scholarly journals Ecological Urbanism in the Tropics Studies on the Sustainable Dimensions of Malay Traditional Urban Centers

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3.9) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Puteri Shireen Jahn Kassim Illyani Ibrah ◽  
. .
Keyword(s):  
International Standards ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Urban Forms ◽  
Urban Core ◽  
Walk Ability ◽  
Urban Patterns ◽  
Urban Configurations ◽  
Green Urbanism ◽  
Ecological Criteria ◽  
The Tropics

Many of the present eco-cities are designed and planned with an emphasis on high technology and infrastructure yet the meaning of sustainability itself implies a balance between past and present. Past urban configurations that rise from earlier traditional socio-cultural structures reflect sustainable principles localised to climate and ecology. The aim of this study is to reconstruct urban morphologies be-fore the advent of the automobile in order to analyse and characterise urban forms that are aligned with ecological criteria such as walk-ability, permeability and shade. Three traditional urban center or ‘cores’ in tropical Malaysia which had reigned during the early colo-nial era yet still related sultanate-based polities are mapped in terms of morphologies and these urban ‘core’ configurations were esti-mated and composed according to historical documents and evidences . These urban patterns are then discussed with regards to the present principles and criteria of green urbanism. The reconstructed and mapped urban cores are discussed in relation to green urban-ism principles and criteria, namely, based on global sustainable standards namely the LEED ND (Leadership in Energy and Environ-mental Design) version 4 neighbourhood rating system. The findings from this study suggest the contextualization of sustainable criteria according to climate and postulate the differences between traditional urban morphologies that can further regionalism principles of current green urbanism and further contextualise key principles in international standards on urbanism.

scholarly journals Community Engagement for Environmental Lighting and Acoustics in the Manila’s University Belt

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 140
Author(s):  
Cecilia May S. Villanueva
Keyword(s):  
Sound Intensity ◽  
Good Health ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Green Urbanism ◽  
Environmental Lighting ◽  
Pedestrian Infrastructure ◽  
The City

Environmental lighting and acoustics is highly compromised in developing countries such as the Philippines.  In urban centers such as the City of Manila, the night time population which compromises mostly the younger generation experience difficulty in mobility.  Furthermore the exposure to too much noise  may render the population indifferent to their surroundings.España Boulevard is a main thoroughfare connecting the city of Manila’s University Belt to the eastern metropolis. The study focuses on examining the current situation of pedestrian infrastructure in the City of Manila where community and pedestrian wellbeing should be a primordial concern in one of the densest cities in the world.  Universal design is a basic consideration to support the pressing need for safety and mobility of residents and transients travelling to and from the City of Manila.This initiative is in consonance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Number 3 on Good Health and Wellbeing as a part of the third UN’s SDGs of 2015-2030.  This serves as a foundation for programs and projects that concern the general public, specifically pedestrians and communities.A foot-survey was conducted using downloadable apps on lighting and sound intensity to assess whether they are in compliance with prescribed international standards.  Photomontage on urban design proposals are presented as possible imagery of green urbanism solutions in attaining ideal metrics for both environmental lighting and acoustics.

scholarly journals Zika Virus

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 487-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Didier Musso ◽  
Duane J. Gubler
Keyword(s):  
Zika Virus ◽  
Laboratory Diagnosis ◽  
Neurological Complications ◽  
Cross Reactivity ◽  
Mosquito Vectors ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Zika Fever

SUMMARYZika virus (ZIKV) is an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) in the genusFlavivirusand the familyFlaviviridae. ZIKV was first isolated from a nonhuman primate in 1947 and from mosquitoes in 1948 in Africa, and ZIKV infections in humans were sporadic for half a century before emerging in the Pacific and the Americas. ZIKV is usually transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes. The clinical presentation of Zika fever is nonspecific and can be misdiagnosed as other infectious diseases, especially those due to arboviruses such as dengue and chikungunya. ZIKV infection was associated with only mild illness prior to the large French Polynesian outbreak in 2013 and 2014, when severe neurological complications were reported, and the emergence in Brazil of a dramatic increase in severe congenital malformations (microcephaly) suspected to be associated with ZIKV. Laboratory diagnosis of Zika fever relies on virus isolation or detection of ZIKV-specific RNA. Serological diagnosis is complicated by cross-reactivity among members of theFlavivirusgenus. The adaptation of ZIKV to an urban cycle involving humans and domestic mosquito vectors in tropical areas where dengue is endemic suggests that the incidence of ZIKV infections may be underestimated. There is a high potential for ZIKV emergence in urban centers in the tropics that are infested with competent mosquito vectors such asAedes aegyptiandAedes albopictus.

