scholarly journals Assessment and reform of greywater reuse policies and practice: a case study from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Water Policy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 376-396
Author(s):  
Abdallah Shanableh ◽  
Mohamad Ali Khalil ◽  
Mohamed Abdallah ◽  
Noora Darwish ◽  
Adel Tayara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Water Use ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Water Savings ◽  
The City ◽  
New Buildings ◽  
Greywater Reuse ◽  
Wastewater Generation

Abstract This article presents an assessment of one of the earliest greywater reuse (GWR) experiences in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE). In 2003, the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA) imposed a compulsory GWR program on various categories of new buildings in the city. However, implementation of the program faced significant resistance and setbacks and remained limited to about 200 buildings, representing less than 2% water savings. In the analysis presented in this study, the need for GWR was assessed through analyzing SEWA's water supply and demand projections, conducting a 12-month water use survey of 285,000 Sharjah residents from about 140 nationalities, and identifying the areas in the city with intense water use. In addition, analysis and reforms of the various aspects of SEWA's GWR reuse policies and practice were presented and discussed. Reforming the policy to increase GWR to about 10% water savings can lead to significant reductions in desalinated water consumption and wastewater generation and consequently significant reductions in desalination cost (35 million USD/y), energy consumption (225,840 MWh/year) and CO2 emissions (120 ton/year). The case study presented in the article can serve as a reference to guide GWR policies and practice, especially for local authorities in developing countries.

scholarly journals Paradigm Shift of New Building in Old Urban Districts: Case Study of Bangkok Chinatown Workshop

2021 ◽  
Vol 236 ◽  
pp. 05059
Author(s):  
Xian Li ◽  
Eakachat Joneurairatana ◽  
Veerawat Sirivesmas
Keyword(s):  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Building Construction ◽  
Symbiotic Relationship ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
New Era ◽  
Process Of Urbanization ◽  
Combination Mode ◽  
The City ◽  
New Buildings

Architects and designers realize that new buildings cannot completely replace old buildings in the process of urbanization in the world. To establish a method of the new building and the old building coexist and to create the new paradigm of the new building construction in the old district is the responsibility faced by the contemporary architects. This paper first analyzes the old building renovation projects in Berlin and Paris in the 1980s and puts forward the symbiotic relationship between the old and the new buildings in the new era, thus obtaining the research objectives, trying to redefine new buildings and old districts, and creating the new paradigm of contemporary building construction in old districts. Using workshop as an exploration method, this paper conducts data research and sampling analyses on the Chinatown area in Bangkok, and explores the combination mode and paradigm transformation of new buildings and old districts in the city, aiming to seek solutions utilizing art exploration.

scholarly journals Human-Water Dynamics and their Role for Seasonal Water Scarcity – a Case Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Nicolaidis Lindqvist ◽  
Rickard Fornell ◽  
Thomas Prade ◽  
Linda Tufvesson ◽  
Sammar Khalil ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Current Approach ◽  
Water Dynamics ◽  
Actual State ◽  
Increasing Demand

AbstractEnsuring sustainable management and an adequate supply of freshwater resources is a growing challenge around the world. Even in historically water abundant regions climate change together with population growth and economic development are processes that are expected to contribute to an increase in permanent and seasonal water scarcity in the coming decades. Previous studies have shown how policies to address water scarcity often fail to deliver lasting improvements because they do not account for how these processes influence, and are influenced by, human-water interactions shaping water supply and demand. Despite significant progress in recent years, place-specific understanding of the mechanisms behind human-water feedbacks remain limited, particularly in historically water abundant regions. To this end, we here present a Swedish case study where we, by use of a qualitative system dynamics approach, explore how human-water interactions have contributed to seasonal water scarcity at the local-to-regional scale. Our results suggest that the current approach to address water scarcity by inter-basin water transports contributes to increasing demand by creating a gap between the perceived and actual state of water resources among consumers. This has resulted in escalating water use and put the region in a state of systemic lock-in where demand-regulating policies are mitigated by increases in water use enabled by water transports. We discuss a combination of information and economic policy instruments to combat water scarcity, and we propose the use of quantitative simulation methods to further assess these strategies in future studies.

