On the Use of Satellite Imagery and GIS Tools to Detect and Characterize the Urbanization around Heritage Sites: The Case Studies of the Catacombs of Mustafa Kamel in Alexandria, Egypt and the Aragonese Castle in Baia, Italy

The sustainable development of urban growth is a mandatory challenge to be addressed, as also highlighted in the Agenda 2030, and this requires suitable and sustainable planning strategies, as well as systematic and timely monitoring of urban expansion and its effects. In this context, satellite data (today also available free of charge) can provide both (i) historical time-series datasets, and (ii) timely updated information related to the current urban spatial structure and city edges, as well as parameters to assess urban features and their statistical characterization to better understand and manage the phenomenon. Nevertheless, it is important to highlight that the identification and mapping of urban areas is still today a complex challenge, due to the heterogeneities of materials, complexity of the features, etc. Our approach, herein adopted, addresses the challenges in using heterogeneous data from multiple data sources for change detection analysis to improve knowledge and monitoring of landscape over time with a specific focus on urban sprawl and land-use change around cultural properties and archaeological areas. Two significant test cases were selected: (i) one in Egypt, the Catacombs of Mustafa Kamel in Alexandria, and (ii) one in Italy, the Aragonese Castle in Baia–Naples. For both study areas, the changes in urban layers were identified over time from satellite data and investigated using spatial analytic tools to statistically characterize them. The results of this study showed that (i) the increase in urban areas is the main phenomenon around both heritage areas, (ii) this increase is sharper in developing countries (e.g., Egypt) than developed countries (e.g., Italy), (iii) the methodology herein adopted is suitable for both big and small urban changes as observed around the Catacombs of Mustafa Kamel and the Aragonese Castle.

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Upaya Mendorong Kolaborasi menuju Pengembangan Struktur Ruang Bernuansa Knowledge Based di Era Disrupsi

Jurnal Tataloka ◽

10.14710/tataloka.22.4.643-662 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (4) ◽

pp. 643-662

Author(s):

Ridwan Sutriadi ◽

Ahmad Zaini Miftah

Keyword(s):

Spatial Structure ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Urban Expansion ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Urban Spatial Structure ◽

Spatial Structures ◽

Literature Study ◽

Mutual Cooperation ◽

Knowledge Based ◽

The 1960S

This paper explores the development of multi centre urban spatial structures, as the development of three classical models, namely monocentric, sectoral, and multiple nuclei. By implementing a literature study method on studies of the global development of urban spatial structures which began from the 1960s until the 2000s era, lessons learned for Indonesia can be taken in promoting sustainable urban spatial structure. The thought of developing urban spatial structure starts from the awareness of urban expansion beyond its administrative boundaries in the 1960s (urban field), the importance of the systemic context in the development of urban spatial structures (1970s), the systemic concept must be supported by the collaboration of mutual cooperation among city’s functions in the concept of inter-city networks (1980s), spatial planning integration between core cities and suburbs which emerge urban areas (1990s). In 2000s era, the development of polycentric could be located in one urban area or among urban areas, also highly connected with innovation as a reflection of the use of knowledge for urban centers (2010s era). During the decades, it can be concluded that multi city centers lead to the enrichment of urban function in the sense of public interest and common concern, especially symbolizes continuing knowledge based innovation which could interfere market and existing values (disruption era), so collaboration among city centers is needed to perform a sustainable synergic urban spatial structure.

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Spatial-Temporal Land Use and Land Cover Changes in Urban Areas Using Remote Sensing Images and GIS Analysis: The Case Study of Opole, Poland

Geosciences ◽

10.3390/geosciences11080312 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 312

Author(s):

Barbara Wiatkowska ◽

Janusz Słodczyk ◽

Aleksandra Stokowska

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Land Use ◽

Land Cover ◽

Satellite Imagery ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Urban Expansion ◽