Urban Growth in Chengdu, Western China: Application of Remote Sensing to Assess Planning and Policy Outcomes

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annemarie Schneider ◽  
Karen C Seto ◽  
Douglas R Webster
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Urban Growth ◽  
Western China ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Remotely Sensed Data ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Urban Core ◽  
Coastal Cities ◽  
New Development ◽  
The Relationship

The majority of studies on Chinese urbanization have been focused on coastal areas, with little attention given to urban centers in the west. Western provinces, however, will unquestionably undergo significant urban change in the future as a result of the ‘Go West’ policy initiated in the 1990s. In this paper the authors examine the relationship between drivers of urban growth and land-use outcomes in Chengdu, capital of the western province of Sichuan, China. In the first part of this research, remotely sensed data are used to map changes in land cover in the greater Chengdu area and to investigate the spatial distribution of development with use of landscape metrics along seven urban-to-rural transects identified as key corridors of growth. Results indicate that the urbanized area increased by more than 350% between 1978 and 2002 in three distinct spatial trends: (a) near the urban fringe in all directions prior to 1990, (b) along transportation corridors, ring roads, and near satellite cities after 1990, and, finally, (c) infilling in southern and western areas (connecting satellite cities to the urban core) in the late 1990s. In the second part of this paper the authors connect patterns of growth with economic, land, and housing market reforms, which are explored in the context of urban planning initiatives. The results reveal that, physically, Chengdu is following trends witnessed in coastal cities of China, although the importance of various land-use drivers differs from that in the east (for example, in the low level of foreign direct investment to date). The information provided by the land-use analysis ultimately helped tailor policies and plans for better land management and reduced fragmentation of new development in the municipality.

Urban Growth Simulation Through Cellular Automata: A Way to Explore the Fractal Nature of Cities

2010 ◽  
pp. 5-23
Author(s):  
Lagarias Apostolos
Keyword(s):  
Fractal Dimension ◽  
Cellular Automata ◽  
Urban Growth ◽  
Spatial Interaction ◽  
Urban Forms ◽  
Analysis And Evaluation ◽  
Urban Patterns ◽  
Ca Model ◽  
Subsequent Section ◽  
Process Of Urbanization

This paper presents a cellular automata (CA) model of urban growth, which simulates the process of urbanization in an hypothetical region. The model contains a set of rules that define the spatial interaction of cells and a set of parameters that can be appropriately fixed in order to explore different urban forms. What we further try to explore is how the different results of the model can be evaluated through fractal analysis and the estimation of the fractal dimension. We assume that the patterns generated are fractal in nature and that their analysis and evaluation should be based on this recognition. A relationship is identified between the parameters of the model and the value of the fractal dimension, corresponding to more compact or fragmented and discontinuous sprawl patterns. In a subsequent section some further issues are examined in order to make the model applicable in the examination of existing urban patterns.

scholarly journals THE PATTERN MAKING OF MEGA-SLUMS ON SEMANTICS IN SLUM URBAN CULTURES

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 247-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmelo Zappulla ◽  
Cristian Suau ◽  
Alenka Fikfak
Keyword(s):  
Urban Informality ◽  
Urban Forms ◽  
Urban Dynamics ◽  
Urban Patterns ◽  
Cell Patterns ◽  
Elementary Construction ◽  
Informal Urbanism ◽  
Urban Pattern ◽  
Taxonomic Tree ◽  
Selection Of