scholarly journals Reduction of Potable Water Consumption and Sewage Generation on a City Scale: A Case Study in Brazil

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 2351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cureau ◽  
Ghisi
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Potable Water ◽  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Water Savings ◽  
The Public ◽  
Water Demands ◽  
Harvesting Systems ◽  
The City ◽  
Greywater Reuse

This article aims to estimate the reduction of potable water consumption and sewage generation in the city of Joinville, southern Brazil. Four strategies were considered to promote potable water savings: replacement of conventional toilets with dual-flush ones, greywater reuse, rainwater harvesting, and the combination of these three strategies. Residential, public, and commercial sectors were assessed. The potential for potable water savings ranged from 1.7% to 50.5%, and the potential for sewage generation reduction ranged from 2.1% to 52.1%. The single-family residential sector was the most representative for water savings and sewage generation reduction. The public sector would be the least contributor to such reductions. It was found that in the city of Joinville, for low non-potable water demands, greywater reuse was the most viable strategy to save water. When non-potable demand is high and there is a large catchment area, it is recommended to install rainwater harvesting systems. It was concluded that there is a high potential for potable water savings and reduction of sewage generation if measures were adopted in Joinville, but it is necessary to evaluate which strategy is the most appropriate for each building.

scholarly journals Mapping and assessing ecosystem services to support urban planning: A case study on brownfield regeneration in Trento, Italy

One Ecosystem ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. e25477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Cortinovis ◽  
Davide Geneletti
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Planning Decisions ◽  
Stakeholder Perspectives ◽  
Other Information ◽  
Planning Processes ◽  
Multi Criteria Analysis ◽  
The City

This study explores the use of ecosystem service (ES) knowledge to support urban planning in the assessment of future scenarios. The case study concerns the prioritszation of brownfield regeneration interventions in the city of Trento (Italy). Alternative planning scenarios considering the conversion of existing brownfields into new urban parks are assessed and compared. The assessment focuses on two ES of critical importance for the city, namely microclimate regulation and nature-based recreation. The benefits of the different scenarios are quantified based on the number of expected beneficiaries broken down into different vulnerability classes and then compared through a multi-criteria analysis. Three combinations of criteria and weights reflect different planning objectives and related decision-makers’ orientations about what ES and beneficiary groups should be prioritised. The application demonstrates the potential for ES assessments to support urban planning processes in the specific phase of assessment and selection of alternatives, by meeting the requirements in terms of both sensitivity to small-scale changes in land uses or management activities and capacity to capture simultaneous variations in supply and demand of multiple ES. Being coherent with socially-orientated planning objectives, indicators based on ES demand and beneficiaries can effectively convey information about ES in planning decisions. Multi-criteria analysis is an effective way to integrate multiple ES assessments with other information about costs and benefits of planning scenarios, exploring diverse stakeholder perspectives and balancing competing objectives in a rational and transparent way.

scholarly journals Analyzing Public Transportation Plans to Addressing Traffic Congestions in Developing Countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-57
Author(s):  
Hussaen Ali Hasan Kahachi
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Public Transport ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Transport Services ◽  
Greater Cairo ◽  
The City ◽  
Privately Owned

Traffic congestions is one of the main problems for many cities especially in newly urbanizing countries worldwide. The issue of traffic congestions has major impact not only on the planning of the city, but also on many aspects such as residence overall well-being. Governments often try to address this issue through a number of initiatives, most important of which is promoting public transport in order to reduce the dependency on private cars in the city. This research analyzed state-led public transportation initiatives impact on addressing traffic congestion in developing countries through a case study of the Greater Cairo Region in Egypt. The research specifically focused on two state-led public transportation programs, namely the Great Cairo Transport Authority (CTA) program to improve the existing public transport services in GCR and the GCR underground metro program during the 1990s to early 2010s. The research found that although these programs were successful in limiting the increase of privately owned cars and taxies in GCR, they did not decrease traffic congestions due to a number of issues including malpractice, political and administrative corruption, and rapid population growth and increased population densities that almost doubled in the period from early 1990s to early 2010s.