Landsat 8 ◽

Rate Of Increase ◽

Management Procedures

Urban expansion is a dynamic and complex phenomenon, often involving adverse changes in land use and land cover (LULC). This paper uses satellite imagery from Landsat-5 TM, Landsat-8 OLI, Sentinel-2 MSI, and GIS technology to analyse LULC changes in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. The research was carried out in Opole, the capital of the Opole Agglomeration (south-western Poland). Maps produced from supervised spectral classification of remote sensing data revealed that in 20 years, built-up areas have increased about 40%, mainly at the expense of agricultural land. Detection of changes in the spatial pattern of LULC showed that the highest average rate of increase in built-up areas occurred in the zone 3–6 km (11.7%) and above 6 km (10.4%) from the centre of Opole. The analysis of the increase of built-up land in relation to the decreasing population (SDG 11.3.1) has confirmed the ongoing process of demographic suburbanisation. The paper shows that satellite imagery and GIS can be a valuable tool for local authorities and planners to monitor the scale of urbanisation processes for the purpose of adapting space management procedures to the changing environment.

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A multiscale assessment of Red-tailed Hawk reproductive success relative to urban density and habitat type

Journal of Urban Ecology ◽

10.1093/jue/juaa023 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Justin H White ◽

Jessi L Brown ◽

Zachary E Ormsby

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Urban Expansion ◽

Habitat Type ◽

Nesting Success ◽

Arid Environments ◽

Hatch Date ◽

Urban Density ◽

Landscape Characteristics ◽

Suburban Areas ◽

Breeding Seasons

Abstract Despite the unique threats to wildlife in urban areas, many raptors have established successfully reproducing urban populations. To identify variations in raptor breeding ecology within an urban area, we compared metrics of Red-tailed Hawk reproductive attempts to landscape characteristics in Reno and Sparks, NV, USA during the 2015 and 2016 breeding seasons. We used the Apparent Nesting Success and logistic exposure methods to measure nesting success of the Red-tailed Hawks. We used generalized linear models to relate nesting success and fledge rate to habitat type, productivity to hatch date (Julian day) and hatch date to urban density. Nesting success was 86% and 83% for the respective years. Nesting success increased in grassland-agricultural and shrub habitats and decreased in riparian habitat within the urban landscape. Productivity was 2.23 and 2.03 per nest for the breeding seasons. Fledge rates were 72% and 77%, respectively, and decreased in riparian areas. Nestlings hatched earlier with increased urban density and earliest in suburban areas, following a negative quadratic curve. Nesting success and productivity for this population were high relative to others in North America. Productivity increased in habitats where ground prey was more accessible. We suggest that suburban areas, if not frequently disturbed, provide sufficient resources to sustain Red-tailed Hawks over extended periods. As urban expansion continues in arid environments globally, we stress that researchers monitor reproductive output across the urban predator guild to elucidate patterns in population dynamics and adaptation.

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Mapping 20 Years of Urban Expansion in 45 Urban Areas of Sub-Saharan Africa

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13030525 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 525

Author(s):

Yann Forget ◽

Michal Shimoni ◽

Marius Gilbert ◽

Catherine Linard

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Urban Expansion ◽

Local Population ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Annual Growth Rate ◽

Urban Dynamics ◽

Mapping Approach ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

The Impact

By 2050, half of the net increase in the world’s population is expected to reside in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), driving high urbanization rates and drastic land cover changes. However, the data-scarce environment of SSA limits our understanding of the urban dynamics in the region. In this context, Earth Observation (EO) is an opportunity to gather accurate and up-to-date spatial information on urban extents. During the last decade, the adoption of open-access policies by major EO programs (CBERS, Landsat, Sentinel) has allowed the production of several global high resolution (10–30 m) maps of human settlements. However, mapping accuracies in SSA are usually lower, limited by the lack of reference datasets to support the training and the validation of the classification models. Here we propose a mapping approach based on multi-sensor satellite imagery (Landsat, Sentinel-1, Envisat, ERS) and volunteered geographic information (OpenStreetMap) to solve the challenges of urban remote sensing in SSA. The proposed mapping approach is assessed in 17 case studies for an average F1-score of 0.93, and applied in 45 urban areas of SSA to produce a dataset of urban expansion from 1995 to 2015. Across the case studies, built-up areas averaged a compound annual growth rate of 5.5% between 1995 and 2015. The comparison with local population dynamics reveals the heterogeneity of urban dynamics in SSA. Overall, population densities in built-up areas are decreasing. However, the impact of population growth on urban expansion differs depending on the size of the urban area and its income class.

