Identifying hot and cool spots in the city centre based on bicycle measurements: The case of Olomouc, Czech Republic

This paper investigates the problematic liquidation of now unused deposit of brick clay in south – eastern part of Czech Republic approximately 1.5 km to SW from the city centre of Kromeriz. Initially the condition of the deposit is described from the time of closure to the present day, including a detailed discussion of the problem. Main part of this paper is devoted to the design concept of reclamation of the unused deposit. The purpose and aim of this conception is to design a proposal of technical and biotechnical measures to create conditions for full-fledged reintegration of this segment of land, affected by mining, into it´s surrounding area. The conception summarises the whole scale of necessary tasks needed to achieve remediation and reclamation of the area.

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Developmental Aspects of Regional Airports in the Czech Republic

Advanced Engineering Forum ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/aef.12.107 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

pp. 107-111

Author(s):

David Kania

Keyword(s):

Czech Republic ◽

Capital City ◽

Air Transport ◽

City Centre ◽

The Czech Republic ◽

Transport Volume ◽

Cargo Throughput ◽

Regional Airports ◽

The Impact ◽

The City

This paper aims to compare the developmental aspects of regional airports in the Czech Republic. Only international airports were included in the selection, namely airports with an IATA code (IATA – International Air Transport Association). The following factors affected the selection of airports: air transport volume and the runway length. All public international airports with scheduled and non-scheduled commercial traffic have been included in the selection, these airports being The Brno – Tuřany Airport (BRQ), Leoš Janáček Airport Ostrava (OSR), Pardubice Airport (PED) and Karlovy Vary Airport (KLV). The list intentionally excludes the Vaclav Havel Airport (PRG), which, being the airport of the capital city, would have excessive impact on the evaluation of the monitored statistical data. In terms of individual airports, the author evaluates the impact of runway parameters, reference field length and the parameters of radio navigation and lighting equipment. Other monitored aspects include the population of the respective cities (or cities where the airport is located), the airport's location relative to the city centre and its transport connection. The last monitored aspect is the impact of competing foreign airports from across the border on the regional airport's development. The aim is to prove or disprove the idea that the airport with best equipment and location (airport with the greatest potential) should exhibit the best performance in terms of the number of passengers throughput, number of movements and the cargo throughput.

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Restricting Traffic into the City Centre: Has Madrid Central Been Effective to Reduce NO 2 Levels?

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.3495440 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Rafael Salas ◽

María José Pérez Villadóniga ◽

Juan Prieto Rodríguez ◽

Ana Russo

Keyword(s):

City Centre ◽

The City

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What Makes a City Bikeable? A Study of Intercity and Intracity Patterns of Bicycle Ridership using Mobike Big Data Records

Built Environment ◽

10.2148/benv.46.1.55 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 46 (1) ◽

pp. 55-75

Author(s):

Ying Long ◽

Jianting Zhao

Keyword(s):

Big Data ◽

Average Distance ◽

Policy Implications ◽

Rating System ◽

City Centre ◽

Average Score ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Usage Frequency ◽

Share Data ◽

The City

This paper examines how mass ridership data can help describe cities from the bikers' perspective. We explore the possibility of using the data to reveal general bikeability patterns in 202 major Chinese cities. This process is conducted by constructing a bikeability rating system, the Mobike Riding Index (MRI), to measure bikeability in terms of usage frequency and the built environment. We first investigated mass ridership data and relevant supporting data; we then established the MRI framework and calculated MRI scores accordingly. This study finds that people tend to ride shared bikes at speeds close to 10 km/h for an average distance of 2 km roughly three times a day. The MRI results show that at the street level, the weekday and weekend MRI distributions are analogous, with an average score of 49.8 (range 0–100). At the township level, high-scoring townships are those close to the city centre; at the city level, the MRI is unevenly distributed, with high-MRI cities along the southern coastline or in the middle inland area. These patterns have policy implications for urban planners and policy-makers. This is the first and largest-scale study to incorporate mobile bike-share data into bikeability measurements, thus laying the groundwork for further research.