Mega-slums are dynamic laboratories for urban pattern making. Instead of surveying about stable urban symbols represented by formal orders and regular geometries, this study explores the semantic meaning of informal urbanism associated with chaos or randomness and often ignored by critique and conventions. Slums are forms of ‘instant urbanity’ that underscore alternative ways of self-organisation, which include bottom-up strategies, autonomous urban dynamics and spatial activation by remaking. Are slum patterns representing a lack of symbolism or, on contrary, rich, complex, and fluid urban idioms? Urban informality without planning offers immense opportunities to investigate resilient urban forms and languages as complex systems throughout self-ruled structures. Slums are not only the result of urban economic asymmetries and social marginalisation but the elementary construction of survival urbanism, a randomised, agile and transformative pattern system. Slum making is a form of subsistence urbanity that constructs transitory, elusive or spontaneous geometries. They differ in sizes, magnitudes and geometries regarding cultural, climatic and topographic conditions. Slums are unstable systems in continuous transformation. This essay questions the stigmatisation of informalised urban patterns as ‘other’ unclassified codes by analysing a selection of twenty mega-slums in the Americas, Africa and Asia regarding semantics, urban and geometrical meanings. Their urban tissues contain various symbols that activate the every-day production of spaces. They can be visible or invisible; passive or active; and formal or informal. A taxonomic tree of slums was developed to compare and map slum regions to describe similarities and differences among the selected case studies. From this analysis, a profound discourse appeared between informal settlements: tissue-patterns at macro level and cell-patterns in micro urbanisation. Does the macro pattern inform the micro, or vice versa?

scholarly journals Investigation of the Effect of Traffic Noise in Inspection of Urban-Level Noise: A Noise Analysis in Konya - Nalcaci Street

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-112
Author(s):  
Zeynep Ümmühatun Özen ◽  
Mustafa Tosun ◽  
Enes Yasa
Keyword(s):  
Noise Analysis ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Noise Pollution ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Noise Levels ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Limit Values ◽  
Effective Measure ◽  
Urban Level ◽  
Penetration Loss

In this study, the effects of noise, due to the increase in population in urban centers, industrialization and land traffic, are evaluated on human health, indoor life standards, and auditory comfort. For this purpose, noise levels were recorded in Ahmet Hilmi Nalcaci Street, which is one of the densest streets of Konya. The recordings were performed at 14 different stations, three times a day and for 14 days. A "Testo 815" brand device was used for measurement and recording. The results of the measurements were evaluated according to international standards and domestic regulations, taking into account the situations where windows and doors, which constitute integrity and blanks in the envelope of a structure, are open. It was determined that the noise levels recorded at the stations are above the discomfort threshold. Settlement-and architecture-level measures to reduce and control noise are suggested in the study. It was determined that the most effective measure in this context would be isolation in structure envelopes. Types of walls generally used in the buildings around the street, which is the subject of the study, were determined and the sound penetration loss values for these walls were given. The sound penetration loss values were also compared to indoor noise limit values in certain measurement points and excessive noise values were presented in the study. Keywords: Noise pollution, traffic noise control, environmental noise, urban level noise, Testo 815

scholarly journals Water quality assessment along the segments of Bagmati River in Kathmandu valley, Nepal

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Binod Baniya ◽  
Nitesh Khadka ◽  
Shravan Kumar Ghimire ◽  
Hom Baniya ◽  
Shankar Sharma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Quality Assessment ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Kathmandu Valley ◽  
Oil And Grease ◽  
Urban Core ◽  
Sampling Locations ◽  
Bagmati River ◽  
Physical And Chemical

Identification of pollution in the river helps to know the state of the river ecosystem. The study aimed to assess the water quality of the Bagmati River by analyzing the physical and chemical condition and comparing it with national and international standards. The water samples were taken from 10 different sampling sites along the length of the Bagmati River inside Kathmandu Valley, i.e., from Sundarijal to Saibubhanjyang. A total of 30 physical and chemical parameters were examined. The results showed that the pH ranges from 6.0 to 7.5 in different sampling locations. The highest dissolved oxygen (DO) (8.5 mg/L) was found at the upstream while the lowest, i.e., 3.4 mg/L and 3.5 mg/L, was found at the urban core of the valley, i.e., Teku and Thapathali, respectively. The BOD, COD, oil, and grease considerably exceeded the WHO and national generic effluent standard. Most of the heavy metals in the river water were below the range of standard. The concentrations of all pesticides were found below 10 µg/L except heptachlor exoepoxide. The highest concentration of heptachlor exoepoxide (75 µg/L) was found at Balkhu, followed by Thapathali (69 µg/L) and Teku (62 µg/L). The result showed that the middle-urbanized segment, i.e., from Gokarna to Teku, is heavily polluted than the upstream and downstream segments of the river. The results are of great significance for policy formulation and implementation of the ecosystem restoration project of Bagmati River in the Kathmandu valley, Nepal.

