The emergence of climate change requires effective public policies for the governance of water resources in urban environments, with the aim of guaranteeing water availability in large cities. The main objective of the study carried out in Mané Dendê, a stream in the Cobre River basin, located in Salvador (Bahia, Brazil), was to evaluate a process of urban renaturalization as a strategy for recovering watercourses in a peripheral, low-income, and unequal area, using nature-based solutions and blue-green infrastructures. The methodological procedures were based on bibliographical research and analysis, statistical and cartographic data collection, as well as field research. The Cobre River basin represents the last water source with good water quality indices in Salvador, the only exception being its tributary Mané Dendê. The importance and urgency of regenerating this water body are evident, in order to guarantee water availability, increase water quality, and provide leisure spaces for the community, which is mostly low-income and racialized. The technical dimension of the action to renaturalize the Mané Dendê was problematized through questions of environmental justice. The interventions of the Mané Dendê Basin Requalification Project represent a road project that values the interconnection of transport modes in the city and disregards the socio-environmental aspect, creating more impermeable areas, removing areas of riparian forest, and keeping the main river polluted and channeled, not meeting sustainability standards.
Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying, Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology
Cynthia Rosenzweig, William Solecki, Erin Friedman
et al.
Abstract Cities play a leading role in climate change actions and solutions, yet city-level case study sources remain fragmented, biased towards large cities, and inaccessible to local practitioners, notably in the Global South. In response, the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN) is developing a City Solutions Case Study Atlas (City CSA), a centralized and searchable online platform that integrates diverse case studies focused on climate solutions with an interactive global map containing multiple data layers. The UCCRN City CSA provides an evidence base for academics, urban policymakers, city practitioners, city networks, civil society, and the financial sector to facilitate equitable knowledge transfer and support the development and implementation of context-specific, science-informed urban climate solutions. This paper presents the framework, metadata, and structure of the UCCRN City CSA and assesses metadata search filters and large language model (LLM)-assisted discourse analysis as complementary tools for three user types.
The transition towards sustainable cities is progressing, with numerous smart city technologies and innovative concepts being implemented. However, these advancements have predominantly focused on urban areas, often overlooking the critical need for integrating transportation systems with surrounding rural regions. Equitable access for vulnerable populations in peripheral areas remains underexplored, with most research focusing on the elderly while neglecting other vulnerable groups such as ethnic and gender minorities, women, young people, and individuals with serious health conditions. Empirical evidence shows that many rely on private transportation or are confined to small, localized areas. This article, through a literature review, analyses emerging research evidence on transportation for vulnerable groups, emphasizing the need to integrate technological solutions for individuals with reduced mobility (e.g. such as the visually impaired) into digital mobility platforms and land-use planning. The study highlights the lack of focus on rural regions and diverse vulnerable groups, stressing the importance of better integrating technology and land-use planning to improve transportation accessibility.
Transportation engineering, Urbanization. City and country
Lucy Szaboova, W. Neil Adger, Ricardo Safra de Campos
et al.
Abstract New migrant populations in rapidly growing cities globally are often socially and politically marginalized, limiting their potential to contribute to the positive transformation of urban futures. Such marginalisation can potentially be overcome through deliberate efforts to build empathy between groups. Here we apply insights on empathic action to planning processes with the aim of diversifying planning processes to provide plural perspectives on risk and sustainability and giving marginalised groups opportunities to shape key decisions. We report on action research to examine whether empathic connection between urban planners and new migrant populations leads to processes that enhance and integrate new voices and perspectives. The intervention involved photo-elicitation interviews, focus groups and perspective exchange workshops over eighteen months of intensive engagement in Chattogram, Bangladesh. The findings demonstrate that empathy for diverse social groups has practical implications for sustainability where individuals have agency and feel empowered to enhance each other’s wellbeing.
Katharina Hölscher, Niki Frantzeskaki, Marcus John Collier
et al.
Abstract This paper explores the institutional mainstreaming of nature-based solutions (NBS) to advance a process-based understanding about how to strategically develop the governance capacities needed for systemic, localised and inclusive NBS. To this end, it reports how policy officers in ten European cities have started to mainstream NBS by interacting with and changing incumbent governance arrangements when experimenting with novel governance processes and mechanisms to plan, deliver and steward NBS. Based on these activities of the policy officers, the analysis identifies three strategies, associated stepping stones and changes in governance conditions, to mainstream NBS in governance capacities: institutionalising (a) a systems’ approach to link NBS to policies, regulations, and departments across goals and sectors, (b) inclusive collaborations for localised and inclusive interventions, and (c) reflexivity and learning about how NBS interact with the (institutional, ecological, social, etc.) contexts and create impacts. The strategies illustrate institutional entrepreneurship in interacting with incumbent governance contexts, and how starting from NBS as a type of systemic innovation can promote broader shifts in urban governance arrangements.
