scholarly journals Revisiting the Concept of Quietness in the Urban Environment—Towards Ecosystems’ Health and Human Well-Being

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 3151
Author(s):  
Aggelos Tsaligopoulos ◽  
Stella Kyvelou ◽  
Nefta-Eleftheria Votsi ◽  
Aimilia Karapostoli ◽  
Chris Economou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Composite Index ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Environmental Noise ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The City

There is plenty of proof that environmental noise is a major pollutant in the urban environment. Several approaches were successfully applied for its calculation, visualization, prediction and mitigation. The goal of all strategy plans regards its reduction and the creation of quietness. This study aims to revisit the concept of quietness in the urban environment and attempts to portray a new understanding of the specific phenomena. “Quietness” as a term retains an ambiguity, and so far, it can be described as the lack of something, meaning the lack of noise that is portrayed by means of intensity. Several studies describe quietness as the combination of perceptual soundscape elements and contextual factors that can be quantified, combined, weighed and used as indicators of healthy soundscapes. In this research, the focus is on setting aside all indicators, either measuring the intensity or contextual ones and use solely quantifiable metrics regarding the acoustic environment, thus introducing a new composite index called the composite urban quietness index (CUQI). After testing the CUQI, in order to verify the results of previous research regarding the identification of quiet Areas in the city of Mytilene (Lesbos Island, Greece), the study concludes that CUQI is efficiently functioning even in this early stage of development.

scholarly journals Regular Monitoring of the Condition of Soils and Green Plants As a Direction for Assessing the Quality of the Urban Environment

2021 ◽  
pp. 5-13
Author(s):  
Anna Tikhonova ◽  
◽  
Anna Kholodenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Quality Index ◽  
Soil Cover ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The West ◽  
Regular Monitoring ◽  
Zone Of Influence ◽  
The City

This paper examines the existing in the Russian Federation approaches to assessing the quality of the urban environment, the concept of the quality index of the urban environment; the analysis of indicators for calculating the quality index of the urban environment and the factors that form the ecological well-being of the urban environment for the local population has been carried out. The territory of the northern industrial hub of Volgograd was chosen as the object of research, in particular, the zone of influence of the ferrous metallurgy enterprise AO “VMK ‘Krasny Oktyabr’”, which has a historically specific location relative to the functional zones of the city. The analysis of the results of monitoring the content of mobile forms of heavy metals in the soil cover, carried out by the method of atomic absorption spectrometry, and the assessment of the general life state of tree green plantations in the territory of the sanitary protection zone of the enterprise based on the enumeration of trees is presented. The identified zone of influence of the enterprise, taking into account the presence of additional sources of pollution of the soil cover and MPC of metals, instead of their background concentrations, extends for 3.5–3.7 km from the border of the enterprise in the form of elongated areas of increased concentrations. Cartographic visualization reveals the presence of two clearly pronounced foci of pollution located to the west of the existing SOC of the enterprise. When assessing the general condition of trees, it is also possible to recognize the worst territory of the test plots located to the west of the operating TWCs in accordance with the directions of the prevailing winds. The data obtained confirm the feasibility of organizing regular monitoring of the soil cover and the state of green forests in the city as one of the directions for assessing the quality of the environment and taking these indicators into account when calculating the quality index of the urban environment.

scholarly journals The well-being of residents in an urban environment: the case of a Russian megapolis

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (35) ◽  
pp. 124-138
Author(s):  
Anna BAGIROVA ◽  
Olga NOTMAN
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Practical Importance ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Urban Restructuring ◽  
Strategic Development ◽  
Current State ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The City

The issue of ensuring the well-being of residents is central to systems of municipal governance. The purpose of our study is to measure the well-being of residents in an urban environment and, based on the obtained results, to identify problem areas that impede the achievement of strategic development goals in the megapolis. We conducted a representative survey of residents in one of the largest industrialized Russian megacities, Ekaterinburg. Based on the survey data, an index of subjective well-being in the urban environment was obtained, which included 4 blocks of assessment indicators: 1) assessment of the current state of the urban environment; 2) assessment of the changes in the urban environment; 3) assessment of personal well-being; and 4) assessment of intentions to live in the city. The study revealed that the most prosperous citizens in the urban environment are: 30-39 years old; married; employed. The problems of low well-being and the absence of youth intent to connect their futures with the city are identified as the main threats to the megapolis’ development. The results of our study are of practical importance for making informed management decisions in urban restructuring planning, urban infrastructure upgrades, and the development of social policy measures aimed at improving the quality of life and well-being of citizens.

scholarly journals Depressed spaces as an instrument for transformation of urban areas

2020 ◽  
Vol 217 ◽  
pp. 02008
Author(s):  
Valentina Kurochkina
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Urban Environment ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Planning System ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
Social Significance ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

