use alterations on Earth’s intricate system. This study focuses on forecasting and examining future LULC changes in the Ndola district from 2022 to 2042, considering three scenarios: Traditional mode (TM), Ecological protection (EP), and Economic Development (ED). TM reflects past land use changes, EP prioritizes environmental conservation, and ED emphasizes economic growth and urbanization. Using the patch-generating land use simulation (PLUS) model, we achieved precise predictions of LULC changes in Ndola district. The model, which combines LEAS rule-extraction with a CA model using CARS, addresses limitations of previous models like CLUE-S, CA-Markov, and FLUS by accurately simulating scattered LULC patterns and the mutual attraction and evolution of open space and urban land under different policies. Using LULC data from the livingatlas platform for the base period (2017–2022), the model demonstrated a Kappa coefficient of 78% and a FoM value of 0.34. Key findings indicate significant trends, such as reductions in forest and agricultural lands in the TM and ED scenarios, with rangeland expanding consistently across all scenarios, particularly in the ED scenario. The decline in agricultural and forest lands raises concerns about household food security, habitat fragmentation, biodiversity loss, and diminished ecosystem services. Urban sprawl onto other land uses could further strain urban infrastructure and public services. Future research should incorporate uncertainty analysis methods such as fuzzy logic or Bayesian methodologies to quantify and differentiate uncertainties related to modeling simulations.

Urban Rail Transit Station Type Identification Based on “Passenger Flow—Land Use—Job-Housing”

Urban rail transit stations serve as pivotal hubs that facilitate the advancement of diverse economic activities. Based on different types of metro stations, the sustainable and coordinated development of public transport and land use can be achieved through rational land use planning and the rational allocation of urban infrastructure and public service facilities. Drawing upon mobile phone signaling data and land use data, this article presents a complex classification methodology for metro stations, employing the lens of “passenger flow behavior—land use structure—job-housing density” in the context of Xi’an. The stations are categorized into six distinct types, including employment-led stations with a job–housing density balance, as well as stations characterized by job–housing mismatch with a high residential density. The results indicate a low level of coupling between the passenger flow patterns of the stations and the spatial characteristics of the station areas. In addition, the spatial distributions of the stations demonstrate a significant aggregation effect in each station type, while the degree of integration between the different station types remains limited. These findings collectively suggest that the urban rail transit stations in Xi’an have not achieved complementary development, thereby reflecting a notable trend of cross-regional commuter flow in the city.

Suitability Assessment of Multilayer Urban Underground Space Based on Entropy and CRITIC Combined Weighting Method: A Case Study in Xiong’an New Area, China

Suitability assessment is an essential initial step in the scientific utilization of underground space. It plays a significant role in providing valuable insights for optimizing planning and utilization strategies. Utilizing urban underground space has the potential to enhance the capacity of urban infrastructure and public service facilities, as well as mitigate issues such as traffic congestion and land scarcity. To effectively plan and utilize urban underground space, it is crucial to conduct a suitability assessment. This assessment helps identify the factors that influence the utilization of underground space and their impacts, offering guidance on avoiding unfavorable conditions and ensuring the safety of planned underground facilities. To achieve objective and reasonable evaluation results, this paper proposed an assessment method that combines entropy and CRITIC (CRiteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation) weighting. Taking Xiong’an New Area as a study area, a suitability assessment indicator system for underground space was established. The system included criteria indicators and sub-criteria indicators. By analyzing the weights, the study identified the difference of suitability and critical affecting factors for shallow, sub-shallow, sub-deep, and deep underground space. The results showed that deep layers had better suitability than shallow layers in the study area. The regions with inferior and worse suitability were mostly located around Baiyangdian Lake, with proportions of acreage at 54.69% for shallow layer, 42.06% for sub-shallow layer, 41.69% for sub-deep layer, and 42.03% for deep layer. Additionally, the dominant affecting factors of suitability varied in different layers of underground space. These findings provide valuable evidence for the scientific planning and disaster prevention of underground space in Xiong’an New Area, and also serve as references for studying suitability in other areas.

Pluralizing the urban waste economy: insights from community-based enterprises in Ahmedabad (India) and Kampala (Uganda)

The delivery of urban basic infrastructure services is often guided by the modern infrastructure ideal, which aims for technical innovation, economic efficiency and uniformity through long-term, centralized management approaches. In rapidly growing urban centres of the global South, however, heterogeneous infrastructure configurations have long involved multiple systems in varying degrees of coexistence. This paper explores how community-based enterprises – organizations that aim not to turn a profit but rather to generate human well-being – contribute to, complement or conflict with wider municipal solid waste management strategies. It does so through two case studies, focused on Luchacos, a local enterprise turning waste into briquettes in an informal settlement of Kampala, Uganda; and the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a cooperative of waste pickers in Ahmedabad, India. Drawing on empirical data and policy analysis, the research finds that, given the necessary state support, community-based enterprises can contribute to a range of sustainability and development objectives.

