Vicinity Of City Research Articles

How Urban Growth in the Global South Affects Agricultural Dynamics and Food Systems Outcomes in Rural Areas: A Review and Research Agenda

The urbanisation in the Global South provides opportunities for improved rural livelihoods in the vicinity of cities, but these opportunities do not automatically occur. The literature shows that urban expansion leads to more intensive land use around cities and a shift of production towards high-value products. However, competition for land around growing cities can lead to increasing socioeconomic vulnerability in affected areas, particularly for those who have no or weak land ownership or tenancy rights. Urban expansion can also have negative ecological consequences such as the extinction of wetlands and deforestation. In the current literature, there are very few studies to be found that comprehensively and simultaneously analyse the effects of growing cities on food security, equity, and the ecological impacts on food systems in rural areas. To better map and understand the consequences of urban growth for agricultural dynamics, rural livelihoods, and the environment, a three-track research agenda is proposed: comparative field studies that analyse farmers’ decision-making processes under increased competition for factors of production due to urban sprawl; the role of urban–rural connectivity, city size, and urbanisation patterns in agricultural dynamics around the city; and studies that analyse the socioeconomic and environmental effects of urban sprawl on agricultural development opportunities around cities.

Rule Based First Principles Approach to Identify Safe/Unsafe Behavior of Two-Wheeler Drivers Under Mixed Traffic Conditions

Driver behavior refers to the actions and decisions made by drivers while operating a vehicle, including factors such as speed, distraction, and following road rules, traffic signals, etc. These behavior can greatly impact road safety, and safe driving practices can help reduce the risk of accidents and promote efficient traffic flow. Therefore, analyzing the individual driving behavior and detecting aggressiveness is essential for enhancing traffic safety. In order to do identify safe/unsafe driving behavior, a rule-based first principles approach was developed to establish a relationship between the resultant acceleration (longitudinal & lateral) and speed. A total of five drivers were recruited to collect the naturalistic driving data using a set of GPS devices and laser sensors installed on an instrumented two-wheeler from a study stretch selected in the vicinity of city of Patna. The collected data include location details along with speed and accelerations. A detailed comparison was made between different drivers and identified safe and unsafe driving behavior using the tool developed. Further, different hot-spot locations were identified throughout the selected route where drivers are violating the threshold limits of accelerations at higher speeds, which is more than the posted speed limit.

Speciation of metals in soils of steppe landscapes affected by mining (Southern Urals)

Speciation of ore and accompanying elements (Cu, Zn, Fe, Ni, Pb, Cd, Cr, V, Ba, Sr) in steppe soils of the Transurals (vicinity of city of Sibay, Bashkortostan) was studied with sequential extraction method. Attention was given to change of elements’ speciation in area affected by mining (Cu-Zn deposit). The results are supplemented by chemical analysis of humic acids (isolated by alkaline extraction) and granulometric fractions. It was revealed that the soils of background areas are characterized by low mobility of studied elements and a relatively uniform distribution over soil profile. Residual fraction percentage (fraction’s share in element’s total content) is the highest. Percentage of exchangeable and carbonate fractions is insignificant (Sr and Ba are exceptions). Percentage of fraction of crystalline Fe hydroxides, reduceable and oxidizable fractions varies from shares of a percent to 15%. Cd stands out for a high percentage of oxidizable fraction (up to 30% of Cd total content) and relatively low percentage of residual fraction (up to 50%). Comparison of obtained results allows us to suggest that near objects of mining industry dust enriched with Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb and Sb comes to the surface. This leads to shard increase of Cu, Zn, Cd content in the upper layer of chernic horizon, change of these elements’ speciation and distribution among granulometric fractions. Increase of elements content is not only due to prevailing residual fraction; Cu, Zn, Cd of oxidizable fraction, reducible fraction and Fe hydroxides fraction significantly increase. Sharp increase of oxidizable fraction percentage (largely due to sulfides) is noted.

