How should cities invest to improve social welfare when individuals respond strategically to local conditions? We model this question using a game-theoretic version of Schelling's bounded neighbourhood model, where agents choose neighbourhoods based on concave, non-monotonic utility functions reflecting local population. While naive improvements may worsen outcomes - analogous to Braess' paradox - we show that carefully designed, small-scale investments can reliably align individual incentives with societal goals. Specifically, modifying utilities at a total cost of at most $0.81 ε^2 \cdot \texttt{opt}$ guarantees that every resulting Nash equilibrium achieves a social welfare of at least $ε\cdot \texttt{opt}$, where $\texttt{opt}$ is the optimum social welfare. Our results formalise how targeted interventions can transform supra-negative outcomes into supra-positive returns, offering new insights into strategic urban planning and decentralised collective behaviour.
As extreme heat events intensify due to climate change and urbanization, cities face increasing challenges in mitigating outdoor heat stress. While traditional physical models such as SOLWEIG and ENVI-met provide detailed assessments of human-perceived heat exposure, their computational demands limit scalability for city-wide planning. In this study, we propose GSM-UTCI, a multimodal deep learning framework designed to predict daytime average Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) at 1-meter hyperlocal resolution. The model fuses surface morphology (nDSM), high-resolution land cover data, and hourly meteorological conditions using a feature-wise linear modulation (FiLM) architecture that dynamically conditions spatial features on atmospheric context. Trained on SOLWEIG-derived UTCI maps, GSM-UTCI achieves near-physical accuracy, with an R2 of 0.9151 and a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.41°C, while reducing inference time from hours to under five minutes for an entire city. To demonstrate its planning relevance, we apply GSM-UTCI to simulate systematic landscape transformation scenarios in Philadelphia, replacing bare earth, grass, and impervious surfaces with tree canopy. Results show spatially heterogeneous but consistently strong cooling effects, with impervious-to-tree conversion producing the highest aggregated benefit (-4.18°C average change in UTCI across 270.7 km2). Tract-level bivariate analysis further reveals strong alignment between thermal reduction potential and land cover proportions. These findings underscore the utility of GSM-UTCI as a scalable, fine-grained decision support tool for urban climate adaptation, enabling scenario-based evaluation of greening strategies across diverse urban environments.
Quantifying and assessing urban greenery is consequential for planning and development, reflecting the everlasting importance of green spaces for multiple climate and well-being dimensions of cities. Evaluation can be broadly grouped into objective (e.g., measuring the amount of greenery) and subjective (e.g., polling the perception of people) approaches, which may differ -- what people see and feel about how green a place is might not match the measurements of the actual amount of vegetation. In this work, we advance the state of the art by measuring such differences and explaining them through human, geographic, and spatial dimensions. The experiments rely on contextual information extracted from street view imagery and a comprehensive urban visual perception survey collected from 1,000 people across five countries with their extensive demographic and personality information. We analyze the discrepancies between objective measures (e.g., Green View Index (GVI)) and subjective scores (e.g., pairwise ratings), examining whether they can be explained by a variety of human and visual factors such as age group and spatial variation of greenery in the scene. The findings reveal that such discrepancies are comparable around the world and that demographics and personality do not play a significant role in perception. Further, while perceived and measured greenery correlate consistently across geographies (both where people and where imagery are from), where people live plays a significant role in explaining perceptual differences, with these two, as the top among seven, features that influences perceived greenery the most. This location influence suggests that cultural, environmental, and experiential factors substantially shape how individuals observe greenery in cities.
Participation in urban planning is championed for entrenching democracy and development. Malawi passed the Local Government Act (1998) and Decentralization Policy (1998) to facilitate community participation in decision-making processes. Several studies have been conducted on decentralization and local governance on community participation. Little attention has been paid to examining the impact of the language used in planning processes on democracy and inclusivity envisaged in the law and policy. Using communicative action theory, the study examined challenges posed by language used in planning processes on inclusivity in the approval processes of urban plans. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, observations and document review and analyzed using thematic and discourse analysis. The findings show that while there is high participation at community planning levels, because planners communicate using local languages, participation is compromised in the service committees at city level where final planning decisions are made due to language barrier. Specifically, lack of sincerity, truthfulness, comprehensibility and therefore legitimacy are apparent. Planners are reluctant to simplify written language and translate planning jargon into local languages for councillors to understand. The study concludes that community participation in the urban planning process in Mzuzu fails to entrench democracy due to lack of inclusiveness owing to the language barrier at city level where final planning decisions are made. The study proposes a framework for inclusive participation in urban planning including the motivation, conditions for effective participation and outcomes of participation.