scholarly journals A Comparative Analysis of Cities and Towns in the Seoul Metropolitan Region: Integrating landscape Metrics and Census Data

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunhui Sim ◽  
Keith Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Metrics ◽  
Urban Form ◽  
Census Data ◽  
High Growth ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Remotely Sensed Data ◽  
Urban Forms ◽  
Urban Core ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Seoul Metropolitan Region

Urban form is associated with both socio-economic and urban physical properties. This study explores the differences among urban forms in the Seoul Metropolitan Region with a comparison between census-based socioeconomic variables and landscape metrics computed from remotely sensed data. To accomplish this, factor analysis and multi-dimensional scaling were used with the selected variables and metrics. When all of the measures are considered together, four types of cities and towns emerged: 1) exurban-fragmented high growth, 2) exurban-fragmented low growth, 3) compact-extensive urban core and 4) sub-urban compact-high growth. The results indicate that the fusion of knowledge of the physical urban layout and that of socio-economic characteristics is beneficial for a better understanding of urban spatial patterns. However, there remain challenges in delineating each urbanized area and with indicator selection for comparing urban form across cities and towns.

Towards a new vocabulary of urbanisation processes: A comparative approach

Urban Studies ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Schmid ◽  
Ozan Karaman ◽  
Naomi C Hanakata ◽  
Pascal Kallenberger ◽  
Anne Kockelkorn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Urban Theory ◽  
Urban Forms ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
Adequate Understanding ◽  
Urban Configurations

Contemporary processes of urbanisation present major challenges for urban research and theory as urban areas expand and interweave. In this process, urban forms are constantly changing and new urban configurations are frequently evolving. An adequate understanding of urbanisation must derive its empirical and theoretical inspirations from the multitude of urban experiences across the various divides that shape the contemporary world. New concepts and terms are urgently required that would help, both analytically and cartographically, to decipher the differentiated and rapidly mutating landscapes of urbanisation that are being produced today. One of the key procedures to address these challenges is the application of comparative strategies. Based on postcolonial critiques of urban theory and on the epistemologies of planetary urbanisation, this paper introduces and discusses the theoretical and methodological framework of a collaborative comparative study of urbanisation processes in eight large metropolitan territories across the world: Tokyo, Hong Kong/Shenzhen/Dongguan, Kolkata, Istanbul, Lagos, Paris, Mexico City and Los Angeles. In order to approach these large territories, a specific methodological design is applied mainly based on qualitative methods and a newly developed method of mapping. After the presentation of the main lines of our theoretical and methodological approach we discuss some of the new comparative concepts that we developed through this process: popular urbanisation, plotting urbanism, multilayered patchwork urbanisation and the incorporation of urban differences.

From Urban Core to Vacant Terrain

2020 ◽  
pp. 85-108
Author(s):  
Eleanor Harrison-Buck ◽  
Mark D. Willis ◽  
Chester P. Walker ◽  
Satoru Murata ◽  
Marieka Brouwer Burg
Keyword(s):  
Vital Role ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Pine Ridge ◽  
Urban Core ◽  
Transportation Corridor ◽  
Belize River Valley ◽  
Settlement Studies ◽  
Transportation Routes ◽  
East West

In Chapter 5, Eleanor Harrison-Buck and colleagues describe their use of drones to quickly and economically map roughly 7 km2 of plowed fields at the site of Saturday Creek in the middle Belize River Valley. They argue that Saturday Creek was a central node on the landscape from Preclassic to Colonial times, serving as an important crossroads between east-west and north-south transportation routes. The authors consider the dense settlement around the site core of Saturday Creek to be part of a larger monumental landscape and consider activities taking place in the vacant terrain on the fringes of the peri-urban settlement—what they refer to as the “heterotopia” (borrowing from Foucault). These spaces were separate from the settlement, but integral to its operation and included environments such as the pine ridge that served as an important transportation corridor, vast tracts of wetlands with ditched and drained agricultural fields, and broad floodplains with rich alluvial soils, which were likely places of cacao cultivation. The authors conclude that these “heterotopian” spaces in the monumental landscape are important to consider in settlement studies because they played a vital role in maintaining long-term, dense populations in urban and peri-urban centers like Saturday Creek.

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