Mechanical and physical characterization mapping of evaporitic rocks from Abu Dhabi city and its surroundings

Safe and sustainable engineering structure designs always require carefully and detailed mechanical and physical characterization of rocks. Abu Dhabi city, which is the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have been fast developing and industrializing region in the country and it is located on evaporitic rocks. Construction companies in this city often face some technical problems associated with evaporite bedrocks. Mechanical and physical characterization of rocks in either in-situ or laboratory is relatively expensive, takes significant time, efforts and adequate rock specimens must be tested to achieve reliable and representative values. In this study, extensive field and laboratory studies were carried out and 152 evaporitic rock blocks, which represent the study area, were collected from 27 locations. Large number test samples were prepared, tested and the mechanical and physical characterization maps, which are prepared by interpretation of the obtained data sets from 27 locations, for each considered parameters like Unconfined Compressive Strength (USC), Indirect Tensile Strength (ITS), P Wave Velocity (Vp), Porosity (n), Water Content (wc) etc. Availability of such characterization maps for evaporitic rocks in the Abu Dhabi city vicinity will be practical, useful, economical and certainly provides vital information for the construction businesses, engineers, and decision makers.

Economic Value of Major Lakes in Coimbatore City

Lakes are recognized as freshwater resources in rural and urban areas. In the last few decades, lakes situated vicinity of cities are rapidly degraded due to lack of maintenance and economic development. Lakes areas were encroached, converted into buildings and house plots because and people were not aware of the intrinsic value of lakes. Coimbatore is one of the tier II cities in India, it has several lakes in and around the city limits. In 2016, Coimbatore is one of the city selected under the smart city mission. Under the Smart City mission, Coimbatore city municipal corporation restores the water bodies. But, lakes around household activities and lake visitor’s activities affect the lake quality and ecosystem. The main reason was the people were not aware about the intrinsic value of lakes. Therefore, this study estimates the total economic value of ecosystem services derived from major lakes in Coimbatore city. The total hectare of major 9 lakes was647.61 ha and its ecosystem services value was 608.36 crores/year. Kurichi lake has the highest catchment area, its ecosystem services value was 127 crores per year. The monetary value of lakes makes awareness about the significance of lakes ecosystem services and people are co-operate with lakes restoration activities.

Evaluating the potential of suburban and rural areas for tourism and recreation, including individual short-term tourism under pandemic conditions

Limited mobility and restrictions in social life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic changed people’s recreational behavior and made them seek more contact with nature. As a result, the provision of new recreational spaces in the vicinity of cities gained importance. In conditions of social distancing, rural and suburban areas can be an attractive alternative to individual short-term tourism, satisfying the need for recreation and mental and physical health restoration of urban residents. In the study a methodology for assessing the tourist and recreational potential of the area (METPRET) concerning the recreational behaviors identified in the pandemic was proposed. It includes the Recreational Potential Index (RPI), which comprises four criteria: landscape values and socio-economic conditions; environmental protection; air quality; transportation accessibility. The application of the methodology is exemplified in the Mazovia Voivodeship, Poland. The research allows the determination of characteristics that potential recreation areas should have under pandemic conditions. The RPI makes it possible to select new rural and suburban areas attractive for short-term tourism. Designating additional recreational areas may contribute to the dispersion of users in existing green areas in cities, which is particularly important during a pandemic.

Sustainable use of different size fractions of municipal solid waste incinerator bottom ash and recycled fine aggregates in cement mortar

The demand for recycled fine aggregates (RFA) is increasing daily, and researchers are continuously looking for cheaper and local alternative fine aggregates. The increasing growth of municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration plants has led to the accumulation of incinerated bottom ash in the vicinity of cities. There can be a possibility to utilize this municipal solid waste incinerated bottom ash (MSW-BA) as a partial replacement of recycled fine aggregated to achieve sustainable and economical mortars. This study analyzed the feasibility of incorporating different grain sizes, fine fraction (0.15–0.3 mm), medium fraction (0.3–0.6 mm), and coarse fraction (0.6–4.75 mm)) of MSW-BA and RFA in sustainable cement mortars with replacement amounts of 10 %, 20 % and 30 %, respectively. In addition to assessing the mechanical properties of the sustainable mortar, Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry was carried out. Based on the filler effect combined with its mineralogy and pozzolanic properties of MSW-BA, a medium fraction at 10 % replacement showed the highest compressive and flexural strength of 31.05 MPa and 5.07 MPa, respectively. After exposure to the 1 mol/liter sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution, the largest reduction of compressive strength by 7.92 MPa was found in 10 % medium fraction replacement of MSW-BA. Porosity was also reduced when smaller grain sizes of MSW-BA was replaced with RFA, and leaching tests have confirmed leaching of heavy metal are under limits. Results showed that adding MSW-BA can improve the compressive strength of concrete up to a certain extent, but over-addition of MSW-BA can lead to a detrimental effect on strength.