Urban environments in hot-arid regions are increasingly challenged by rising temperatures, rapid urban expansion, and reliance on energy intensive mechanical cooling systems. This study presents a systematic review of peer reviewed literature from 1980 to 2025 to assess both traditional and contemporary passive cooling strategies tailored for arid urban settings. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, 30 high-quality studies were selected from databases including Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. These works span diverse geographical contexts from the Middle East and North Africa to parts of South Asia, and apply methods including field experiments, computer-based simulations, and qualitative analyses. Findings highlight strong consensus around passive principles such as solar control, natural ventilation, and the use of thermal mass. Vernacular solutions like courtyards, wind towers, and thick masonry walls remain effective, while innovations such as cool roofs, phase change materials, and parametric optimization techniques expand the design toolkit. Implementation is often limited by climate variability, cultural shifts, regulations, and economic feasibility. The review concludes that context-sensitive, hybrid solutions combining traditional knowledge with modern technology hold the greatest potential for achieving sustainable thermal comfort. These approaches must be supported by adaptive urban planning, user centered design, and updated building codes. The study offers practical insights for architects, planners, and policymakers aiming to create resilient, low-carbon cities that harmonize cultural identity with environmental responsibility.
Caring for the elderly, aging-in-place, and enabling the elderly to maintain a good life continue to be topics of increasing importance, especially in countries with a higher percentage of older people, as people live longer, and care-giving costs rise. This position paper proposes the concept of urban agetech, where agetech services beyond the home can be an integral part of a modern ageing-friendly city, and where support for the elderly, where needed, in the form of automated systems (e.g., robots and automated vehicles) would be a normal city function/service, akin to the rather commonplace public transport services today.
Francisco Martin Villarreal Solis, Mario Alberto García Meza, Jose Gerardo Ignacio Gómez Romero
Este artículo analiza el impacto de la presencia del crimen organizado en las remesas en México durante la pandemia de covid-19. La hipótesis plantea que el crimen organizado ha capitalizado el incremento en los flujos de remesas como una estrategia para introducir dinero ilícito tras el cierre de fronteras. Se analizó el comportamiento de las remesas en 74 municipios de 23 áreas metropolitanas y se compararon los periodos previo y posterior a la pandemia. Los resultados muestran un aumento de 23% en las remesas en regiones con alta presencia del crimen organizado, frente a 8.47% en otras zonas urbanas.
Cities. Urban geography, Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology
João Pedro Pereira Caetano de Lima, Raul Borges Guimarães
This article presents a methodological guide for analyzing COVID-19 at the intra-urban scale in non-metropolitan areas of south-central Brazil. To this end, it briefly discusses the COVID-19 pandemic and pertinent questions for making COVID-19 maps in different urban realities. It then presents different mapping techniques and how they can be implemented, especially in medium-sized cities. Point implementation, including proportional symbols and distribution in points; II. Zonal implementation with choropleth maps with some examples of epidemiological rates and bivariate choropleth maps; III. Surface implementation with maps using the Kernel Estimator; IV - spatial statistics maps and, finally, combination and synthesis maps, seeking to aggregate various pieces of information into a synthetic cartographic product. It is important to make it clear that the techniques and modes of deployment are subject to an assessment of the potential and weaknesses of the techniques given the type of data available. We therefore hope that this article will be useful for beginners in the fields of cartography and geography and for those who wish to improve their knowledge.
This study evaluates the impact of daily traffic activity at the four-legged intersection at the Cimencrang railway crossing, in the Al Jabbar Mosque area, using the Indonesian Road Capacity Guidelines (PKJI) 2023. The aim of this study is to assess the traffic performance affecting the efficiency of at-grade road and railway crossings in the area. This evaluation is essential to understand the traffic dynamics in the area, which will help the government in designing traffic and transportation management methods to reduce future congestion. Traffic data was collected through direct surveys during peak hours on weekdays, covering vehicle volume, vehicle types, and the geometric dimensions of the roads at the intersection. The evaluation results indicate that the intersection’s Volume to Capacity Ratio (VCR) at the study site is 0.74. The findings also suggest that this four-legged intersection frequently experiences critical conditions, with Levels of Service (LOS) ranging from C to E during busy hours. The study recommends improving traffic management and infrastructure to enhance performance and traffic conditions, as well as road user safety in this area. It is hoped that these findings can serve as a foundation for local government in planning more effective traffic policies in the area, and provide insights into the processes and procedures of traffic evaluation at four-legged intersections.
Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is expected to effectively complement the existing transportation system by providing fast and safe travel options, contributing to decarbonization, and providing benefits to citizens and communities. A preliminary estimate of the potential global demand for UAM, the associated aircraft movements, and the required vehicles is essential for the UAM industry for their long-term planning, but also of interest to other stakeholders such as governments and transportation planners to develop appropriate strategies and actions to implement UAM. This paper proposes a city-centric forecasting methodology that provides preliminary estimates of the potential global UAM demand for intra-city air taxi services for 990 cities worldwide. By summing all city-specific results, an estimate of the global UAM demand is obtained. By varying the parameters of the UAM system, sensitivity studies and different market scenarios are developed and analyzed. Sensitivity analyses show how strongly demand decreases when air taxi ticket prices increase. Considering low ticket prices and high vertiport densities, possible market development scenarios show that there is a market potential for UAM in over 200 cities worldwide by 2050. The study highlights the significant impact of low ticket prices and the need for high vertiport densities to drive UAM demand. This highlights the need for careful optimization of system components to minimize costs and increase the quality of UAM services.