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Understanding Spatial Variability of NO2 in Urban Areas Using Spatial Modelling and Data Fusion Approaches

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos12020179 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 179

Author(s):

Said Munir ◽

Martin Mayfield ◽

Daniel Coca

Keyword(s):

Data Fusion ◽

Spatial Variability ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Road Traffic ◽

Dispersion Model ◽

Low Cost ◽

Spatial Modelling ◽

City Centre ◽

Small Scale ◽

The City

Small-scale spatial variability in NO2 concentrations is analysed with the help of pollution maps. Maps of NO2 estimated by the Airviro dispersion model and land use regression (LUR) model are fused with measured NO2 concentrations from low-cost sensors (LCS), reference sensors and diffusion tubes. In this study, geostatistical universal kriging was employed for fusing (integrating) model estimations with measured NO2 concentrations. The results showed that the data fusion approach was capable of estimating realistic NO2 concentration maps that inherited spatial patterns of the pollutant from the model estimations and adjusted the modelled values using the measured concentrations. Maps produced by the fusion of NO2-LCS with NO2-LUR produced better results, with r-value 0.96 and RMSE 9.09. Data fusion adds value to both measured and estimated concentrations: the measured data are improved by predicting spatiotemporal gaps, whereas the modelled data are improved by constraining them with observed data. Hotspots of NO2 were shown in the city centre, eastern parts of the city towards the motorway (M1) and on some major roads. Air quality standards were exceeded at several locations in Sheffield, where annual mean NO2 levels were higher than 40 µg/m3. Road traffic was considered to be the dominant emission source of NO2 in Sheffield.

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Spatio-Temporal Changes of Urban Forests and Planning Evolution in a Highly Dynamical Urban Area: The Case Study of Wrocław, Poland

Forests ◽

10.3390/f11010017 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 17 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Justyna Jaworek-Jakubska ◽

Maciej Filipiak ◽

Adam Michalski ◽

Anna Napierała-Filipiak

Keyword(s):

World War Ii ◽

Urban Forest ◽

Urban Forests ◽

Spatial Dimension ◽

Temporal Changes ◽

City Centre ◽

Socialist Economy ◽

Urban Green Spaces ◽

Spatio Temporal ◽

The City

Knowledge about urban forests in Poland is still limited, as it is primarily based on aggregate, formal data relating to the general area, ignoring the spatial dimension and informal green areas. This article describes and analyses spatio-temporal changes in the actual urban forest resources in Wrocław in 1944–2017, which covers the first period of the city’s rebuilding after its destruction during World War II and its development during the nationalised, centrally-planned socialist economy, as well as the second period of intensive and only partly controlled growth under conditions of market economy. The study is based on current and historical orthophotomaps, which were confronted with cartographic data, as well as planning documents. We found that between 1944 and 2017, the percentage contribution of informal woodlands increased tenfold (from 0.5 to 4.9% of the present total area of the city). The area occupied by such forests has grown particularly during the most recent years of the city’s intensive development. However, the forests have been increasingly fragmented. During the first period, new forest areas were also created in the immediate vicinity of the city centre, while during the second one, only in its peripheral sections. The post-war plans regarding the urban green spaces (UGS), including the current plan, are very conservative in nature. On the one hand, this means no interference with the oldest, biggest, and most valuable forest complexes, but on the other hand, insufficient consideration of the intensive built-up area expansion on former agriculture areas. Only to a limited extent did the above-mentioned plans take into account the informal woodlands, which provide an opportunity for strengthening the functional connectivity of landscape.

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Historic city, tourism performance and development: The balance of social behaviours in the city of Santiago de Compostela (Spain)

Tourism and Hospitality Research ◽

10.1177/1467358415578473 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 282-293 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Belén Mª Castro Fernández ◽

Rubén Camilo Lois González ◽

Lucrezia Lopez

Keyword(s):

Numerical Data ◽

City Centre ◽

City Development ◽

Santiago De Compostela ◽

Final Destination ◽

City Tourism ◽

Set Up ◽

Historic City ◽

The City ◽

The Way

Santiago de Compostela is an iconic place. From the 9th century through to the present day the city has acted as the final destination of a major pilgrimage route named after it. In the article we ask ourselves how the contemporary reinvention of the pilgrimage and pilgrimages on the Way of St. James has boosted tourism development in the city. Development has been concentrated in the historic city centre and in the area around the cathedral. The importance of tourism has transformed the significance of the city itself, which acquires a magical component as a place of arrival and encounter for all kinds of visitors. The historic city has been set up in the 20th century as a destination for the Way and for cultural tourism. The buildings, particularly those connected with the pilgrimage route, become highly attractive and symbolic places and tourists carry out a number of rituals in them. They travel and enjoy Santiago as a unique experience. The study of tourism and of the tourist transformation of Santiago de Compostela is undertaken using a qualitative and quantitative method. The article analyses the heritage and symbolic value of the historic centre, together with the growth of its tourism activities. Numerical data are also provided on the perceptions and behaviour of visitors using surveys carried out by the city's Tourism Observatory.