The Importance of Monitoring Urban Sprawl in Cities, And the Appropriate Ways to Measure It

Urban sprawl is a common phenomenon in both developed and developing countries and most city planners agree that urban sprawl threatens the sustainability of urban growth. There is a clear contradiction between the benefits achieved by a small group who benefit from urban sprawl to improve their level of living, and the problems of the majority that are affected by their quality of life due to arrivals to the sprawl areas (environmental, traffic and planning problems and other problems). Therefore, it was necessary to monitor measure and analyze urban sprawl and land-use maps’ change, in order to prioritize planning policies and solutions necessary to be addressed. This situation attracted more attention and modern and advanced studies using geographic information systems and remote sensing techniques, which proved to a large extent to be an effective and valuable tool for monitoring and evaluating urban sprawl over a period of time. There are several measures and methods used to determine the changes of land use and to measure the urban sprawl of cities; However, many of them suffer from many limitations and difficulty in accessing data for its application. In this research, we first provide a definition of urban sprawl, its characteristics, causes, and measurement techniques that have been applied in many countries from decades to the present. The research will discuss its advantages and disadvantages, in addition to explaining the most appropriate way to measure and monitor land use changes in the vicinity of cities, so that planners can implement the appropriate policies to effectively reduce this phenomenon.

Spatial-Temporal Pattern and Evolution Trend of the Cultivated Land Use Eco-Efficiency in the National Pilot Zone for Ecological Conservation in China.

The cultivated land use eco-efficiency (CLUE) is an important indicator to evaluate ecological civilization construction in China. Research on the spatial-temporal pattern and evolution trend of the CLUE can help to assess the level of ecological civilization construction and reveal associated demonstration and driving effects on surrounding areas. Based on the perspective of the CLUE, this paper obtains cultivated land use data pertaining to National Pilot Zones for Ecological Conservation in China and neighboring provinces from 2008 to 2018. In this study, the SBM-undesirable, Moran’s I, and Markov chain models are adopted to quantitatively measure and analyze the CLUE and its temporal and spatial patterns and evolution trend. The research results indicate that the CLUE in the whole study area exhibited the characteristics of one growth, two stable, and two decline stages, with a positive spatial autocorrelation that increased year by year, and a spatial spillover effect was observed. Geographical spatial patterns and spatial spillover effects played a major role in the evolution of the CLUE, and there occurred a higher probability of improvement in the vicinity of cities with high CLUE values. In the future, practical construction experience should be disseminated at the provincial level, and policies and measures should be formulated according to local conditions. In addition, a linkage model between prefecture-level cities should be developed at the municipal level to fully manifest the positive spatial spillover effect. Moreover, we should thoroughly evaluate the risk associated with CLUE transition from high to low levels and establish a low-level early warning mechanism.

Petrographical and geoengineering characteristics of evaporitic rocks (Abu Dhabi city vicinity, United Arab Emirates)

Petrographical and geoengineering characteristics of evaporitic rocks (Abu Dhabi city vicinity, United Arab Emirates)

A method to estimate the probability of strong winds occurrence using weather radar data

AbstractWeather radars are capable of detecting and displaying storm‐related turbulence as well as precipitation rate with fine spatial resolution and reliable quality. Especially, weather radars can enable the detection of atmospheric conditions in the vicinity of cities and thereby help to notify the strong winds. This article investigates the application of weather radar measurements for predicting strong wind and presents a new method for very short‐term storm prediction. In the proposed method, hidden Markov model (HMM) is used to classify atmospheric conditions to “potentially stormy” and “non‐stormy” states using the available radar data, and semi‐Markov theory is used to estimate the probability of storm occurrence with time. In fact, the probability of transition between “potentially stormy,” “non‐stormy,” and “stormy” states is modeled by a semi‐Markov model, to find the unconditional probability of storm occurrence with time. The model is implemented with the use of the data of Tehran C‐band weather radar and anemometer of Tehran international airport. Verification results show that the precision (forecast accuracy) is around 0.19 and the recall is around 0.67 in the presented classification method.