Fadrique I. Iglesias Mendizábal, José Luis García Cuesta
The supply and demand of vibrant places are often considered a luxurious goal for cities rather than an essential engine for business and talent attraction. With the ongoing development of Amazon HQ in Arlington and the potential jobs that will originate, the city must be prepared to fulfill the expectations of residents, workers, and investors. Through a qualitative analysis and interviews with relevant practitioners, this paper studies the potential gap between the current creative ecosystem by discussing the supply of cultural goods and services, Arlington’s proposal, and the benefits and risks of achieving the targets, based on lessons from Seattle. To maximize what is expected, it will be imperative to foster a coordinated and creative environment while celebrating the unique essence of Arlington’s communities and the potential risks these changes may bring.
Amro M. Farid, Muhannad Alshareef, Parupkar Singh Badhesha
et al.
At the turn of the 21st century, urban development has experienced a paradigm shift so that the quest for smarter cities has become a priority agenda, with the direct participation of industry, policymakers, practitioners, and the scientific community alike. The 2008 financial crisis, the exodus from rural areas, and the densification of urban centers coupled with environmental and sustainability concerns have posed enormous challenges to municipalities all over the globe. The United Nations predicts that the world population will reach 9.8 billion by 2050, a growth of 2.1 billion from the 2018 level. Almost all of this population growth will occur in urban areas and, consequently, stress already overloaded transportation systems.
It is widely acknowledged that firms require an efficient regulatory environment: if transaction costs generated by business regulations are not onerous, firms grow more and develop more quickly, attract more foreign direct investment, and employ more workers. But what does it induce alterations in the basic institutional framework? In this paper we intend to test North’s thesis by which as trade expands and the size of the market grows, transaction costs increase requiring that more and more resources should be devoted to improving existing regulations and, then, reducing such costs. The paper is structured as follows. Section 1 introduces. Section 2 provides the theoretical background. Section 3, based on World Bank data on 30 Chinese cities, investigates whether there is a correlation at urban and provincial levels between efficient business regulations on one side and economic outcomes (gross domestic product, foreign direct investment, employment, etc.) on the other. Section 4 addresses the pilot question mentioned above and tests whether simpler and less costly ways of meeting legal requirements for starting and running a business are associated with long-run trade. Section 5 discusses results in the light of theoretically assumed causal links and proposes a 2SLS regression model, whereby a geographical instrumental variable is used to investigate the causal relationship between business regulations and exports.
Cities. Urban geography, Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology
In this article, I set out an approach to cities and urbanisation through a relational geography of urban density. While density has long been central to the urban question, I argue for a focus on the relationship between densification, de-densification, and re-densification as basis for understanding urban transformations and futures. A focus on the relational geographies of de/re-densification entails attending to three vital inter-related processes: urban transformation, sociospatial inequality, and ecological crisis. Taken together, this demands a critical approach to the framing and operation of de/re-densification geographies. I reflect on the implications for a politics of density.
ABSTRACT Global urbanism tends to think cities in categories of “Global North” and “Global South”. But what about all those cities that escape easy classification into these hemispheric categories? Cities that could be said to belong to the Global Easts. This introduction to the special issue “The Global Easts in Global Urbanism: views from beyond North and South” shines a spotlight on cities in-between North and South. At the risk of being sidelined in debates in global urbanism, these cities have much to contribute to global theorizations of the urban. This introduction presents a group of articles that in different ways illustrate the breadth and depth of current research on urban and geographical knowledge production in and with the Global Easts. We specifically focus on one emergent convergence among urban research concerns, namely, problematizing the unidirectional teleology of a transition to an ideal type free market economy with democracy which is often at work with regard to cities in the Global Easts. The collected papers draw our attention to a number of co-existing temporalities and differing time coordinates and claim that it is high time for the Global Easts to contest their marginalization in the global academe.
Hour-by-hour variations in spatial distribution of gender, age and social class within cities remain poorly explored and combined in the segregation literature mainly centered on home places from a single social dimension. Taking advantage of 49 mobility surveys compiled together (385,000 respondents and 1,711,000 trips) and covering 60% of France's population, we consider variations in hourly populations of 2,572 districts after disaggregating population across gender, age and education level. We first isolate five district hourly profiles (two 'daytime attractive', two 'nighttime attractive' and one more 'stable') with very unequal distributions according to urban gradient but also to social groups. We then explore the intersectional forms of these everyday geographies. Taking as reference the dominant groups (men, middle-age and high educated people) known as concentrating hegemonic power and capital, we analyze specifically whether district hourly profiles of dominant groups diverge from those of the others groups. It is especially in the areas exhibiting strong increase or strong decrease of ambient population during the day that district hourly profiles not only combine the largest dissimilarities all together across gender, age and education level but are also widely more synchronous between dominant groups than between non-dominant groups (women, elderly and low educated people). These intersectional patterns shed new light on areas where peers are synchronously located over the 24-hour period and thus potentially in better position to interact and to defend their common interests.