scholarly journals The Multifunctional Benefits of Green Infrastructure in Community Development: An Analytical Review Based on 447 Cases

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 3917 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donghyun Kim ◽  
Seul-Ki Song

This article describes the relationship between the design features of green infrastructure and the benefits of multifunctionality. To do so, it examines the descriptive linkages between 12 design features and nine benefits using 447 project case studies from the American Society of Landscape Architects. Multiple benefits of green infrastructure were found in 65% of the projects, regardless of the number of applied design features. The major green infrastructure design features with multiple benefits were: bioretention areas, permeable pavements, grassed swales, rainwater harvesting, rain gardens, and curb cuts. The major benefits of applied design features were: enhanced economic capacity, educational opportunities, improvements to the built environment, and enhanced environmental soundness. The findings show that the multiple benefits of green infrastructure’s multifunctionality can be inferred in many current cases. Knowing the relationship between design features and their benefits for green infrastructure would facilitate selecting optimal design features to achieve specific goals and planning outcomes. For communities that require a range of complex benefits, a multifunctionality-based green infrastructure will advance highly acceptable climate change adaptation measures.

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 2694
Author(s):  
Chen Shen ◽  
Haishan Xia ◽  
Xin Fu ◽  
Xinhao Wang ◽  
Weiping Wang

Flooding has presented a significant risk for urban areas around the world. Road inundation is one of the severe consequences leading to traffic issues and congestion. Green infrastructure (GI) offers further potential for stormwater management as an environmentally friendly and sustainable solution. However, sewer system behaviour has been overlooked in GI implementation. This study investigates sewer performance by measuring topological connectivity and hydraulic characteristics, and critical components are identified under different design storms. Three retrofit scenarios, including enlarged pipes (grey infrastructure, Grey I), rain gardens (GI), and the combination of enlarged pipes and increased rain gardens (GI + Grey I), are proposed according to the distribution of critical components. The results show that it is feasible to locate the vulnerable parts of the sewer system and GI site allocations based on the critical components that significantly impact the performance of the entire system. While all three scenarios can mitigate inundation, GI and GI + Grey I perform better than pipe enlargement, especially for runoff reduction during long-duration rainfall. Furthermore, the sewer behaviour and retrofit effect are dynamic under different rainfall patterns, leading to diverse combined effects. The discoveries reveal that the adaptation measures should combine with sewer behaviour and local rainfall characteristics to enhance stormwater management.


Climate ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rae Zimmerman ◽  
Ryan Brenner ◽  
Jimena Llopis Abella

Green infrastructure (GI) has increasingly gained popularity for achieving adaptation and mitigation goals associated with climate change and extreme weather events. To continue implementing GI, financial tools are needed for upfront project capital or development costs and later for maintenance. This study’s purpose is to evaluate financing tools used in a selected GI dataset and to assess how those tools are linked to various GI technologies and other GI project characteristics like cost and size. The dataset includes over 400 GI U.S. projects, comprising a convenience sample, from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). GI project characteristics were organized to answer a number of research questions using descriptive statistics. Results indicated that the number of projects and overall cost shares were mostly located in a few states. Grants were the most common financial tool with about two-thirds of the projects reporting information on financial tools receiving grant funding. Most projects reported financing from only one tool with a maximum of three tools. Projects primarily included multiple GI technologies averaging three and a maximum of nine. The most common GI technologies were bioswales, retention, rain gardens, and porous pavements. These findings are useful for decision-makers evaluating funding support for GI.


