Role of Neighborhood Design in Reducing Impacts of Development and Climate Change, West Sherwood, OR

We used the EPA SWMM-5. 1 model to evaluate the relative impact of neighborhood design and constructed Low Impact Development (LID) features on infiltration, evaporation, and runoff for three future scenarios. In the Current Course (CC) future, current regulations and policies remain in place under lower rates of climate change and population growth. In the Stressed Resources (SR) future, rapid rates of population growth and climate change stress water systems, and conventional development patterns and management actions fail to keep pace with a changing environment. In the Integrated Water (IW) future, with the same rapid rates of climate change and population growth as the SR future, informed water management anticipates and adapts to expected changes. The IW scenario retains public open space, extensive use of constructed LID features, and has the lowest proportion of impervious surface. Neighborhood designs varied in the number of dwelling units, density of development, and spatial extent of nature-based solutions and constructed LID features used for stormwater management. We compared the scenarios using SWMM-5.1 for a set of NRCS Type 1a design storms (2-yr, 25-yr, 20% increase over 25-yr, 30% increase over 25-yr) with precipitation input at 6-min time steps as well as a set of 10-year continuous runs. Results illustrate the importance of neighborhood design in urban hydrology. The design with the highest proportion of impervious surface (SR future) produced runoff of up to 45–50% of precipitation for all variations of the 25-year storm, compared to 34–44 and 23–39% for the CC and IW futures, respectively. Evaporation accounted for only 2–3% of precipitation in the 25-year design storm simulations for any scenario. Results of continuous 10-year simulations were similar to the results of design storms. The proportion of precipitation that became runoff was highest in the SR future (33%), intermediate in the CC (16%), and lowest in the IW future (9%). Evaporation accounted for 6, 11, and 14 of precipitation in the SR, CC, and IW futures with LID, respectively. Infiltration was higher in scenarios with LID than for the same scenario without LID, and varied with the extent of LID employed, accounting for 59, 71, and 74% of precipitation in the SR, CC, and IW scenarios with LID. In addition to differences in performance for stormwater management, the alternative scenarios also provide different sets of co-benefits. The IW and SR future designs both provide more housing than the CC, and the IW future has the lowest cost of development per dwelling unit.

IOT INTEGRATED SMART STREET FURNITURE: A CASE STUDY OF UNIVERSITY, INDUSTRY AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT COLLABORATION

This article discusses the design process and pilot program of a suite of IoT-integrated street furniture aimed to improve use and amenity of municipality assets in public open spaces in Sydney, Australia. Networked sensors were embedded in the furniture and linked to a web-based dashboard application enabling a digital twin of the asset to monitor and analyze how and when the furniture was used. The prototype and modifications to existing furniture designs provided additional utility for the local community through lighting, free wi-fi access, power outlets, USB charging, water, a weather station and bench space. Outcomes of the street-furniture installation revealed innovative protocols for design-development teams and asset managers to review product performance and efficiency. This article presents a collaborative government/industry/university project that has been recognized by The World Bank for intelligent neighborhood design practices and by the Planning Institute of Australia for its novel approach to community social infrastructure.

A Method for Studying Acidification and Eutrophication Potentials of a Residential Neighbourhood

Acidification and Eutrophication are two environmental impacts that have a significant effect on air pollution and human health. The quantitative analysis of these two impacts remains hitherto unknown at the scale of new neighborhoods. The main purpose of this research is to evaluate, analysis and compare the acidification and eutrophication potentials of one neighborhood initially located in Belgium. To perform this comparison, the same neighborhood design is applied to in150 countries, but four parameters are adapted to each country: energy mix, local climate, building materials, and occupants’ mobility. In addition, this research evaluates the induced environmental costs of the neighborhood over 100 years and examines the impact of the photovoltaic panel on these environmental impacts. This research, extended to the scale of several nations, will enable new researchers, and especially policy-makers, to measure the effectiveness of sustainable neighborhoods. Eutrophication and acidification potentials were assessed under different phases (construction, use, renovation, and demolition), with Pleiades ACV software. Among the four local parameters (energy mix, local materials, climate, and transport, the energy mix has the most significant effect on the two studied environmental impacts. The results show that 72 %, and 65% of acidification, and eutrophication potentials are produced during the operational phase of the neighborhood. In the case of sustainable neighborhoods, the acidification potential is 22.1% higher in the 10 top Low incomes countries than the 10 top High-income countries. At the neighborhood scale the main eutrophication potential component is water (34.2%), while, the main source of acidification potential is electricity production (45.1%)

Utilization of the neighborhood design to evaluate suitable cover crops and their density for Echinochloa colona management