Research of Metro Stations with Varying Patterns of Ridership and Their Relationship with Built Environment, on the Example of Tianjin, China

The metro station ridership features are associated significantly with the built environment factors of the pedestrian catchment area surrounding metro stations. The existing studies have focused on the impact on total ridership at metro stations, ignoring the impact on varying patterns of metro station ridership. Therefore, the reasonable identification of metro station categories and built environment factors affecting the varying patterns of ridership in different categories of stations is very important for metro construction. In this study, we developed a data-driven framework to examine the relationship between varying patterns of metro station ridership and built environment factors in these areas. By leveraging smart card data, we extracted the dynamic characteristics of ridership and utilized hierarchical clustering and K-means clustering to identify diverse patterns of metro station ridership, and we finally identified six main ridership patterns. We then developed a newly built environment measurement framework and adopted multinomial logistic regression analysis to explore the association between ridership patterns and built environment factors. (1) The clustering analysis results revealed that six station types were classified based on varying patterns of passenger flow, representing distinct functional characteristics. (2) The regression analysis indicated that diversity, density, and location factors were significantly associated with most station function types, while destination accessibility was only positively associated with employment-oriented type stations, and centrality was only associated with employment-oriented hybrid type station. The research results could inform the spatial planning and design around metro stations and the planning and design of metro systems. The built environment of pedestrian catchment areas surrounding metro stations can be enhanced through rational land use planning and the appropriate allocation of urban infrastructure and public service facilities.

Using content and comparative analysis to contextualize the criteria for urban resiliency planning from international and US cities perspectives

This study focuses on how the term “urban resiliency” and other related terms are operationalized across spatial scales. The European Union and United Nations established international goals, targets, and the specific measurable indicators with both theEuropean Green Dealand their2030 Sustainable DevelopmentGoals (SDGs) to address climate change, with overarching goals of becoming the world’s first carbon neutral continent. Much of this work to “green” cities falls under the concepts of urban resiliency, Green Infrastructure (GI), and ecosystem services (ES). This study seeks to understand the criteria considered for planning, development, implementation and maintenance urban resiliency at city and international levels. By contextualizing and clarifying broad terms likeresiliency,ecosystem services, andGreen Infrastructurefor planners, politicians, and people within communities, our comparative analysis provides detailed understanding of the similarities and differences between plans from a national perspective, along with analysis of city-to-city comparisons. Our results suggest there are differences in focus regarding key aspects of resiliency, as well as the strategies suggested for resilient cities. Key differences were found in the importance placed on transportation, the future role of Green Infrastructure, and definitions of ecosystem services. These differences may have potential impacts on outcomes for resiliency project development and maintenance.

The role of smart cities in countering health threats: A review of practices

Modern cities face multiple global challenges. Despite the diversity of threats to sustainable development, public health is a priority. The authors will show, by analysing urban practices, how the integration of digital technologies, monitoring systems and data analysis can help to address the issues of disease control, environmental monitoring, access to urban medical infrastructure and health services. The article emphasises that the success of smart cities in public health is highly dependent on community engagement. Smart cities offer a set of innovative, flexible and scalable solutions that can significantly improve the situation in this area. The application of big data technologies, artificial intelligence, sensor networks and other advanced tools allows for creation of efficient mechanisms for monitoring, prediction and counteracting threats to public health. The provided conclusions and recommendations can serve as a basis for the development of sustainable development strategies for smart cities aimed at long-term improvement of people’s quality of life.

A design framework for considering spatial equity in sustainable urban drainage infrastructure

• Traditional design methods may lead to inequity in water infrastructure services. • A trade-off between spatial equity and other goals may exist. • A multi-criteria design framework addressing spatial equity is proposed. The design of urban drainage systems has traditionally aimed for cost and service objectives without considering broader socio-economic implications of design decisions. This can result in designs with unequal distributions of infrastructure services among urban communities. In this paper, we propose a design approach for multi-criteria design of urban drainage systems which combines traditional design objectives, such as reliability and cost-effectiveness, with social goals like reducing inequality in the spatial distribution of infrastructure benefits. A multi-dimensional search algorithm is linked to an urban rainfall-runoff simulation model to identify portfolios of efficient (Pareto-optimal) and spatially equitable drainage infrastructure developments. A measure of the difference in flood damage between different subregions is also considered as a decision-making aide along with other criteria. An illustrative case study shows how the design framework can help planners make trade-offs, for example between spatial equity and cost-effectiveness, when selecting future interventions in urban water systems. The results imply that traditional optimisation models can lead to inequity in spatial distribution of urban drainage infrastructure services and that equality in spatial distribution of green drainage assets does not necessarily entail fair spatial distribution of flood damage between different urban neighbourhoods.