Transport Accessibility in a Suburban Zone and Its Influence on the Local Real Estate Market: A Case Study of the Olsztyn Functional Urban Area (Poland)

The development of real estate markets in the vicinity of cities is linked with suburbanization processes. The migration of the population to suburban areas contributes to the growth of the residential property market (houses, apartments and construction plots). To minimize commuting costs, property buyers opt for locations that are situated close to the urban core. This article analyzes construction plots on the local real estate market in the Olsztyn Functional Urban Area, in terms of their temporal accessibility and demographic changes. Spatial variations in population distribution were analyzed with the use of the Gini index and geostatistical interpolation techniques. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was calculated to determine the relationships between the analyzed variables. The study revealed differences in the spatial distribution of the population and real estate transactions as well as strong correlations between average transaction price, number of transactions, commuting time and population. The highest number of transactions were observed in cadastral districts situated in the direct vicinity of Olsztyn’s administrative boundaries and the major transportation routes due to their high temporal accessibility.

Quality assurance in the domestic third-party arrangement in Australia

PurposeThird-party arrangements where a university offers its degrees in collaboration with another institution are not a new phenomenon, particularly when the third-party arrangements occur in the form of a cross-border education (or widely known as transnational education). Drawing on a critical review of the literature available on quality assurance of domestic third-party arrangements and through the use of interviews with the sessional teaching staff, the paper offers theoretical as well as practical views on the domestic third-party arrangement and seeks to inform key stakeholders in the academic management of such collaboration.Design/methodology/approachThe study was undertaken with 40 sessional academics who are involved in teaching postgraduate courses at several third-party education providers and universities with metropolitan campuses in Australia. Focus group interviews were conducted with 8–10 participants in each group. The qualitative study included seven open-ended questions. Each focus group interview was between 45–60 minutes.FindingsThe study found 11 universities in Australia offering courses in third-party arrangement with a focus on international students. Online third-party arrangement is also gaining momentum. The study found the following areas that require attention: induction and professional development, quality assurance arrangements, maintenance of standards, adequacy of resources and infrastructure and risk related to academic quality.Research limitations/implicationsLimited study has been conducted on third-party arrangements where a university, usually located far from the city vicinity, works in a collaborative mode with another institution, primarily a private institution, to offer degrees at metropolitan city areas in the same country. Further research is needed with a large number of participants.Originality/valueThe study is undertaken for the first time in Australia. No research has been undertaken on the growth and quality assurance of a third-party arrangement in Australia and other developed countries. The study involves the engagement of the sessional academic staff.

Intensity of Pollution and Heavy Metals Toxicity on Surface Water Bodies of Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India - A Case Study

Diminishing in the quality of lake water is one of the emerging serious threats for the last few decades. The lakes occupied in the vicinity of cities and towns receive more anthropogenic activities under which the six stations, are Perur (L1), Selvachinthamani (L2), Ukkadam (L3), Kurichi (L4), Valankulam (L5) and Singanallur (L6) lakes of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India was chosen for the study. The sampling stations are selected based on their location and susceptibility to anthropogenic pressures. The main objective of this work is to investigate and monitor the changes that occurred in the Physico-chemical and Heavy metal of surface water in selected lakes under pre-monsoon period are followed based on the procedure proposed by APHA and NEERI. In Physico-chemical and heavy metal analysis, the Singanallur lake showed higher concentration for most of the parameter and the Perur as the minimum. The concentration observed in the other lakes ranges moderate. All the sample concentration of the lakes are compared with the standards of WHO, BIS and EPA. Deterioration in the quality of water was observed that may be due to the dumping of domestic sewage and pressure extended due to the increased Urbanization.