Summer weed species, including Echinochloa colona, are becoming problematic in the eastern grain region of Australia, but cover crops can be useful to suppress weeds during the summer fallow period. The present study evaluated the growth and seed production of E. colona grown alone or with four and eight cover crop plants per pot (i.e., 80 and 160 plants m-2). Four legume (cowpea, lablab, pigeonpea, and soybean) and two grass (forage sorghum and Japanese millet) cover crops were used. Interference by cover crops reduced the height, the number of leaves and tillers, inflorescence number, seed production, and biomass of this weed than when it was grown alone. Cover crops differed in their ability to suppress the growth and seed production of E. colona. The effect of cover crop density on the studied attributes was non-significant in most cases. Pigeonpea as a cover crop was the least effective in suppressing the growth and seed production of E. colona. In general, leguminous cover crops exhibited less suppression of E. colona than grasses. Forage sorghum was most efficient in reducing the growth of this weed. Forage sorghum and Japanese millet reduced E. colona leaf and tiller numbers per plant by 90 and 87%, respectively. These cover crops reduced E. colona leaf number to only 17 per plant as against 160 per plant recorded without cover crops. Inflorescence number per E. colona plant growing alone was as high as 48. However, it was reduced by 20–92% when this weed was grown with cover crop plants. E. colona’s seed production was significantly suppressed by all the cover crops, except pigeonpea. Biomass of E. colona was suppressed largely by forage sorghum and Japanese millet compared to other cover crops. Among the cover crops, pigeonpea produced the lowest biomass of 11 g pot-1, and the highest biomass (114 g pot-1) was produced by forage sorghum. The study demonstrated the usefulness of cover crops, especially forage sorghum and Japanese millet, to suppress the growth and seed output of E. colona.

Beyond Neighborhood Design: Exploring the Effects of Smart Growth on Older Adults’ Travel Behavior over Time

Previous studies mainly substantiate the influence of neighborhood design on older adults’ travel behavior. This study goes beyond and examines how smart growth affects older adults’ travel behavior over time in the central Puget Sound. Using regression models for the years 1999, 2006, and 2014, we find that smart growth factors have significant but changing effects. The regional growth centers play a growing role in reducing older adults’ travel distance, trip frequency, and promoting non-car commuting modes. This study adds to the knowledge of how older adults’ travel behavior can be affected by the multilevel and long-term urban development strategies.

Laypeople's Collaborative Immersive Virtual Reality Design Discourse in Neighborhood Design

The article discusses design communication and participation of laypeople in a virtual participatory urban design process. We speculate that an immersive virtual environment facilitated instrument can allow laypeople to take part actively as designers in the early stage of urban design ideation and generation. We have developed a design communication framework where laypeople can participate in design discourse on a neighborhood's future urban form. The strategy describes an urban design intent, which is informed by the development procedure of an instrument and workflow to engage participants. The integration of the instrument and the engagement procedure enable continuous designing of urban form by laypeople. A protocol analysis has been undertaken to investigate design communication. A coding scheme is applied to investigate, analyse, and understand how laypeople communicate with the design instrument and control design in the virtual environment. Through engaging non-experts, the research impacts on the perceptual affordance created by immersive 3D buildings artifacts and verbal conversation. The protocol analysis validated the setup so that subsequent studies can address the meaningfulness of such design conversations.

Laypeople's Collaborative Immersive Virtual Reality Design Discourse in Neighborhood Design

The article discusses design communication and participation of laypeople in a virtual participatory urban design process. We speculate that an immersive virtual environment facilitated instrument can allow laypeople to take part actively as designers in the early stage of urban design ideation and generation. We have developed a design communication framework where laypeople can participate in design discourse on a neighborhood's future urban form. The strategy describes an urban design intent, which is informed by the development procedure of an instrument and workflow to engage participants. The integration of the instrument and the engagement procedure enable continuous designing of urban form by laypeople. A protocol analysis has been undertaken to investigate design communication. A coding scheme is applied to investigate, analyse, and understand how laypeople communicate with the design instrument and control design in the virtual environment. Through engaging non-experts, the research impacts on the perceptual affordance created by immersive 3D buildings artifacts and verbal conversation. The protocol analysis validated the setup so that subsequent studies can address the meaningfulness of such design conversations.

Classification of TOD Typologies Based on Pedestrian Behavior for Sustainable and Active Urban Growth in Seoul

Transit-oriented development (TOD) pursues sustainable urban development through compact growth, mixed-use zoning, and pedestrian-friendly neighborhood design in cooperation with transportation planning. Seoul has actively developed urban rail transit since the 1970s based on a TOD concept, and each station’s areas have differently evolved throughout the history of urbanization in Seoul. In response to investigating the complications of current TOD, this paper evaluates TOD characteristics through accessibility and clustering analysis methods and categorizes TOD types using the targeted 246 subway station areas at the neighborhood level. As a result, subway TODs are grouped into the four distinct categories of (1) high-density: a form of mainly mixed-use with residential and retail development and good accessibility; (2) moderate-density: average accessibility and high-mixed use; (3) compact business district setting: highly accessible to offices and retail; and (4) compact housing: high-rise apartments with schools and retail. The results also find that Cluster 2 is the most common TOD type and redevelopment possibility in Seoul, with relatively lower ranks in the building floor area (GFA) and diversity in comparison to other TOD contexts. Cluster 3 has the most significant transit demand, generating an active transit environment in Seoul. Different urban development periods impact the characteristics of TOD types.