Author(s):  
Sutyajeet Soneja ◽  
Gina Tsarouchi ◽  
Darren Lumbroso ◽  
Dao Khanh Tung

Abstract Purpose of review The purpose of this review is to summarize research articles that provide risk estimates for the historical and future impact that climate change has had upon dengue published from 2007 through 2019. Recent findings Findings from 30 studies on historical health estimates, with the majority of the studies conducted in Asia, emphasized the importance of temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity, as well as lag effects, when trying to understand how climate change can impact the risk of contracting dengue. Furthermore, 35 studies presented findings on future health risk based upon climate projection scenarios, with a third of them showcasing global level estimates and findings across the articles emphasizing the need to understand risk at a localized level as the impacts from climate change will be experienced inequitably across different geographies in the future. Summary Dengue is one of the most rapidly spreading viral diseases in the world, with ~390 million people infected worldwide annually. Several factors have contributed towards its proliferation, including climate change. Multiple studies have previously been conducted examining the relationship between dengue and climate change, both from a historical and a future risk perspective. We searched the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health (NIEHS) Climate Change and Health Portal for literature (spanning January 2007 to September 2019) providing historical and future health risk estimates of contracting dengue infection in relation to climate variables worldwide. With an overview of the evidence of the historical and future health risk posed by dengue from climate change across different regions of the world, this review article enables the research and policy community to understand where the knowledge gaps are and what areas need to be addressed in order to implement localized adaptation measures to mitigate the health risks posed by future dengue infection.


Blood ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 92 (8) ◽  
pp. 2959-2962 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Schneider ◽  
Linda Forman ◽  
Beryl Westwood ◽  
Catherine Yim ◽  
James Lin ◽  
...  

Abstract In 424 African-American and 75 white subjects, we found that the −5 (TPI 592 A→G), −8 (TPI 589 G→A), and −24 (TPI 573 T→G) variants in the triosephosphate isomerase (TPI) gene occurred frequently (41.0%) in the African-American subjects but did not occur in the whites. These data suggest that this set of polymorphisms may turn out to be one of the higher-incidence molecular markers of African lineage, a surprising finding because others had reported that these nucleotide substitutions were restricted to a small subset of African Americans who had been characterized as TPI-deficiency heterozygotes. Additionally, we investigated the relationship of these variants to TPI-enzyme activity. Although the variant substitutions (occurring in three haplotypes: −5 alone, −5 −8, and −5 −8 −24) were associated with moderate reduction in enzyme activity, severe-deficiency heterozygotes could not be identified with certainty, and none of the haplotypes were restricted to subjects with marked reduction of enzyme activity. Three subjects were homozygous for the −5 −8 haplotype, a finding inconsistent with the putative role of this haplotype as the cause of a null variant incompatible with life in homozygotes. Despite these findings, the possibility remains that the −5 −8 or −5 −8 −24 haplotypes may in some instances contribute to compound heterozygosity and clinical TPI deficiency. © 1998 by The American Society of Hematology.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lianne Wing Yan Ho

Vanitas Obsolescentum is a comment on the obsolescence of contemporary commodity. It draws from prominent theories of obsolescence and appropriates 17th century Dutch Vanitas paintings. This paper begins by addressing themes relevant to the conceptual development of the series, including theories of obsolescence as presented by Packard, Papanek and Slade, the relationship of Dutch Golden Age society to contemporary North American society, Dutch Vanitas paintings, and appropriation of the Vanitas genre in contemporary art history and within this series. It provides a rationale for the use of holography as medium to express concepts of transience and hyperreality. This paper concludes with a discussion of the specifics of Vanitas Obsolescentum, including the symbolism and meaning of each piece within the series.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 109-123
Author(s):  
John Gartchie Gatsi

This article examines the relationship between remittances and financial inclusion in Ghana. The data for the study was extracted from the results of an analytical review of the living standards survey indicators in Ghana. The methodological tools of the study are represented by a regression equation based on the use of the Force Entry Method to test the functioning of variables in the model. The study empirically confirms and theoretically proves that domestic remittances have a positive and significant impact on access to financial services, while international remittances affect the likelihood of opening a bank account, but do not have any significant impact on applying for a loan and lending to remittance households. It is substantiated that domestic and international money transfers have a significant positive impact on the opening of bank accounts, even when forging collateral. Based on the results of calculations, the paper substantiates the conclusion that remittances contribute to increasing the availability of financial services in Ghana. It was noted that domestic remittances have a greater potential to improve financial inclusion in Ghana than international remittances. The paper emphasizes that the provision of collateral is an important lever for lending to households. Remittances will have very little impact on financial inclusion when financial institutions require collateral to facilitate the application and grant. According to the results of the study, the following recommendation were provideds: development of a strategy to improve domestic remittances to increase indicators of financial inclusion and economic development; improving the conditions for remittances, especially domestic remittances, in order to ensure their flexibility and deepen financial integration; use of domestic remittances as collateral for household loans. Keywords: collateral, financial inclusion, financial institutions, Ghana, remittances, loan application, migration.


