scholarly journals Impact of Population Density on PM2.5 Concentrations: A Case Study in Shanghai, China

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuaishuai Han ◽  
Bindong Sun
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Spatial Econometric ◽  
Environment Variables ◽  
Administrative Unit ◽  
Road Intersections ◽  
Design Diversity

We examine the effects of the urban built environment on PM2.5 (fine particulate matter with diameters equal or smaller than 2.5 μm) concentrations by using an improved region-wide database, a spatial econometric model, and five built environment attributes: Density, design, diversity, distance to transit, and destination accessibility (the 5Ds). Our study uses Shanghai as a relevant case study and focuses on the role of density at the jiedao scale, the smallest administrative unit in China. The results suggest that population density is positively associated with PM2.5 concentrations, pointing to pollution centralization and congestion effects dominating the mitigating effects of mode-shifting associated with density. Other built environment variables, such as the proportion of road intersections, degree of mixed land use, and density of bus stops, are all positively associated with PM2.5 concentrations while distance to nearest primary or sub-center is negatively associated. Regional heterogeneity shows that suburban jiedao have lower PM2.5 concentrations when a subway station is present.

The role of facilities management in green retrofit of existing buildings in the United Arab Emirates

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Mawed ◽  
Vinay Tilani ◽  
Karima Hamani
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Facilities Management ◽  
Existing Buildings ◽  
Actual Case ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Green retrofitting is acknowledged as an essential strategy toward achieving long-term sustainability in the built environment. To implement this strategy successfully, the role of facility managers cannot be ignored. The purpose of this paper is to investigate present practices that are used in managing the existing facilities, to highlight the elements that govern the process of green retrofitting, and discuss the efforts and contribution of facility managers in enhancing the environmental performance of the existing facilities stock in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach This study suggests that an adequate level of awareness of the benefits of green retrofit amongst owners and decision-makers is mostly dependent on facilities management (FM) professionals, who must establish effective communication channel with senior management. FM professionals in the UAE are well equipped and competent in greening existing buildings and can simultaneously lead a building to the path of achieving green building certification. Findings To examine the role of FM in a green retrofit and its current status in the UAE built environment, a two-step qualitative method was adopted. The study started by conducting semi-structured interviews with FM professionals and then assessing the insights obtained from the interviews against an actual case study of a LEED Existing Building certified facility. Research limitations/implications Interviews were limited to FM professionals in the private sector and the results from one case study should be considered cautiously. Originality/value This paper emphasizes the primordial role of FM professionals in promoting green retrofit in the UAE.

Aging, contested meanings, and the built environment

1994 ◽  
Vol 26 (11) ◽  
pp. 1787-1802 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Laws
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Political Analysis ◽  
Aging Populations ◽  
Contested Meanings

Recognition that old age is a socially defined category challenges conventional analyses of the geography of aging. In this paper I call for a political analysis of the ways in which the built environment is implicated in the reproduction of, and challenges to, labels associated with aging populations and thus with the construction of elderly identities. The role of struggles around the built environment in changing definitions of old age is illustrated with a case study from Toronto.

scholarly journals Exploring the Influence of Built Environment on Car Ownership and Use with a Spatial Multilevel Model: A Case Study of Changchun, China

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 1868 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoquan Wang ◽  
Chunfu Shao ◽  
Chaoying Yin ◽  
Chengxiang Zhuge
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Spatial Autocorrelation ◽  
Travel Behavior ◽  
Second Step ◽  
Car Ownership ◽  
Spatial Effects ◽  
Cascading Effects ◽  
Step Model

Although the impacts of built environment on car ownership and use have been extensively studied, limited evidence has been offered for the role of spatial effects in influencing the interaction between built environment and travel behavior. Ignoring the spatial effects may lead to misunderstanding the role of the built environment and providing inconsistent transportation policies. In response to this, we try to employ a two-step modeling approach to investigate the impacts of built environment on car ownership and use by combining multilevel Bayesian model and conditional autocorrelation (CAR) model to control for spatial autocorrelation. In the two-step model, the predicting car ownership status in the first-step model is used as a mediating variable in the second-step car use model. Taking Changchun as a case study, this paper identifies the presence of spatial effects in influencing the effects of built environment on car ownership and use. Meanwhile, the direct and cascading effects of built environment on car ownership and use are revealed. The results show that the spatial autocorrelation exists in influencing the interaction between built environment and car dependency. The results suggest that it is necessary for urban planners to pay attention to the spatial effects and make targeted policy according to local land use characteristics.