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What Causes Waterlogging?—Explore the Urban Waterlogging Control Scheme through System Dynamics Simulation

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13158546 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (15) ◽

pp. 8546

Author(s):

Weike Chen ◽

Jing Dong ◽

Chaohua Yan ◽

Hui Dong ◽

Ping Liu

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

System Dynamics ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Model Simulation ◽

Urban Expansion ◽

Dynamics Simulation ◽

Coupling Mechanism ◽

Data Governance ◽

Sponge City ◽

Management Optimization

It is a common phenomenon in cities that waterlogging affects people’s normal life. It is of great significance for targeted transformation and upgrading to identify the risk factors of urban waterlogging. This paper collected the waterlogging data of Tianjin in China, analyzed the coupling mechanism among waterlogging risk factors of urban drainage systems, and then selected the system dynamics theory and the Vensim software as the analysis tools due to the mixing characteristic and the limited availability of data. After that, the sensitive factors were identified by model simulation and sensitivity analysis, and the prominent impact of urban expansion on waterlogging risk was discussed. Then, through the comparison of the three simulation scenarios, it was found that, compared with the urban development focus shifting strategy, the strategies of sponge city reconstruction and management optimization could achieve the risk control goal within a shorter time. On this basis, two kinds of governance schemes with strong operability were put forward, which were the data governance strategy and the sponge city reconstruction strategy of giving priority to old urban areas. According to the simulation results, a city can reverse the increasing trend of waterlogging risk within ten years under the appropriate scheme. Furthermore, the paper puts forward the strategic reimagining of the rural revitalization strategy and the ecological restoration strategy for the long-term sustainable development transformation of Tianjin.

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Neighborhood sidewalk environment and incidence of dementia in older Japanese adults: the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study cohort

American Journal of Epidemiology ◽

10.1093/aje/kwab043 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yukako Tani ◽

Masamichi Hanazato ◽

Takeo Fujiwara ◽

Norimichi Suzuki ◽

Katsunori Kondo

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Evaluation Study ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Grocery Stores ◽

Study Cohort ◽

Term Care ◽

Residential Neighborhood ◽

Incidence Of Dementia

Abstract Sidewalks are indispensable environmental resources for daily life in that they encourage physical activity. However, the percentage of sidewalks installation is low even in developed countries. We examined the association between neighborhood sidewalk environment and dementia in Japan. We conducted a 3-year follow-up (2010-2013) among participants in a Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, a population-based cohort study of community-dwelling older adults. We ascertained the incidence of dementia for 76,053 participants from the public long-term care insurance system. We calculated sidewalk coverage (sidewalk area as a percentage of road area) within 436 residential neighborhood units using the geographic information system. Multilevel survival models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for the incidence of dementia. During the follow-up, 5310 dementia cases were found. In urban areas, compared with the lowest quartile for sidewalk coverage, the HR was 0.42 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.33–0.54) for the highest quartile, adjusting for individual covariates. After successive adjustments for other neighborhood factors (land slope, numbers of hospitals, grocery stores, parks, stations and bus stops, education level, and unemployment rate), the HR remained statistically significant (HR=0.75, 95% CI: 0.59–0.94). Living in neighborhoods with high sidewalks installation was associated with low dementia incidence in urban areas.

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Using Satellite Data to Analyse Raw Material Consumption in Hanoi, Vietnam

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13030334 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 334

Author(s):

Alessandro Novellino ◽

Teresa J. Brown ◽

Tom Bide ◽

Nguyễn Thị Thục Anh ◽

Evi Petavratzi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Satellite Data ◽

Urban Expansion ◽

Construction Materials ◽

Statistical Correlation ◽

Earth Observation ◽

Land Conservation ◽

Raw Material ◽

Material Consumption ◽

Sand And Gravel ◽

Agricultural Areas

In this work, we provide an innovative route for analysing urban expansion and population growth and their link to the consumption of construction materials by combining satellite data with material consumption analysis within the Hanoi Province (Vietnam). Urban expansion is investigated with the use of landcover maps for the period 1975–2020 derived from satellite. During this period, artificial surfaces and agricultural areas have increased by 11.6% and 15.5%, respectively, while forests have decreased by 26.7%. We have used publicly available datasets to calculate and forecast the construction materials consumption and measure its statistical correlation with urban expansion between 2007 and 2018. Our results show that official figures for sand consumption are currently underestimated, and that by 2030, steel and sand and gravel consumption will increase even further by three and two times, respectively. Our analysis uses a new method to assess urban development and associated impacts by combining socio-economic and Earth Observation datasets. The analysis can provide evidence, underpin decision-making by authorities, policymakers, urban planners and sustainability experts, as well as support the development of informed strategies for resource consumption. It can also provide important information for identifying areas of land conservation and ecological greenways during urban planning.