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Marketplaces and central spaces: markets and the rise of competing spatial ideals in Danish city centres, c. 1850–1900

Urban History ◽

10.1017/s0963926815000218 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 43 (3) ◽

pp. 372-390 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

JENS TOFTGAARD

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Urban Space ◽

Capital Investment ◽

City Centre ◽

Fish Market ◽

Open Air Markets ◽

The City ◽

City Centres

ABSTRACTThe traditional open-air markets on the central squares of Danish cities were thriving in the middle of the nineteenth century. However, the markets were soon challenged by new urban ideals of the city centre as a place for shopping and capital investment. At the same time, urban reformers made efforts to improve the market trade to meet modern standards. The rivalling interests struggled over the question of modernization or relocation of the central square markets and ultimately the definition and use of the central urban space. In particular, this article will examine the struggle over the construction of a fish market hall in Odense as it serves to reveal the different conceptions of the central urban space that affected the fate of the street markets.

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Design of a Remarkable Bascule Bridge Over an Historical Canal

IABSE Congress, New York, New York 2019: The Evolving Metropolis ◽

10.2749/newyork.2019.1635 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Benoit Cusson ◽

Tony Mailhot

Keyword(s):

Steel Structure ◽

City Centre ◽

Critical Infrastructures ◽

Historic Site ◽

The World ◽

Hydraulic Cylinders ◽

The City ◽

Movable Bridge

<p>The Gouin bascule bridge is a 1,300 tons gigantic steel structure that allows pleasure boats to enter the Chambly Canal National Historic Site and provides access over the Richelieu river for vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. As part of a project to revitalize and modernize the city centre, the architectural concept of the movable bridge will provide a landmark to this highly touristic site. There are only few examples in the world of such movable bridges with a large suspended counterweight. The challenges of the project include strict architectural criteria, fabrication and alignment of over 800 mm in diameter pins, the assembly on-site of remarkably large bridge parts and the precise balancing of the bridge.</p><p>When designing this structure, WSP made sure to consider the non-redundant aspect of some parts of the structure. Details regarding the design of the stays supporting the entire upper structure and the hydraulic cylinders initiating the rotation are described in this paper. The planning of the works in the middle of the critical infrastructures and services surrounding the bridge is explained. Since no interruption of the navigation on the canal was allowed during construction, some special considerations had to be taken with regards to the works at the foundation units.</p>

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Quantification of an atmospheric nucleation and growth process as a single source of aerosol particles in a city

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-17-15007-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 17 (24) ◽

pp. 15007-15017 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Imre Salma ◽

Veronika Varga ◽

Zoltán Németh

Keyword(s):

Growth Process ◽

Particle Number ◽

Urban Climate ◽

Particle Diameter ◽

City Centre ◽

Time Interval ◽

Single Source ◽

Mean Values ◽

Early Afternoon ◽

The City

Abstract. Effects of a new aerosol particle formation (NPF) and particle diameter growth process as a single source of atmospheric particle number concentrations were evaluated and quantified on the basis of experimental data sets obtained from particle number size distribution measurements in the city centre and near-city background of Budapest for 5 years. Nucleation strength factors for a nucleation day (NSFNUC) and for a general day (NSFGEN) were derived separately for seasons and full years. The former characteristic represents the concentration increment of ultrafine (UF) particles specifically on nucleation days with respect to accumulation-mode (regional background) concentrations (particles with equivalent diameters of 100–1000 nm; N100−1000) due solely to the nucleation process. The latter factor expresses the contribution of nucleation to particle numbers on general days; thus, it represents a longer time interval such as season or year. The nucleation source had the largest effect on the concentrations around noon and early afternoon, as expected. During this time interval, it became the major source of particles in the near-city background. Nucleation increased the daily mean concentrations on nucleation days by mean factors of 2.3 and 1.58 in the near-city background and city centre, respectively. Its effect was largest in winter, which was explained by the substantially lower N100−1000 levels on nucleation days than those on non-nucleation days. On an annual timescale, 37 % of the UF particles were generated by nucleation in the near-city background, while NPF produced 13 % of UF particles in the city centre. The differences among the annual mean values, and among the corresponding seasonal mean values, were likely caused by the variability in controlling factors from year to year. The values obtained represent the lower limits of the contributions. The shares determined imply that NPF is a non-negligible or substantial source of particles in near-city background environments and even in city centres, where the vehicular road emissions usually prevail. Atmospheric residence time of nucleation-mode particles was assessed by a decay curve analysis, and a mean of 02:30 was obtained. The present study suggests that the health-related consequences of the atmospheric NPF and growth process in cities should also be considered in addition to its urban climate implications.

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