­­­Discovering research trends of urban geology based on a bibliometric analysis

Urbanization contributes to the emerging urban areas across the world. The importance of geology to ensure sustainability, has led to many research publications in the urban geology. This paper aims to discover the research trends through a bibliometric analysis of articles indexed within the Scopus database from 1950 to 2018 on topics related to geology and urban. The analysis found a significant increase in publications during 1999-2016, especially after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami disaster. The next finding of this study is related to research interest clusters: engineering geological hazard investigation and risk assessment in the urban area (EGR); social geology and urban sustainability (SGS); and urban hydrology and water management (HGW). The EGR studies were mostly in underground engineering geology (geotechnics). In contrast, the least attention was given to the interaction between geology and land-use planning, due to the SGS issues (e.g., urban planning and land use suitability assessment). This study may serve as a platform for scholars to understand the current status and future directions of urban geology.

Application of Urban Geology in Construction Projects (Case Study: Urban Geology of Sarpol-e Zahab, Kermanshah Province, Iran)

Urban geology is a preliminary study for the construction and development of cities, which has been more prominent in recent decades in some countries despite its long application history. It assesses the impact of geological and natural phenomena on urban space and available structures. The earthquake on Nov. 21, 2017, inflicted a lot of damage to the city of Sarpol-e Zahab, west of Iran, including financial losses and casualties. Reconstruction of this city and planning for its sustainable development entail conducting urban geological studies. In the present study, the effect of natural phenomena on Sarpol-e Zahab County was studied by investigating its geology and geomorphology. The results showed that, in addition to the earthquake that habitually affected the city of Sarpol-e Zahab, the hazards of other phenomena are also significant. Recorded horizontal acceleration in the recent earthquake confirmed the high seismicity of Sarpol-e Zahab has.

Urban Geology for the Enhancement of the Hypogean Geosites: the Perugia Underground (Central Italy)

Urban geology analyses natural risks and promotes geoheritage in urban areas. In the cities, characterized by a high cultural value, the hypogean artificial cavities, often present in the downtown, offer a unique opportunity to show the geological substratum. Moreover, these places could be a point of interest in urban trekking with the abiotic component of the landscape as a topic (geotourism). To investigate these areas, rigorous bibliographic research and a geomorphological assessment are the first steps, but, besides, non-invasive methods are new techniques increasingly in demand. In this paper, we present a multidisciplinary study on the Etruscan Well (third century B.C.), one of the most important Etruscan artefacts in Perugia (Umbria region, Central Italy). The characteristics of the sedimentary deposits outcropping along the perimeter walls have been collected. Moreover, to show the underground geoheritage, we provide a 3D model of the well and the surrounding area integrating a georeferenced laser scanner survey with ground-penetrating radar prospecting. We aim to obtain a tridimensional mapping of accessible internal rooms to depict the geological characteristics of the Etruscan Well, also revealing a surrounding network of buried galleries. The results are not only a meaningful advancement in the archaeological, geological and historical knowledge of the downtown of Perugia but are a hint for the geoheritage promotion and dissemination, providing images and 3D reconstruction of underground areas.

Urban geology: educational proposal for Geoscience. a case study from the inner city of Athens, Greece.

The limited exploitation and low understanding of geological notions, in modern education in physical sciences, motivated the planning of research procedures about the understanding of rock formations, of recognizing rocks, of informing about geological and hydrographic potential, for students of secondary school of Attica, using techniques entailed in the scientific/educational methodology by inquiry, suggesting educational walking paths through the historical center of Athens. Selected places of the walk trail served our educational aims. Via the educational intervention, students improved their understanding of geological notions, their creativity, their cooperation and their critical thinking. The educational walk trail motivated the students’ interest in the science of geology.

Underground city as a record for past geodiversity: a multi-approach for geoheritage promotion in urban areas

<p>The “geological reason” of a city is always a proper starting point to understand the historical evolution of urban areas. However, where the human presence modified and covered the initial natural location is quite difficult to find outcrops for understanding the original geological and geomorphological arrangement. For this reason the underground cities is sometimes the unique opportunity to have meaningful records of the geological history of an area.</p><p>To have numerous and well-distributed anthropic underground cavities allows us to understand the palaeogeographic conditions preceding urbanization in an areal extent (spatial correlation). Moreover, if the excavation walls exhibit sufficiently complete and undisturbed vertical stratigraphic structures, the chronological sequence is present (timeline). Thus underground cities are ideal sites to learn the local geodiversity in space and in (past) time.</p><p>In addition, considering that in historical cities the most meaningful hidden cavities are focused in the downtowns, it is common to find a strong correlation between the geological value with the archaeological, architectural and historical ones. The union of different aspects increases the capability of these sites to be used as cultural attractors. With the aim to disseminate the concepts of geodiversity and geoheritage toward a wide audience, the underground cities became one of the best tool for scientists, administrators, teachers or touristic guides.</p><p>In this paper the Perugia city (Umbria, central Italy) is proposed as the test area, furthermore a conceptual scheme, in order to illustrate the best practice to use geodiversity as connection between urban geology and geoheritage promotion, is proposed.</p>