Recently, more and more often urban abandoned and depressed spaces that were previously used as industrial facilities or temporarily used are becoming the sphere of architectural and landscape transformations. These territories can occupy a significant part of the city. This paper examines the features of the formation of urban planning systems, as well as the impact of depressed spaces on the quality of the urban environment. This paper studies such depressed spaces as abandoned industrial areas and objects of unfinished construction. The paper assesses the impact of depressed spaces, identifies criteria that reflect the nature, scale and features of their impact on the environment, on the safety and quality of the urban environment, as well as their role in the structure of the city as a whole. The principles and features of the formation of such urban depressed spaces, as well as the patterns of their development are revealed. The features of the formation of open public space of urban systems, as well as ways of transforming depressed spaces, aimed at increasing their social significance, integrating them into the general urban development, and improving the ecological and social situation are considered. The paper concludes that the problem of restoration of depressed spaces is very important and urgent today. The creation of a continuous urban tissue is impossible without the reorganization of such spaces, as well as the creation of an integral compositional, functional and communication urban planning system.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF LANDSCAPE COMPONENT IN THE CREATION OF «HUMAN SCALE» URBAN ENVIRONMENT

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 284-288
Author(s):  
Irina Lukina ◽  
Angelina Selivanova ◽  
B. Temirsultanova
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Main Criterion ◽  
Visual Contact ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Human Scale ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Systematic Understanding ◽  
The One ◽  
The City

Excessive increase in the size of the main urban development objects on the one hand, and the creation of abstract volumes of the urban environment that do not have any familiar details comparable to the size of a person on the other hand, creates an architecture completely divorced from people and hostile to them. Therefore, there was a need to justify the use of landscape components to create a medium-scale human environment. The natural environment is that component of the spatial planning structure of the city, which, if properly placed, will absorb the negative psychological effect of the perception of huge undifferentiated abstract arrays of buildings in a re-compacted urban environment. The main criterion for the psychological comfort of a city dweller is the visual contact of a person in the house with the street, the ability to see the details and, most importantly, understand what they are in relation to the person. Along with small architectural forms, such elements will be trees, shrubs, benches, information boards, which have constant and understandable ergonomic dimensions. This is what is always referred to in the term anthropocentrism in architecture. The article proposes to clarify the concept of “human scale” on the basis of a systematic understanding of scale in architecture, and then this category of scale is considered not as a compositional means of aesthetic expressiveness of the urban environment, but as a factor in biological safety and physical survival of a person in conditions of total urbanization.

scholarly journals Urban water bodies as the basis for functioning of public spaces

2020 ◽  
Vol 217 ◽  
pp. 02005
Author(s):  
Valentina Kurochkina
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Urban Environment ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Water Bodies ◽  
High Rate ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

Recently, housing construction in cities has been carried out at a high rate. Increasingly, urban abandoned and flooded depressive spaces near water bodies (often rivers), which were previously used as industrial facilities or temporarily used, are becoming the sphere of architectural and landscape transformations. The restoration of such territories helps to improve the quality of urban space and improve its ecological properties. Correct development of territories near rivers and various water bodies has a great health-improving effect on the urban environment, improves its natural and climatic conditions. In addition, social and economic factors play an important role in this process, since such transformed territories and territories adjacent to them significantly increase investment attractiveness. This paper examines modern approaches to the development of urban public spaces, based on the formation of architectural environments that ensure the relationship of urban development with water bodies and adjacent territories. The paper notes that water bodies are not only an important component of the natural-ecological framework, but are also the basis for the framework of urban-planning natural-technogenic systems as a whole. And the creation of a continuous urban fabric is impossible without the organization of a ‘water’ line of development, provision of compositional, functional and communication interconnection of open urban and water spaces, which is actively being introduced today in architectural and urban planning practice. The paper examines the role of water bodies in the ecological system of the city, as well as in its structure as a whole. The aim of the study is to identify the features of the formation of a public urban space, to determine the patterns of its development, to identify criteria that reflect the nature, scale and features of the impact of urbanization on a water body. Some principles of revitalization of coastal areas, as well as the creation of a system of publicly accessible, compositionally expressive spaces are considered. The principles of space transformation aimed at the formation of a holistic image of the city, as well as the impact of such a spatial arrangement of urban and water bodies on the safety and quality of the urban environment are considered.

Greening Technology Organization of Multi-Storey Buildings, in the Reconstruction of Architectural and Planning Solutions with the Use of Modern Building Materials

2018 ◽  
Vol 931 ◽  
pp. 883-888 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svetlana B. Yazyeva ◽  
Luiza A. Seferyan ◽  
Ludmila A. Oparina ◽  
Alina Yu. Golubeva
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Housing Environment ◽  
Green Areas ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The City ◽  
Modern Building

The article reveals the problem of green areas of the urban environment, which is becoming one of the most topical in Russian cities. The creation of comfortable housing is inextricably linked to the urban situation, the degree of urbanization of the living environment. With the increase in the size of cities, changes in the environmental situation the nature of the connection "housing – environment" is modifying. Activities for the improvement of areas, the organization of environmentally comfortable areas around the houses (the creation of parks, playgrounds in the yard, etc.) and the provision of standards of gardening in the absence of conditions for the usual long-term gardening can be carried out using mobile landscaping. The use of green recreational space in the city improvement allows solving the problem of green areas shortage, and will have a positive impact on the appearance of the city.