Author(s):  
Лариса ГАРУСОВА

Анализируется взаимосвязь и корреляция современной внешнеполитической стратегии США с общественной рефлексией на неё. Информационной основой работы являются результаты социологических опросов ведущих американских исследовательских центров, статистические данные, статьи, официальные документы. Прослежена связь официальных внешнеполитических доктрин и мнения американских граждан в отношении России и Китая. Выявлена корреляция между усилением антикитайских настроений в США за последние два года и появлением новой официальной стратегии Вашингтона в отношении КНР («Стратегический подход США к КНР») от 20 мая 2020 г. внешняя политика, США, стратегия, рефлексия, общественное мнение, Россия, Китай, национальная безопасность This article analyzes the relationship and correlation of the US modern foreign policy strategy with public reflection on it. Washington's active foreign policy and US claims to the role of world leader are supported by American society in recent decades. The informational basis of this work is the analysis of the sociological surveys of leading American research centers, statistics, academic articles, as well as official documents on the studied issues. The study revealed the peculiarities of the perception of traditional and new threats to national and international security by the American elite and society. The author traces the connection between official foreign policy doctrines and the opinions of American citizens regarding Russia and China. A correlation was found between the strengthening of anti-Chinese sentiment in the US over the past two years and the appearance of a new official strategy of Washington towards the PRC (“United States Strategic Approach to The People’s Republic of China”) in May 20, 2020. foreign policy, USA, strategy, reflection, public opinion, Russia, China, national security


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chahan M. Kropf ◽  
Alessio Ciullo ◽  
Simona Meiler ◽  
Laura Otth ◽  
Jamie W. McCaughey ◽  
...  

<p>Modelling societal, ecological, and economic costs of natural hazards in the context of climate change is subject to both strong aleatoric and ethical uncertainty. Dealing with these is challenging on several levels – from the identification and the quantification of the sources of uncertainty to their proper inclusion in the modelling, and the communication of these in a tangible way to both experts and non-experts. One particularly useful approach is global uncertainty and sensitivity analysis, which can help to quantify the confidence in the output values and identify the main drivers of the uncertainty while considering potential correlations in the model. Here we present applications of global uncertainty analysis, robustness quantification, and sensitivity analysis in natural hazard modelling using the new uncertainty module of the CLIMADA (CLIMate ADAptation) platform.</p><p>CLIMADA is a fully open-source Python program that implements a probabilistic multi-hazard global natural catastrophe damage model, which also calculates averted damage (benefit) thanks to adaptation measures of any kind (from grey to green infrastructure, behavioral, etc.). With the new uncertainty module, one can directly and comprehensively inspect the uncertainty and sensitivity to input variables of various output metrics, such as the spatial distribution of risk exceedance probabilities, or the benefit-cost ratios of different adaptation measures. This global approach does reveal interesting parameter interplays and might provide valuable input for decision-makers. For instance, a study of the geospatial distribution of sensitivity indices for tropical cyclones damage indicated that the main driver of uncertainty in dense regions (e.g. cities) is the impact function (vulnerability), whereas in sparse regions it is the exposure (asset) layer. </p><p>CLIMADA: https://github.com/CLIMADA-project/climada_python </p><p>(1) Aznar-Siguan, G. et al., GEOSCI MODEL DEV. 12, 7 (2019) 3085–97<br>(2) Bresch, D. N. and Aznar-Siguan., G.,  GEOSCI MODEL DEV. (2020), 1–20.</p>


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