Federico Cugurullo. Frankenstein Urbanism: Eco, Smart and Autonomous Cities, Artificial Intelligence and the End of the City, 2021, pp. 213, £35.99 (Paperback), £26.99 (e-book), ISBN 9781138101784.
After debates about whether or not multistory buildings damaged the historical silhouette of İstanbul, the horizontal architectural discourse was established as an important element of the government’s urban policy. It has been argued that horizontal architecture will strengthen neighborly relations by rebuilding neighborhood culture and reducing building damage after natural disasters, in addition to contributing to the appearance of cities. Based on these considerations, the Planned Areas Zoning Regulation, which came into effect in 2017, reflects the horizontal architecture discourse in the legislation. The Eleventh Development Plan, election manifestos, and regulations limiting floor heights all reflect the horizontal architecture discourse. However, the applicability of horizontal architecture as well as the pertinence of regulations and projects purportedly created for horizontal architecture have sparked a new debate topic. In this paper, the horizontal architectural discourse and practices of the government are analyzed from the perspective of architect Turgut Cansever, a pioneer of horizontal architecture. Cansever’s “horizon condominium,” which was called horizon (horizontal) urbanism by his follower H. Ibrahim Düzenli, reflects a completely different type of urbanization from today’s construction system, which consists of 1–2 story detached houses with gardens and was inspired by the Ottoman city system. In this context, it is impossible to state that the applications made after the horizontal architectural discourse in our country have resulted in a significant improvement compared to the past. Thus, it is evident that the objectives of the horizontal architectural discourse and the existing construction practices are incompatible.
This paper attempts to analyse the trends of urbanization based on three-decade census data during 1991, 2001, and 2011 in Nagaur city. Various dimensions of urbanization have been studied through charts and diagrams. For this purpose, the urban parameters such as the growth rate of the urban population, gender dynamics, literacy rate, density, work, and economic structure of the Nagaur city have been examined. Results show that in these last three decades the urban structure of Nagaur city has been changed due to rapid industrialization and rural to urban migration. Urbanization in Nagaur has been relatively slow compared to many developing megacities. As per data released by Govt. of India, Nagaur is an Urban Agglomeration coming under the category of Class I UAs/Towns. According to trends, Nagaur is at the acceleration stage of the process of urbanization. Rapid urbanization raises many issues that might have both positive and negative impacts on the environment. In this situation, monitoring urbanization is vital for planners, management, government, and non-government organizations for implementing policies to optimize the use of natural resources and accommodate development at the same time minimizing the impact on the environment.
Sonja Deppisch, Gesa Geißler, Christian Poßer
et al.
Durch den globalen Wandel und Änderungen der Raum- und Flächennutzung werden Ökosysteme und ihre Leistungen zunehmend beeinträchtigt. Vor diesem Hintergrund steht in Frage, wie die Leistungsfähigkeit der Ökosysteme sowie alle
Leistungen, die diese bereitstellen, ausreichend in der Steuerung der Raum- und Flächenentwicklung in Deutschland berücksichtigt, gesichert und entwickelt werden können und wie die gesellschaftliche Relevanz von Ökosystemleistungen
auch in der räumlichen Planung ihren Niederschlag finden kann. Derzeit werden in der Praxis der räumlichen Planung in Deutschland kaum Chancen gesehen, dass neue Verfahren etabliert werden können, die auf dem Ökosystemleistungs-Ansatz basieren und dazu führen könnten, diesen umfassend in die Planung zu integrieren. Allerdings ist die Modernisierung von formellen und informellen Planungsinstrumenten längerfristig angelegt, wozu der Ökosystemleistungs-Ansatz sowohl methodisch als auch konzeptionell einen wesentlichen Beitrag leisten kann. Deshalb wird in vorliegendem Beitrag diskutiert, wie der Ökosystemleistungs-Ansatz kurz bis mittelfristigen Eingang in die formelle räumliche Planung finden kann und welcher gesellschaftliche und ökologische
Mehrwert darüber generiert werden kann. Dazu werden die Chancen und Risiken unterschiedlicher Implementierungen erwogen und einzelne Ansatzpunkte näher ausgeführt.
Cities. Urban geography, Urbanization. City and country
Sadia Afroj, Fahmida Hanif, Muntasir Bin Hossain
et al.
