Urban Form Dynamics and Modelling towards Sustainable Hinterland Development in North Cianjur, Jakarta–Bandung Mega-Urban Region

The urban form is the physical configuration of a city, developed over time and space. Urban form can be considered at different scales, from region to neighborhood, each carrying a different focus. North Cianjur serves as the hinterland and one of the conurbation corridors of the Jakarta–Bandung Mega-Urban Region, meaning that the balance between its function as an environmental buffer area and the destination of urban growth needs to be planned carefully. This paper explores the dynamics in North Cianjur and employs several model scenarios as a planning intervention using landscape dynamic tools and land-change modeling, with three scenarios employed: Business as Usual (BAU), Spatial Planning Policy (SPP), and Urban Containment (UCT). The result show that North Cianjur has transformed into a polycentric region with two urban zones, a peri-urban zone, and a rural zone in the northernmost part of the region. Urban form trends show a sprawling built-up pattern outside urban zones, and a compacted trend in urban zones due to expansion from the Jakarta and Bandung Metropolitan Area. UCT models appear to be the most optimal for implementation in North Cianjur, representing a way to accommodate urban growth and expansion inside the urban center while still maintaining regional sustainability.

Urban Containment Planning: Is It Effective? The Case of Portland, OR

The paper attempts to evaluate Oregon’s and Portland’s growth management policies as for their tradeoffs between effectiveness in containing urban sprawl and impacts on housing markets and on property values. Carruthers argued that in order to correctly evaluate growth management policies, it is necessary to jointly consider their effects on urban development patterns, on land and housing markets, and on the fragmentation of land use controls. Nowadays, we have sufficient empirical research to evaluate the effects of Oregon’s growth management policies both on land markets and housing affordability and on urban development patterns. Therefore, the time has come to comprehensively reanalyze this longstanding case of public regulation. Once again, the issue of comparing grounded-on-planning–regulations’ effectiveness with grounded-on-price regulations’ effectiveness is at stake. The paper finds that urban-containment centralized-planning in Portland and Oregon have not been effective in containing sprawl and that price-based mechanisms are the most logical solution to the excess of sprawling urban growth.

Planning and Markets at Work: Seattle under Growth Management and Economic Pressure

This paper presents an analysis of Seattle’s redevelopment under Washington State’s urban containment policy and the city’s own urban village plan, with a particular focus on outcomes that arise via a combination of urban planning and land market activity. By comparing the city’s parcel layer between 2010 and 2020, the analysis tracks changes in the form of land consolidation and subdivision, which indicate the intensity of redevelopment activities motivated by the market. It reveals that much redevelopment has happened in single- and multifamily areas, but multifamily areas are more likely to have changed. By implementing an exploratory discrete choice model, the analysis also reveals that urban village policy may reduce redevelopment within Seattle—but one subtype, so-called urban hubs, is more likely to accommodate redevelopment. This leads to further discussion of the goals and effectiveness of this urban village policy. Overall, the findings of this work form a picture of a happy, healthy, and sustainable city that sets a high bar for other cities seeking to achieve the same success.

Growing Ontario Responsibly: A Look At The Impact Of The Growth Plan For The Greater Golden Horseshoe On Ontario's Economic Environment

This Major Research Paper (MRP) will examine the consequences of the proposed Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) on the economic trends of southern Ontario. As a type of regulatory tool, the Growth Plan has inevitable market impacts that must be studied, understood, and mitigated when making policy decisions. Increasing evidence has pointed towards housing affordability, and supply of land and housing types, as two broad market impacts of regulatory tools that fall under the branch of ‘growth management’, ‘urban containment’, and ‘smart growth’. The subject of this MRP is the economic impact of the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, imposed by the provincial government, and implemented on a municipal level. In 2015, the province initiated its first ten-year review of the 2006 Growth Plan for the GGH. The province released proposed amendments to the Growth Plan in the summer of 2016 following an analysis by a selected panel of experts and input from community consultations. It is anticipated that these proposed amendments will exasperate the widespread affordability issues of the GGH, create a more homogenous built form and building typology, and ignore the diversity of municipalities across the impacted area. A thorough analysis of these adverse effects will be provided along with recommendations on how the province can better balance the environmental, social, and economic goals of the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

Growing Ontario Responsibly: A Look At The Impact Of The Growth Plan For The Greater Golden Horseshoe On Ontario's Economic Environment

This Major Research Paper (MRP) will examine the consequences of the proposed Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) on the economic trends of southern Ontario. As a type of regulatory tool, the Growth Plan has inevitable market impacts that must be studied, understood, and mitigated when making policy decisions. Increasing evidence has pointed towards housing affordability, and supply of land and housing types, as two broad market impacts of regulatory tools that fall under the branch of ‘growth management’, ‘urban containment’, and ‘smart growth’. The subject of this MRP is the economic impact of the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, imposed by the provincial government, and implemented on a municipal level. In 2015, the province initiated its first ten-year review of the 2006 Growth Plan for the GGH. The province released proposed amendments to the Growth Plan in the summer of 2016 following an analysis by a selected panel of experts and input from community consultations. It is anticipated that these proposed amendments will exasperate the widespread affordability issues of the GGH, create a more homogenous built form and building typology, and ignore the diversity of municipalities across the impacted area. A thorough analysis of these adverse effects will be provided along with recommendations on how the province can better balance the environmental, social, and economic goals of the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

COVID-19 outbreak and Urban dynamics: Regional variations in India

India was the second highest COVID-19 affected country in the world with 2.1 million cases by 11th August. This study focused on the spatial transmission of the pandemic among the 640 districts in India over time, and aimed to understand the urban-centric nature of the infection. The connectivity context was emphasized that possibly had inflicted the outbreak. Using the modes of transmission data for the available cases, the diffusion of this disease was explained. Metropolitans contributed three-fourths of total cases from the beginning. The transport networks attributed significantly in transmitting the virus from the urban containment zones. Later, there was a gradual shift of infections from urban to rural areas; however, the numbers kept increasing in the former. The massive reverse migration after lockdown spiked the infected cases further. Districts with airports reported more with influx of international passengers. A profound east-west division in April with higher infections in the southern and western districts existed. By mid-May eastern India saw a steep rise in active cases. Moran’s I analysis showed a low autocorrelation initially which increased over time. Hotspot clustering was observed in western Maharashtra, eastern Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and around Kolkata by the second week of August. The diffusion was due to travel, exposure to infected individuals and among the frontline workers. Spatial regression models confirmed that urbanization was positively correlated with higher incidences of infections. Transit mediums, especially rail and aviation were positively associated. These models validated the crucial role of spatial proximity in diffusion of the pandemic.

The Effects of Urban Containment Policies on Public Health

Public health risks such as obesity are influenced by numerous personal characteristics, but the local spatial structure such as an area’s built environment can also affect the obesity rate. This study analyzes and discusses how a greenbelt plan as a tool of urban containment policy has an effect on obesity. This study conducted spatial econometric regression models with five factors (13 variables) including transportation, socio-economic, public health, region, and policy factors. The relationship was analyzed between two policy effects of a greenbelt (i.e., a green buffer zone) and obesity. The variables for two policy effects of greenbelt zones are the size of the greenbelt and the inside and outside areas of the greenbelt. The results indicate that the two variables have negative effects on obesity. The results of the analyses in this study have several policy implications. Greenbelts play a role as an urban growth management policy, leading to a reduced obesity rate due to the influence of the transportation mode. In addition, greenbelts can also reduce the obesity rate because they provide recreation spaces for people.