Not all brownfields are equal: A typological assessment reveals hidden green space in the city

While the role of urban green space in mitigating environmental hazards and enhancing urban resilience is widely recognised, the current or potential contribution of brownfield land to urban green infrastructure and ecosystem services has been largely overlooked by planning legislation. The perception of brownfield as low value spaces has instead driven a focus on brownfield-first redevelopment, and thus, this dynamic resource is quickly being lost. This research, based on GIS and remote sensing data, develops a novel hierarchical brownfield classification methodology to understand the nature and distribution of brownfield, using k-means clustering of several physical attributes, which can be used for a range of objectives and is widely applicable to post-industrial cities. Application of the methodology to the case study, Greater Manchester, UK, produced a typology of twenty-six brownfield types with distinct characteristics and differing spatial patterns across the city. Land cover analysis reveals that over half (51%) of brownfield land is vegetated (comprising 27% trees and shrubs, 24% grass and herbaceous vegetation), highlighting the significant ‘hidden’ green space present on brownfield. Brownfield sites traditionally perceived as difficult to develop (e.g. those with uneven topography, irregular shapes, or a water body), are particularly highly vegetated. Predominantly pervious types are widely distributed across the conurbation, including in built-up areas, which are a principal target for redevelopment, and thus highly vegetated brownfields are likely being lost undetected. Brownfield land is evidently a valuable dynamic resource in post-industrial cities and redevelopment should be planned at the city-scale to ensure careful strategic selection of sites for redevelopment, greening, or interim use based upon their characteristics and location.

A corpus-assisted discourse analysis of sustainability transitions in urban basic infrastructure services

A corpus-assisted discourse analysis of sustainability transitions in urban basic infrastructure services

Territorial Infrastructure: Drafting of a Calculation Evaluation Method

This study proposes a method for calculating the level of urban infrastructure and basic urban services on a given territory. It aims to contribute to a more accurate knowledge of the territory and the city, through the creation of an assessment tool for the urban condition, with the goal of overcoming imprecision hindering urban planning and management. Urban infrastructure is here understood in a broad sense, integrating usual urban attributes —roads, pavements, electricity, water supply, sanitation, etc.—but also a set of urban services and equipment traditionally provided by city and urban environment—administration, representation, culture, health, education and security, among others—and also other conditions diagnosed as significant for the current evolutionary trend of extended urbanity, such as mobility—integrating roadways, public transport networks, soft mobility devices and infrastructures —and access to and integration in communication and information networks —voice and data communication, fix and mobile. The development of this calculation method takes into account different relative weights for this set of conditions in order to obtain a balanced assessment of the level of infrastructure. In the future, the next stage will consist of testing in the field in order to fine tune and validate its usability in different scenarios. Keywords: urban condition, territory, infrastructure, measuring systems, calculation

EVALUATION OF PRE-WAR INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT BY INDICATORS OF EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN UKRAINE

Employment and unemployment indicators determine the components of the inclusive development of the national economy. Ukraine’s aging population affects the workforce’s productivity and increases healthcare costs. In addition, the aging of the urban population affects the development of urban infrastructure and social services, particularly the demand for housing, transport, and cultural and entertainment services. On the other hand, if the population is younger, it can contribute to the development of innovations and technologies and increase the country’s economic potential. The young population can be more active and innovative, which helps support inclusive development in various sectors. Therefore, considering the population’s distribution by gender and age can help to understand what social and economic problems may arise and how they can be solved to achieve inclusive development. That is why the assessment of pre-war inclusive development by employment and unemployment indicators in Ukraine is quite relevant. The article aims to evaluate pre-war inclusive development based on indicators of employment and unemployment in Ukraine. Based on the results of the analysis for the years 2019-2021, the following conclusions were drawn. There is a specific improvement in the distribution of incomes in Ukraine: the share of the population with the lowest incomes is decreasing, and the share of the population with incomes from UAH 6,000 to UAH 11,000 is increasing; the most significant percentage of the population (24.7%) still receives the lowest incomes, which may indicate the need for further social support and encouragement to increase incomes in this population group; the ratio of total incomes of the most and least well-off 20% of the population does not change, which indicates that the improvement in income distribution does not occur due to the reduction of inequality between the more and less well-off strata of the population. The evaluation analysis showed that Ukraine’s labor force is decreasing yearly; from 2019 to 2021, it decreased by 744,400 people. It was determined that the level of participation of the population in the labor force decreases every year, which indicates that fewer and fewer people between the ages of 15 and 70 are willing and able to work. Accordingly, the level of employment also decreases. In particular, the decrease in employment occurs mainly among people of working age. It was emphasized that unemployment is increasing among people aged 15 to 70 and those of working age.