Rapid urban population growth stimulates the challenges of city government authorities in providing the municipal services adequately considering the citizen’s demand. While the gap persists between the service provision and citizen’s perception on it, the quality of life of cities may deteriorate due to psychological dissatisfaction of dwellers with urban services. Hence the evaluation of the urban service quality from the citizen’s perspective and accordingly addressing the gap is necessary for sustainable urban management. This study shows a common framework incorporating SERVQUAL, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Citizen’s Score Card to define the quality of municipal services spatially and functionally based on the satisfaction of citizens. The items under the dimensions of SERVQUAL and the weightages of each dimension were set through literature review and expert opinion. Dhaka, the only megacity of Bangladesh is experiencing an impetuous growth towards its northern portion and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) is the responsible authority to supply the municipal facilities within this area. Nine residential neighborhoods having homogeneous characteristics in terms of population density, residential land use, built up area and income level within the jurisdictional area of DNCC were selected to collect the data. The data were collected through household questionnaire survey using stratified random sampling technique where people responded for each SERVQUAL questions and scored the facilities provided by the DNCC. The result shows citizens are moderately satisfied (63.3%) with municipal services aggregately. To meet the demand of dwellers, the city government authority should be more functional, reliable and participatory and be equipped with qualified manpower and facilities. Despite the locational characteristics are uniform among the case areas, Ward 3, Ward 4 and Ward 31 are in unprivileged state in terms of municipal services. The facilities of public toilet, parking and disaster management activities performed by DNCC are commonly in unsatisfactory state in all areas that require special attention from the authority. Based on the findings, it could be stated that where the city government authority is roughly unsusceptible to meet the demand of the existing population, the enormous population growth within urban areas could affect the life quality poorly. Therefore this paper would fetch a course where the deficiency on urban services would be evaluated under a common arena considering the psychological aspect of citizen, thereby priority interventions could be ascertained for enhancing the life quality of urban areas.
Urbanization. City and country, Political institutions and public administration (General)
In recent decades, climate change has become one of the most discussed topics within the territorial planning debates, both at European and Italian level. Urban and territorial planning addresses the topic in different ways according to the territorial and legislative context and according to the level of government of the territory involved. In the following article, firstly, the role of planning at European level in the fight against the negative effects of climate change is defined. Subsequently the focus is shifted to the Italian territorial context; in particular, to the role that the level of government of the metropolitan area, introduced in 2014 with the law 56/2014, better known as the Delrio Law, can play within these environmental challenges. Although the Italian metropolitan cities are widely differing in terms of territory, population and economy, they can represent, according to some visions, a potential pivot for the development of the entire nation. In 2017, Italian metropolitan cities signed the ''Bologna Charter'', a document that places them as protagonists of environmental protection and sustainable development. By means of this document, metropolitan cities undertake to counteract the negative effects of climate change by achieving eight macro objectives. The process of analysis of metropolitan cities and their planning tools has enabled the identification of virtuous metropolitan planning cases, which were found to be those of the Metropolitan Cities of Bologna, Milan and Venice. Subsequently, the actions that the three metropolitan cities have in order to achieve the eight objectives of the Bologna Charter, were analyzed. Precisely through this critical reading, it was possible to identify the best practices implemented. The topics most dealt within the metropolitan strategic plans are: sustainable mobility, energy efficiency, prevention of the effects of climate change, urban green areas and the protection of biodiversity. In relation to these issues, the three selected case studies implement noteworthy actions, which have been identified as possible models for other metropolitan bodies. The conclusion reached at the end of this analysis and comparison work, appears to be the belief that Italian metropolitan cities could actually play a coordinating role in climate change policies, promoting an integrated approach to spatial planning. To ensure that this result can be achieved, the promotion of a strong integration between the level of government of the metropolitan area and the local one is necessary. The latter, in fact, is indicated by supranational policies as the most suitable for dealing with the problem of climate change. The further conclusion reached concerns the importance of the mayor in this context. This figure is the most suitable for implementing the integration between the two levels of government of the territory. The Delrio Law establishes, indeed, that the mayors of the metropolitan bodies coincide with those of the main town.
Transportation engineering, Urbanization. City and country
Annegret Haase, Maria Budnik, Katrin Großmann
et al.