scholarly journals Masdar City: A Study of Energy, Infrastructure, and Technological Hope Hope

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (Spring 2021) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron D'Eramo
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
New Energy ◽  
Major Supplier ◽  
Zero Carbon ◽  
Sustainable System ◽  
Alternative Sources ◽  
The City

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been a major supplier of fossil fuel for the world economy for decades, which has allowed the country to thrive economically. But global concerns over ecological destruction and climate change is prompting the UAE’s leaders to pursue alternative sources of energy. From this ecological fear, Masdar City was born, an ambitious project that hopes to create the world’s first “zero-carbon” emission city. The project’s goal is to utilize energy in a socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable system without sacrificing modern lifestyles. This case study will utilize theory on energy and infrastructures to analyze the implications of the project’s innovations, as well as to explore the rising intersection of neoliberalism and environmentalism to understand how a project like Masdar came to be. In 2016, ten years after its initial construction, the city still had not achieved net zero-carbon emissions, but a mere 50%. The project’s ambitions included the creation of a new energy-based currency to account for consumption, and the integration of a massive data vault that stores all consumption of energy.What is found is a complex and highly integrated information system that could lead to the selling of information and the corporate/governmental manipulation of data for control over populations.

Urbanization and Informal Settlement Challenges: Case Study Tehran Metropolitan City

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-82
Author(s):  
Haniyeh Razavivand Fard
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Urban Structure ◽  
Population Movements ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
Master Plans ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
The City

Increase in the population rate and the extent of urbanization in the last two centuries resulted in the concentration of the population around the growth poles. A large portion of this population lives in the peripheries of the large cities in informal settlements under inappropriate situations specifically in developing countries. Iran is one the countries that has severely experienced this problem since 1930s. Iranian cities are some of the biggest cities of Middle East to have been developed unequally, because of various factors including in-migration, unevenly distribution of resources, insufficient state policies and the local authorities haven't been successful on tackling the problem yet. The overconcentration of population in some major cities of the country is the result of centralization of main industrial and economic poles around these centers which leads to the immigration of unemployed people to these cities. Thus, this issue has a great impact on the unequal expansion of major cities. Tehran, as the largest and the most urbanized city of the country, absorb a large percentage of national resources and magnetizes many people with various socio-economic background. However, the polarized system of the city offers chances for those who can adjust themselves to the system, while the others that cannot afford living in the city boundaries, reside in the city fringes in substandard living conditions. Therefore, in Iran the inequalities between urban and rural, gradually has altered to inequalities within cities and the trend is more significant in some major cities including Tehran, Mashhad, Shiraz, Tabriz, Isfahan and many other cities. Furthermore, it is more challenging in the case of Tehran, when its population during 1920s and 1970s increased to thirteen times by the pace of rapid development, centralization and capital flow. So, the city has expanded around its periphery specifically towards south and west. This process accelerated between 1970s and 2000s by implementing new legislation and master plans, and as a result, Tehran converted to Tehran Metropolis Region which is multi-center comprised of the central core which is the Tehran city, main access roads and other cores around which are the centers of residential and work concentration, reliant on the main city economically. This kind of urban sprawl is has accompanied with break in urban structure and fading urban sustainability as well as population movements and formation of spontaneous settlements which is the pressuring problem in cities of newly developing countries.

scholarly journals Mapping the city-scale supply and demand of ecosystem flood regulation services—A case study in Shanghai

2019 ◽  
Vol 106 ◽  
pp. 105544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ju Shen ◽  
Shiqiang Du ◽  
Qingxu Huang ◽  
Jie Yin ◽  
Min Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Regulation Services ◽  
Flood Regulation ◽  
The City
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