Exploring Urban Governance in Ethiopia: Institutional Principles of Non-state Actors’ Engagement

The purpose of this article is to look in to the institutional principles that encourage non-state actors (NSAs’) to participate in urban infrastructure and services. This article uses a qualitative research approach to achieve the purpose of the research. To acquire qualitative data, qualitative techniques such as interviews, focus groups, document analysis, and key informant interviews were used. The findings of the study indicate that NSAs’ engagements are governed by legal and policy provisions in the case study urban local governments (ULGs’). In spite of the aforementioned provisions, there have been imbalances in these provisions to safely deal with the involvement of NSAs’ in urban infrastructure service provisions. Furthermore, there was a significant disconnect between legal/policy provisions and their execution. The case study ULGs’ lacked the necessary resources to carry out constitutional provisions relating to the involvement of NSAs’ in urban infrastructure services. Consequently, the institutional environment might impede the role of NSAs’ engagement to improve decentralized development policy. The case study ULGs’ general institutional situation was pathetic to encourage the involvement of NSAs’ in urban infrastructure service provisions. The traditional top-down approach to institutional assistance was incompatible with the bottom-up nature of partnership development. There was significant gap in institutionalizing the involvement of NSAs’ in urban infrastructure service provisions although there have been proper efforts to institutionalize their engagement. This case study, therefore, contends that to guide NSAs’ involvement and the sharing of the merit of partnership development, unambiguous norms and regulations must be established. These laws and regulations must give the NSAs’ the freedom to engage in the activities of development and make judgments. Besides, this article contends that in order to fulfill their obligation to facilitate NSAs’ engagements, the case study ULGs’ require extensive manpower development. The development of manpower must concentrate on developing competent personnel and a welcoming institutional culture. The ULGs’ should have given sufficient powers and responsibilities over infrastructure service provisions.

Analysis and optimization of 15-minute community life circle based on supply and demand matching: A case study of Shanghai.

The 15-minute community life circle (15min-CLC) strategy is one of Shanghai's important methods for building a global city and facing a society with a more diverse population structure in the future. In the existing research, the balance between the construction of the life circle and the needs of the people in the life circle still needs to be further fulfilled. This paper is based on the city's multi-source large data set including 2018 AutoNavi POI (Point of Interests), OSM (OpenStreetMap) road network data and LandScan population data set, and evaluates the current status of Shanghai's 15min-CLC through the fusion of kernel density estimation, service area analysis and other statistical models and proposes relevant optimization suggestions. The results show that there are the following shortcomings: (1) From the perspective of different types of infrastructure service facilities, the spatial construction of Shanghai's overall life service facilities and shopping service facilities needs to be optimized. (2) From the perspective of comprehensive evaluation, the comprehensive service convenience of infrastructure service facilities in the downtown area is relatively high, while the comprehensive service convenience of urban infrastructure service facilities in the suburbs and outer suburbs is relatively low; The diversity of basic service facilities in the 15min-CLC in the downtown area is more consistent with the population distribution; However, in the peripheral areas of the urban area, too many infrastructure service facilities have been constructed. Based on the above shortcomings and the perspective of supply and demand matching, relevant optimization strategies are proposed in different regions and different types of infrastructure service facilities: (1) focus on the construction of basic service facilities in the urban fringe and urban-rural areas, improve the full coverage of the basic service facilities, and appropriately reduce the number of basic service facilities in the downtown area. (2) The development of community business models can be used to promote the development of new life service facilities and shopping service facilities. (3) Improve community medical institutions through facility function conversion, merger and reconstruction, etc. (4) Optimize the hierarchical basic service facility system and improve the population supporting facilities of basic service facilities in the 15min-CLC. This paper incorporates people's needs and concerns on the living environment into the 15min-CLC evaluation model, and uses Shanghai as an example to conduct research, summarizes the existing shortcomings, and proposes corresponding optimization strategies based on the matching of supply and demand. This article attempts to explore a replicable 15min-CLC planning model, so that it can be extended to the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, to provide reference for further research on the 15min-CLC, and to promote urban construction under the concept of sustainable development.