Social differentiation has developed to be one of the crucial characteristics of urban development in Eastern Germany's large cities, an issue that is increasingly reflected in daily life perceptions and policy-making. This development can be especially observed in those cities that, after a phase of shrinkage in the 1990s, have seen new growth during the last years. The focus is here on social differentiation that we understand as an increase in social inequalities, and on social heterogeneity that is understood as pluralization of cultural and religious identities, lifestyles and living environments. Set against this background, the paper discusses social differentiation and increasing heterogeneity in Leipzig with a focus on daily life perceptions by the residents and local policy development. It analyses how social difference and increasing heterogeneity have become an issue for daily routines and practices as well as for policy formulation and how both perspectives interact. The paper is based on a multi-dimensional understanding of heterogeneity including the socio-economic, demographic, lifestyle and ethnic-migration dimension. Spatially, both the total city and neighbourhood perspective are in focus. The paper concludes, among others, that social heterogeneity in its horizontal dimension is being recognised and accepted and that this is reflected by policy development as well. This does not apply in the same manner for increasing social inequalities. The example of Leipzig shows, furthermore, that there is a need for more differentiation in the local discourse with respect to the explicit recognition of horizontal difference, the need to counteract vertical social inequalities and the fact that out of the interaction/intersection of both dimensions, a bundle of new equivocalities and complexities emerge.
Cities. Urban geography, Urbanization. City and country
The importance of urban transition is recognized in the literature, but largely underexplored in developing world cities. There are no actual relationships between projections and discussions of spatial growth with urban and regional reality. This paper attempts to fill this gap by assessing the spatio-temporal patterns of land use dynamics in urban and peri-urban areas of Lucknow, which is the capital city of India’s largest State, Uttar Pradesh. It also evaluates to what extent the Master Plan 2021 deviates from the actual reality. The finding shows that patterns of urban growth do not follow Master Plan and even Master Plan deviates profoundly from the preferred land suitability. The multi-temporal land use change statistics reveal two major land transformation trends between 1997 and 2010: ( i) Intensification of urbanization in the central core areas where a few remaining open areas and water bodies were occupied and landfilled to accommodate residential developments. ( ii) Urban expansion in peri-urban/suburban areas through edge expansion and envelopment, where the extension of urban core increased at the cost of permanent crops and pastures. The results indicate that substantial Class I agricultural land was lost due to urban growth during 1997—2010, with an average annual rate of 13 per cent. Around 77 per cent of the available land in the peri-urban areas has weak or very weak suitability for future urban development primarily because of the high conservation and agriculture suitability and incompatibility of physical land use to enable infrastructure. The case is similar to any other developing city and transition country of the global south and may provide useful policy lessons.
El objetivo de este artículo es mostrar la injerencia del Estado nacional en la gestión de planes ferroviarios desde que los ferrocarriles del territorio argentino fueron nacionalizados en 1948. A partir de entonces, la infraestructura ferroviaria fue propiedad pública, demandando una sistematización tendiente a disminuir redundancias, porque numerosas compañías habían “colonizado” el espacio urbano y territorial. Con la infraestructura en dominio estatal, tres estrategias de gobierno con distintas ideologías fueron implementadas hasta la privatización de 1989, y evidencian transformaciones en la estructura urbana de Santa Fe.
Cities. Urban geography, Urbanization. City and country
Christian Holz-Rau, Christian Holz-Rau, Kathrin Sicks
There is a bulk of research on spatial differences in travel behaviour, more specifically travel distances. This research suggests that the distances travelled by the population of small municipalities are longer than that by the population of larger cities. However, related studies focus mainly on daily travel. Long-distance trips are included as a minor aspect ‘on top’, if at all. Often they are deliberately excluded from analysis due to the focus on daily travel. On the other hand, long-distance travel accounts for a large fraction in total mileage due to the length of trips. In this paper we study travel distances in daily trips and long-distance trips, comparing municipality size categories. We also study the sum of annual travel distances on the individual level. We use descriptive statistics as well as Heckman models and OLS regressions, controlling for various sociodemographics. We find distances travelled for long-distance trips and daily trips to be affected by sociodemographics in much the same way, while spatial effects affect distances travelled for daily and long-distance trips in different directions. While daily travel distances are negatively associated with municipality size, it is the other way round for long-distance trips. As an outcome, the travel reduction effect of large cities is largely compensated for by long-distance trips.
Cities. Urban geography, Urbanization. City and country
An inter-municipal and informal cooperation dealing with commercial land development exists in the region Halle/Leipzig since 2009. The cooperation is formed by cities and villages and extends over the border between the two federal states of Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. The article gives an overview of the previous steps and its main results, i.e. conclusions of an evaluation of the commercial land potential in the region Halle/Leipzig. In addition, it describes the functioning as well as the communication patterns within the cooperation. However, the main goal of this article is to determine how the inter-municipal cooperation can be classified as a form of regional governance, based on the theoretical debate on that topic. General conclusions will be drawn as well as implications for the upcoming process in the region Halle/Leipzig.
Cities. Urban geography, Urbanization. City and country