Dinosaur Tracks from the Caucasian Mineral Waters Country in the Context of the Study of Lower Cretaceous Paleosols of This Region

This article examines the geological and stratigraphic context of several types dinosaur tracks discovered in Lower Cretaceous deposits exposed in the vicinity of city of Kislovodsk (Caucasian Spa Country; Stavropol Krai). The tracks occur on the bedding surfaces of Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian) limestones, dolostones and marls. Two track morphotypes are described. Some ideas are proposed on the paleoclimatic and environmental conditions in the region during Early Cretaceous times. We suggest that the tracks were produced in a coastal plain in the littoral zone of a marine basin (possibly, a brackish lagoon) during a warm, seasonally dry climate.

Pervious area change as surrogate to diverse climatic variables trends in the CONUS: A county-scale assessment

The increase in worldwide population is putting much pressure on the existent urban management plans. In this context, strategies and policies should be updated to conserve natural resources, but more importantly, to improve inhabitants' well-being. Studies focusing on pervious areas have many potentials, particularly regarding the assessment of potential green infrastructures within the vicinities of cities. This study highlights the pervious area change between 2001 and 2016 within every county in the CONtiguous United States (CONUS) based on the National Land Cover Database (NLCD). The study found that 43 different counties can be considered dense. A statistical analysis is followed, highlighting the air temperature, wind speed, precipitation, solar radiation, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) trends in five characteristic counties. These datasets were retrieved from diverse remote sensing and satellite platforms between 1980 and 2019. The main results also found that air temperature was significantly (at α = 0.95) increasing for the same period. The other climatic variables depict fluctuating and usually insignificant trends. Such information would benefit decision- and policy-makers to focus their initiatives towards the most vulnerable counties while projecting different scenarios based on their current and historical conditions. Furthermore, this approach can be portable to other countries.

Yeast Complexes in Urban Soils of Some Southern Cities of Russia (Krasnodar, Maykop, Simferopol, and Sochi)

Yeast number and species diversity in urban soils characterized by various intensities of anthropogenic impact in the southern cities of Russia (Krasnodar, Maykop, Simferopol, and Sochi) was investigated. The soils of botanical gardens and the reference soils in the vicinities of cities were used for comparison to reveal the degree of anthropogenic impact. The maximum yeast number was found in a layer of 0–20 cm in the urban soils of Sochi and Simferopol, where it was 5.7 ± 0.2 and 5.4 ± 0.01 log (CFU/g), respectively. The minimum number of yeasts, 2.0 ± 0.1 log (CFU/g), was characteristic of a 60–80-cm layer in the soils in the vicinities of all cities. The number of yeasts was shown to depend primarily on the depth and type of soil and to a lesser extent on location. A total of 20 yeast species were isolated from the studied soils: 10 ascomycetes and 10 basidiomycetes. All basidiomycete yeasts isolated from urban soils and control soils were typical representatives of pedobiont and epiphytic yeast complexes. In the soils of the major tourist cities of Sochi and Simferopol, a high relative abundance of ascomycete species Candida sake and Meyerozyma guilliermondii was found, which fundamentally distinguished the studied soils from the ones of Krasnodar and Maykop. The cities of Sochi and Simferopol are characterized by a higher anthropogenic load compared to Krasnodar and Maykop, which is associated not only with their high population, but also with a significant tourist load. Detection in urban soils of C. sake and M. guilliermondii which, according to some data, are clinically significant, was therefore consequential.

Alignments of the Antediluvian Cities and Other Sites in Mesopotamia

Cuneiform tablets list the reigns of between eight and ten kings who are thought to have ruled in Sumeria before a flood approximately 20,000 years ago. These kings are associated with a number of ancient Sumerian cities. Analyzing the visible remains of these cities and other ancient sites in Mesopotamia reveals approximately fifty sites and/or structures within sites are aligned in directions that reference previous locations of the North Pole. Interpreting the alignment of the sites in the context of Hapgood’s theory of earth crustal displacement suggests a far more ancient dating of their origin from thousands of years old to between 20,000 and 130,000 years old depending on alignment. All five of the antediluvian cities contain structures aligned to previous (i.e., pre-flood) poles. The cities associated with the earliest rulers are aligned to the older Greenland pole, while cities associated with later rulers are aligned to the more recent Hudson Bay pole. It is shown that the oldest sites in Mesopotamia generally tend to cluster in the vicinity of cities associated with the antediluvian kings.