scholarly journals Foreword

2016 ◽  
pp. 3-4
Author(s):  
Karl Otto Ellefsen
Keyword(s):  
Education Research ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Architectural Education ◽  
General Assembly

I welcome you to the 2016 EAAE Conference in Delft. We thank TU Delft, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment for hosting the 2016 Conference. Our yearly events were for many years termed “meetings of heads of schools” and were directed by ENHSA in sunny and Mediterranean, Chania, Greece. In Milano in 2015 we initiated a new series of Conferences focusing on architectural education, research in the field of architecture, and the role of the institutions educating architects. The meetings also include reports from the EAAE Academies, the dissemination from different projects, and the EAAE General Assembly. This year we are doing a case study. The title “For example Delft” points to a discussion of different institutional profiles.

scholarly journals Understanding walkable areas: applicability and analysis of a walkability index in a Brazilian city

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Cristina Nishikawa Motomura ◽  
Larissa Casaril da Fontoura ◽  
Milena Kanashiro
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Housing Projects ◽  
Floor Area Ratio ◽  
Walkability Index ◽  
Environment Variables ◽  
Land Use Mix ◽  
Intersection Density

Abstract Considering the growing of chronic non-communicable diseases worldwide, many studies have pointed out the role of the built environment as a support for walking. These studies are being applied in metropolitan and county regions or in specific areas of larger citiesof developed countries. Nevertheless, there is noevidences of the application of the walkability index in an entire Brazilian city. The main objective of this study is to understand walkable areas in a Brazilian medium sized city such as Cambé - PR, based on the walkability variables defined by Frank et al. (2010). The index systematizes four built environment variables: net residential density, retail floor area ratio, intersection density and land use mix. The results show that higher walkability areas are located in downtown and in three areas in the outskirts of Cambé, which were formerly designed to attend social housing projects. The transformations of land use mix and the urban layout characteristics of these areas improved the walkability level. This paper contributes to enlighten the characteristics of walkable areas and highlights a different outcome when considering a city of a developing country such as Brazil.

scholarly journals DISASTER RESILIENT BUILT ENVIRONMENT: ROLE OF LIFELONG LEARNING AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohan Siriwardena ◽  
Chamindi Malalgoda ◽  
Menaha Thayaparan ◽  
Dilanthi Amaratunga ◽  
Kaushal Keraminiyage
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
Disaster Management ◽  
Management Education ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Managerial Innovation ◽  
Peculiar Nature

Disasters cause considerable damage around the world every year. The built environment is significantly affected by disasters. Whilst the built environment is expected to withstand such occurrences, the construction industry is expected to play a pivotal role in reconstruction of damaged property and infrastructure. Such responses call for technological and managerial innovation. Therefore it is important that construction professionals receive continuous skill development to respond to disaster situations in order to build a disaster resilient built environment. Due to the complexities involved in and due to peculiar nature of disaster situations, lifelong learning is considered as an appropriate way of ensuring continuous education to the various stakeholders of disaster management. The paper reports preliminary findings from a European Commission funded research project aimed at modernising the higher education institutes to support lifelong learning in the built environment. The paper reports the key findings from the literature review and case study on disaster management, emphasising the role of lifelong learning in disaster management education. Empirical data collected as part of the workshop suggest that providing disaster management education as a degree programme is ineffective due to the complexity and multi-disciplinary nature of the subject. Further, the lack of involvement with the industry and the lack of research and development activities on disaster management by built environment professionals act as hindrance to effective disaster management education. In addressing the shortcomings on the existing approaches of disaster management education, this paper concludes that lifelong learning as the most appropriate approach to educate built environment professional in the context of disaster management.