EVALUASI EFEKTIFITAS SISTEM PENGANGKUTAN DAN PENGELOLAAN SAMPAH DI TPA SARIMUKTI KOTA BANDUNG

The large population and the diversity of activities in big cities in Indonesia have resulted in the emergence of common problems in urban infrastructure services, such as solid waste problems. One of them is the city of Bandung which has the highest landfill load, which is 3.55 m3 (BPLHD, 2008). According to data from PD Kebersihan Bandung City, that waste services only cover 62.73% of the total waste generation. Currently, waste in the city of Bandung is disposed of at the Sarimukti TPA, which is located in Cipatat District, West Bandung Regency. This location and the city of Bandung is relatively far, which is about 45 km from the center of Bandung. The results of the evaluation transport trucks from TPS to TPA Sarimukti at 1 ritation obtained a total time of 10 hours, in the waste collection system only exist one driver who works day and night. The potential gas from CO2 and CH4 landfills to cause a greenhouse effect, it is necessary to capture gas. The IPL configuration, TPA sarimukti consists of an Anaerobic Pond, Aerobic Pool, Sedimentation Pond and Sanitation Pool. However, the parameters for COD, BOD, TDS, free ammonia, and H2S have not met the quality standard. The treatment efficiency is low for COD of only 20% due to the design depth that does not meet the design criteria, the number of aerators is insufficient or the aerators are not started according to the requirements so that the oxygen supply in the aerobic pond is reduced.

The South African informal sector’s socio-economic exclusion from basic service provisions: A critique of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality’s approach to the informal sector

This study explores the exclusion of informal micro-enterprises from the provision of basic urban infrastructure services in Duncan Village in East London, South Africa. It focuses on the informal food sector, which is dominated by women who are often held back from participating in economic activities that are more productive, as well as from social and political functions. Basic urban infrastructures, such as trading shelters with water and electricity connections provided by municipalities, are often expensive and most informal street traders find it difficult to access them. This study examines the energy struggles of the informal street food sector and its engagement with local government on issues of inclusivity on policies regulating the sector. In-depth, semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with 40 participants in the informal street food sector in Duncan Village. The findings reveal the lack of energy transition in the informal street food sector, because of its heavy reliance on low-quality fuels. Unreliable and expensive energy services force informal street food enterprises into using a limited range of energy sources. The findings also reveal that the relationship between the municipality and the informal street traders is one of exclusion and negligence. It is therefore suggested that government needs to recognise and value the informal sector and livelihoods of those involved in this sector, to take into account their needs, and engage with them when designing and implementing policies that regulate the sector.

A Land Value Capture: Taxation and Value for Money Perspectives

Providing basic services in urban areas effectively is one of the most significant challenges facing city governments, as the ability to provide urban services largely determines the competitiveness, poverty level and quality of life of urban residents. Metropolitan cities and big cities in Indonesia face various needs for urban infrastructure services, including a mass rapid transportation system to serve public transportation in the downtown area and hinterland areas. Urban local governments face the dilemma of limited funding in servicing the increasing demand for urban services, mainly due to the flow of urbanization and increasing urban services, including as a center for financial and digital transactions. Land Value Capture (LVC) is an alternative solution that must be developed by city governments in Indonesia, especially in the perspective of taxation and other forms of return on investment costs. Institutional strengthening, the collaboration between agencies, legal certainty, and robust regulations are the main prerequisites for implementing LVC in Indonesia

Location patterns of service activities in large metropolitan areas: the Case of São Paulo

We present a set of detailed evidence about the location patterns of service activities in the largest and most important Brazilian metropolitan region, the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Region (SPMR). Different from previous analysis of this big urban agglomeration, our results are obtained using a unique dataset of geocoded firms and a distance-based measure of firms’ location, thus not susceptible to the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP). We find that around 89% of 3-digit service sectors present significant defined location patterns and, based on maximum distances where significant location patterns are observed, identify spatial location of clusters of some activities. Our results also indicate that firms’ activities of FIRE (finance and real estate), IT-related services, and high human capital-based services present the highest probability of location at shorter distance from each other. The tendency for location at shorter distances between firms engaged in these activities contrasts with the more decentralized patterns observed for firms involved in retail and urban infrastructure services. Additional results indicate that both the location patterns of activities and the degree of proximity or agglomeration of firms are positively associated with human capital, the degree of product differentiation, and the degree of inter-sector dependence between activities.