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Land Loss with Compensation: What Are the Determinants of Income Among Households in Central Vietnam?

Environment and Urbanization Asia ◽

10.1177/0975425321990383 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 40-55

Author(s):

Nguyen Quang Phuc ◽

A. C. M. (Guus) van Westen ◽

Annelies Zoomers

Keyword(s):

Household Income ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Urban Expansion ◽

Skill Training ◽

Land Loss ◽

Central Vietnam ◽

Compensation Packages ◽

Household Members ◽

The Government ◽

Using Data

The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of household income following the loss of land owing to urban expansion in central Vietnam. Using data mainly from household surveys in the peri-urban areas of Hue city, the regression model indicates that demographic factors and livelihood strategy choices have important impacts on household income; financial compensation and support packages do not appear to be strong determinants of household income after the loss of land. This implies a failure of the current compensation programmes in the process of compulsory land acquisition, because the government believes that compensation packages make important contributions to livelihood reconstruction. This study suggests that investing in education and skill training for household members affected by land loss as well as assistance in converting compensation money into an adequate livelihood should be taken into consideration.

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Assessing the Impact of Urban Expansion on Surrounding Forested Landscape Connectivity across Space and Time

Land ◽

10.3390/land10040359 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 359

Author(s):

Zhouqiao Ren ◽

Jianhua He ◽

Qiaobing Yue

Keyword(s):

Landscape Connectivity ◽

Urban Expansion ◽

Landscape Fragmentation ◽

Sustainable Urban Development ◽

Delayed Response ◽

Conservation Practices ◽

Rapid Urbanization ◽

Dynamic Landscapes ◽

The Impact ◽

Over Time

Landscape connectivity is important for all organisms as it directly affects population dynamics. Yet, rapid urbanization has caused serious landscape fragmentation, which is the primary contributor of species extinctions worldwide. Previous studies have mostly used spatial snap-shots to evaluate the impact of urban expansion on landscape connectivity. However, the interactions among habitats over time in dynamic landscapes have been largely ignored. Here, we demonstrated that overlooking temporal connectivity can lead to the overestimation of the impact of urban expansion. How much greater the overestimation is depends on the amount of net habitat loss. Moreover, we showed that landscape connectivity may have a delayed response to urban expansion. Our analysis shifts the way to understand the ecological consequences of urban expansion. Our framework can guide sustainable urban development and can be inspiring to conservation practices under other contexts (e.g., climate change).

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Epidemiology of Twin Births in Southeast China: 1993–2005

Twin Research and Human Genetics ◽

10.1017/thg.2013.7 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 608-613 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Xinrong Lu ◽

Jun Zhang ◽

Yinghui Liu ◽

Ting Wang ◽

Yanyu Lu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Birth Rate ◽

Perinatal Care ◽

Care Program ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Population Based ◽

Fertility Treatment ◽

Birth Rates ◽

Southeast China ◽

Twin Birth

Recently, there has been a significant increase in the rate of multiple births in most developed countries. However, few population-based studies have been conducted in China regarding the epidemiology of twin births in recent years. We performed a descriptive analysis of twin births from 1993 to 2005 using data from a population-based perinatal care program in southeast China. The twin birth rate in southeast China was 0.65%, and the twin birth rates from 1993 to 2005 fluctuated between 0.60% and 0.70%. During the three periods of 1993–1996, 1997–2000, and 2001–2005, the twin birth rate increased from 0.57% to 0.71% in urban areas (p = .005) and from 0.59% to 0.68% in mothers who had an education level of high school or higher (p = .046). After 2000, the twin birth rate of primiparae 30 years of age and older significantly increased from 0.72% to greater than 1.20%. We concluded that the twin birth rates in southeast China from 1993 to 2005 stayed constant in the overall population but increased in certain subgroups of women, presumably due to increased use of fertility treatment and the development of assisted reproductive technology.

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