scholarly journals The role of quantity surveyors in public–private partnerships in South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoffie Cruywagen ◽  
Josephine Llale
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
South African ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Public Private Partnerships ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Research Show

Background: Quantity surveyors play an important role in providing cost and contractual advice in the built environment. This article seeks to investigate the current extent of their involvement in public–private partnerships (PPPs) in South Africa.Aim: The study intends to establish factors that influence quantity surveyors’ participation in PPPs.Methodology: A mixed-methods research approach was followed by firstly conducting a survey amongst South African quantity surveyors in order to determine their level of participation in PPPs. For triangulation purposes, a case study was also conducted.Results: The results of the research show that, although quantity surveyors have the corresponding skills and competencies required in a PPP project, their current involvement in PPPs in South Africa is limited and that there is a greater role they can play in future.Conclusion: Quantity surveyors are uniquely positioned to play a bigger role in the implementation of PPPs in South Africa.

scholarly journals Relationships Between the Built Environment and Walking and Weight Status Among Older Women in Three U.S. States

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip J. Troped ◽  
Heather A. Starnes ◽  
Robin C. Puett ◽  
Kosuke Tamura ◽  
Ellen K. Cromley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Population Density ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Weight Status ◽  
Environment Variables ◽  
Physical Activity Recommendations ◽  
Intersection Density ◽  
Physical Activity Facilities ◽  
Activity Recommendations

There are few studies of built environment associations with physical activity and weight status among older women in large geographic areas that use individual residential buffers to define environmental exposures. Among 23,434 women (70.0 ± 6.9 yr; range = 57–85) in 3 states, relationships between objective built environment variables and meeting physical activity recommendations via walking and weight status were examined. Differences in associations by population density and state were explored in stratified models. Population density (odds ratio [OR] =1.04 [1.02, 1.07]), intersection density (ORs = 1.18–1.28), and facility density (ORs = 1.01–1.53) were positively associated with walking. Density of physical activity facilities was inversely associated with overweight/obesity (OR = 0.69 [0.49, 0.96]). The strongest associations between facility density variables and both outcomes were found among women from higher population density areas. There was no clear pattern of differences in associations across states. Among older women, relationships between accessible facilities and walking may be most important in more densely populated settings.

scholarly journals On the role of turf species as refuge in disturbed environments: A case study with polychaetes (Annelida: Polychaeta) in SW Mediterranean Sea

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 229 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. MELERO ◽  
S. LÓPEZ-VELASCO ◽  
E. LÓPEZ
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Anthropogenic Disturbance ◽  
Field Survey ◽  
Multivariate Analyses ◽  
Coralline Algae ◽  
Disturbed Condition ◽  
Turf Algae ◽  
Filter Feeders

During the summer of 2014, a field survey was conducted in several littoral rocky sites on the southeastern coast of Spain. In this area, dense canopies of Cystoseira mediterranea characterize undisturbed locations and cover most of the available infralittoral fringe. Turfs composed mainly of the coralline algae Ellisolandia elongata replace the canopy in locations where some kind of anthropogenic disturbance has occurred. The main goal of this study was to compare the polychaete fauna dwelling within the two types of phytal substratum, and several univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to detect significant differences between the two assemblages. The analyses showed that the assemblage inhabiting E. elongata was characterized by a higher population density of polychaetes and was dominated by herbivores and filter-feeders, especially Fabricia stellaris and Amphiglena mediterranea. Polychaetes were less abundant in pristine sites covered by Cystoseira mediterranea, although a-diversity was slightly higher. This assemblage was characterized by a predominance of omnivores followed by herbivores, and by high relative abundances of Syllis prolifera and Salvatoria clavata. However, none of the detected differences was statistically significant and site to site comparison showed that differences between locations with the same phytal cover were similarly deep. Our data point out that the assemblage inhabiting turf algae in the region studied is not substantially different to that found in pristine areas and that this type of phytal covering can act as effective refuge for polychaetes under moderately disturbed condition.  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document