Rapid Late Quaternary denudation of the Karacasu Graben in response to subsidence in the Büyük Menderes Corridor: Insights from morphotectonics and archaeogeology

The timing and geomorphological consequences of high-angle normal faulting in the Büyük Menderes Graben (W Anatolia) is an essential yet poorly studied issue that has been evaluated mostly regarding detachment faulting in the Central Menderes Core Complex. However, this subject has direct concerns related to ongoing debates regarding the level of seismic risk and the response of surface process to active tectonics in the most rapidly extending region in the world. To approach this problem, an integrated scheme was followed that involves the study of late Quaternary stratigraphy, terraces, and ancient and modern civic structures in the Karacasu Graben located on the southern uplifted block of the Büyük Menderes Graben. Our stratigraphic observations coupled with the existing micro-mammalian fossils demonstrate the widespread occurrence of terrestrial coarse red clastics (Karacasu Formation) before the appearance of the narrow-faulted corridor. The onset of high-angle normal faulting started with gradual denudation through the axial Dandalas Creek and its confluences southward while alluvial sedimentation remained active in the more southern areas of the Karacasu Graben. Ages from surface dating techniques (mainly OSL and cosmogenic radionuclides) show that previous knickpoints determined by the incision/accumulation threshold reached the vicinity of the antique Greek city of Aphrodisias, 30 km from the Büyük Menderes Valley with a headward erosion rate of 75mky−1 by the end of Last Glacial Maximum (LGM).Incision rates derived from terraces and Roman aqueducts in the middle and upper reaches of the basin increased from 1 mmy−1 (background average geological rate for the last 65 ka) to 3 mmy−1in the last 2.3 ka, presumably due to increased population pressure in and around the vicinity of the city of Aphrodisias at the centre of the graben. Modern civic structures such as aqueducts and bridges constructed after the 1970's demonstrate the second wave of incision increased to as much as 10 mmy−1, likely due to increasing human pressure and the mechanisation of farming. On the other hand, inverse extrapolation of the knickpoint progression rate yields a surprisingly younger age of 400 ka for the birth of the new narrow tectonic corridor. This morphotectonic transformation exposed large depositional areas such as Karacasu and Bozdoğan grabens to erosion and should have resulted in a significant increase in the sediment supply to Büyük Menderes River. However, seismic investigations in the Aegean Sea have yet to identify the sedimentary record of this tectonic transformation.

Estimating Forest Aboveground Carbon Storage in Hang-Jia-Hu Using Landsat TM/OLI Data and Random Forest Model

Dynamic monitoring of carbon storage in forests resources is important for tracking ecosystem functionalities and climate change impacts. In this study, we used multi-year Landsat data combined with a Random Forest (RF) algorithm to estimate the forest aboveground carbon (AGC) in a forest area in China (Hang-Jia-Hu) and analyzed its spatiotemporal changes during the past two decades. Maximum likelihood classification was applied to make land-use maps. Remote sensing variables, such as the spectral band, vegetation indices, and derived texture features, were extracted from 20 Landsat TM and OLI images over five different years (2000, 2004, 2010, 2015, and 2018). These variables were subsequently selected according to their importance and subsequently used in the RF algorithm to build an estimation model of forest AGC. The results showed the following: (1) Verification of classification results showed maximum likelihood can extract land information effectively. Our land cover classification yielded overall accuracies between 86.86% and 89.47%. (2) Additionally, our RF models showed good performance in predicting forest AGC, with R2 from 0.65 to 0.73 in the training and testing phase and a RMSE range between 3.18 and 6.66 Mg/ha. RMSEr in the testing phase ranged from 20.27 to 22.27 with a low model error. (3) The estimation results indicated that forest AGC in the past two decades increased with density at 10.14 Mg/ha, 21.63 Mg/ha, 26.39 Mg/ha, 29.25 Mg/ha, and 44.59 Mg/ha in 2000, 2004, 2010, 2015, and 2018. The total forest AGC storage had a growth rate of 285%. (4) Our study showed that, although forest area decreased in the study area during the time period under study, the total forest AGC increased due to an increment in forest AGC density. However, such an effect is overridden in the vicinity of cities by intense urbanization and the loss of forest covers. Our study demonstrated that the combined use of remote sensing data and machine learning techniques can improve our ability to track the forest changes in support of regional natural resource management practices.