The Changing Face of Out-of-home Care in Australia – Developing Policy and Practice for the 21st Century

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 230-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meredith Kiraly ◽  
Cathy Humphreys
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Kinship Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Data Systems ◽  
Care Policy ◽  
Progressive Reduction ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Out Of Home Care ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Protective Care

This Opinion Piece traces the rise of statutory kinship care in Australia from the progressive reduction of residential care and the struggle to recruit sufficient foster carers to meet demand for protective care. It outlines identified benefits of kinship care for children and flags concern about the early stage of development of kinship care policy, programs and data systems. It is argued that there are significant risks for children's safety and well-being in failing to assess carers thoroughly and to provide equitable case management and support (both financial and non-financial) to children in kinship care as in foster care.

Grocery Cooperatives as Governing Institutions in Neighborhood Commercial Corridors

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 558-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Zitcer ◽  
Richardson Dilworth
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Large Impact ◽  
Critical Juncture ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Collective Goods ◽  
Anchor Institution ◽  
Governing Institutions ◽  
The City

We explore cooperatives’ potential to play governing roles in neighborhood commercial corridors (NCCs) by examining one grocery cooperative in Philadelphia that has had stores on three NCCs in the city. We distinguish between an anchor institution role, where one organization provides collective goods for the corridor, and governance, where multiple corridor stakeholders collectively provide goods. We conclude that a cooperative will more likely play a governance role if it enters an NCC at a point when there are no other potential corridor-governing organizations, and when the NCC itself is at an early stage of development or redevelopment. What this suggests more generally about NCCs is that the organizations present at their founding or at a critical juncture have a large impact on their future developmental trajectories. We argue further that a cooperative is more likely to play a governance role when it was created by neighborhood stakeholders and it thus reflects the distinct social norms of the neighborhood.

scholarly journals TREE SHAPING IN VISUAL COMMUNICATION OF URBAN ARCHITECTURE

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-62
Author(s):  
O. O. Smolina
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Visual Communication ◽  
Urban Architecture ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Environmental Guidelines ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Design Objects ◽  
Negative Factors ◽  
The City ◽  
Practical Implications

The aim of this work is to identify the existing design objects of tree shaping representing visual communication of the city and a feasibility of its use in the urban environment. Research findings: The current problems of cities include degradation of green spaces, low level of environmental improvement and landscape organization and insufficient visual communication elements that contribute to the creation of appropriate urban environment. To reduce the negative factors of the anthropogenic environment, tree shaping is proposed to improve the urban architecture and development. Tree shaping is hardy-shrub species resistant (adaptive) to the humane correction; their trunks and branches represent architectural forms. Depending on the arrangement, tree shaping can be attributed to the elements of open and closed spaces of different functional purposes. This paper discusses tree shaping as visual communication elements of the city, such as street advertising and information boards, advertising towers, banners, environmental guidelines, etc. Tree shaping can be attributed to wellestablished scientific tradition in western countries, but in Russia it is still underdeveloped. Approach: Comparative analysis of tree shaping design solutions. Practical implications: Tree shaping as the urban visual communication contributes to the creation of eco-friendly, aesthetical and informative environment of the city. The obtained results can be used in research works devoted to tree shaping. Originality/value: This research proposes the use of tree shaping objects as visual communication of the city.

scholarly journals LIFE STRATEGIES OF MONOTOWN RESIDENTS: ATTRACTIVENESS OF RESIDENCE AND MIGRATION ATTITUDES

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-41
Author(s):  
Н. Мосиенко ◽  
N. Mosienko ◽  
А. Черепанова ◽  
A. Cherepanova
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Life Strategies ◽  
Migration Patterns ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
And Migration ◽  
The One ◽  
The City

<p>Residents of monotowns face a specific range of problems affecting their social well-being. The purpose of the study was to identify and describe the types of life strategies of monotown residents with a focus on the place of residence and the location of the attractiveness of the urban environment and migration attitudes in them. The study employed a case-study strategy of an in-depth interview with residents of Sayansk, a monotown that displays risks of socio-economic deterioration. To describe the context, the authors used statistical data on the population and migration of the Sayansk population, as well as historical chronicle of the town. Based on two indications (perception of the quality of the urban environment and the migration attitudes), the authors have constructed a typology of life strategies and described the related characteristics of inhabitants. The study shows that the life strategies of the inhabitants reveal, on the one hand, a spectrum of migration patterns (depending on the characteristics of the inhabitants), and, on the other hand, various degrees of satisfaction with the quality of the urban environment, which makes the city attractive or unattractive in the eyes of the population.</p>

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