Towards sustainable urban communities

Requirements for the assessment tools of buildings have increased, assessing of building components or separate buildings is not enough. Neighbourhoods, built environment, public transportations, and services, should be considered simultaneously. Number of population living in urban areas is high and increasing rapidly. Urbanisation is a major concern due to its detrimental effects on the environment. The aim of this study is to clarify the field of assessment tools for urban communities by analysing the current situation. The focus is on internationally well known assessment tools; BREEAM Communities, CASBEE for Urban Development and LEED for Neigborhood Development.The interest towards certification systems is increasing amongst the authorities, and especially amongst the global investors and property developers. Achieved certifications are expected to bring measureable publicity for the developers. The assessment of urban areas enables the comparison of municipalities and urban areas, and notably supports decision making processes. Authorities, city planners, and designers would benefit most from the use of the tools during the decision making process.     

Life cycle assessment as an analytical tool in strategic environmental assessment. Lessons learned from a case study on municipal energy planning in Sweden

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is explored as an analytical tool in strategic environmental assessment (SEA), illustrated by case where a previously developed SEA process was applied to municipal energy planning in Sweden. The process integrated decision-making tools for scenario planning, public participation and environmental assessment. This article describes the use of LCA for environmental assessment in this context, with focus on methodology and practical experiences. While LCA provides a systematic framework for the environmental assessment and a wider systems perspective than what is required in SEA, LCA cannot address all aspects of environmental impact required, and therefore needs to be complemented by other tools. The integration of LCA with tools for public participation and scenario planning posed certain methodological challenges, but provided an innovative approach to designing the scope of the environmental assessment and defining and assessing alternatives.     

An LCA-based environmental impact assessment model for regulatory planning

Assessing the environmental impact (EI) of regulatory planning (a lower tier in the Chinese urban planning system) has significant implications for improving the environmental performance of the future built environment. Current environmental impact assessments generally focus on microscale and macroscale, while mesoscale studies at region level are lacking. To fill this gap, this paper proposes an LCA-based environmental impact assessment model for regulatory planning, which focuses on embodied EI of urban construction and operational EI associated with the operation of the built environment. To ensure the regulatory plans both meet the environmental limits and fit well with environmental policy requirements, this paper also presents a new impact analysis method by integrating environmental carrying capacity analysis and distance to target method. The Statutory Plan of Shenzhen Futian Free Trade Zone 03-T2 is used as a case study to test and demonstrate the applying process and functions of the proposed method. Results indicate that the proposed model can effectively quantify the future environmental impact associated with a regional development plan, and can potentially be used as a tool for urban administrators to make decisions on regulatory planning revision and provide references for environmental management.     

Waste management modeling by MARKAL model: A case study for Basilicata Region

Air pollution is one of the most pressing environmental problems which affects likewise urban, industrial and rural areas. Environmental planners, regulators and decision makers need reliable, scientifically based tools to find out strategies for controlling air pollution in a cost-effective way, taking into account the whole productive system. In this framework the basic elements of energy-environmental planning have to be extended to include also waste processing technologies amongst the usually considered pollution sources. Bottom-up optimizing models, based on linear programming techniques and customized for specific cases, represent a powerful tool in energy-environmental management. This paper focuses on the integrated modeling of material flows and energy system performed on a local scale case study (Basilicata Region, Southern Italy) using the linear programming model IEA-MARKAL. We have evaluated the feasibility of the model in representing the waste management system to estimate the environmental impact of the waste processing technologies in the context of the whole productive system. A sensitivity analysis has been carried out to emphasize the connections between tariffs, waste disposal technologies assessment and atmospheric emissions. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A DSS for sustainable development and environmental protection of agricultural regions

This paper presents a decision support system (DSS) for sustainable development and environmental protection of agricultural regions developed in the framework of the Interreg-Archimed project entitled WaterMap (development and utilization of vulnerability maps for the monitoring and management of groundwater resources in the ARCHIMED areas). Its aim is to optimize the production plan of an agricultural region taking in account the available resources, the environmental parameters, and the vulnerability map of the region. The DSS is based on an optimization multicriteria model. The spatial integration of vulnerability maps in the DSS enables regional authorities to design policies for optimal agricultural development and groundwater protection from the agricultural land uses. The DSS can further be used to simulate different scenarios and policies by the local stakeholders due to changes on different social, economic, and environmental parameters. In this way, they can achieve alternative production plans and agricultural land uses as well as to estimate economic, social, and environmental impacts of different policies. The DSS is computerized and supported by a set of relational databases. The corresponding software has been developed in a Microsoft Windows XP platform, using Microsoft Visual Basic, Microsoft Access, and the LINDO library. For demonstration reasons, the paper includes an application of the DSS in a region of Northern Greece.     

Monitoring the urban green spaces and landscape fragmentation using remote sensing: a case study in Osmaniye,Turkey

Urban green spaces play a significant role in management of physical activity, psychological well-being, and public health of urban residents. With the expansion of urban areas in Turkey during the past decades, urban green spaces have been fragmented and dispersed causing impairment and environmental degradation. The purpose of this study is to model urban green space distribution by focusing on the landscape fragmentation in city of Osmaniye using remote sensing and geographic information system technology. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and urban landscape ratio (ULR) were used to assess the proximity and spatial arrangement of urban green spaces within the neighbor landscapes to quantify the urban land use effect. The geospatial analysis results showed that increase in total built-up area and population has significantly decreased the urban green space cover because of high levels of landscape fragmentation in urban city center. Also, due to high levels of landscape fragmentation, approximately 45% of the Osmaniye city is estimated to become urbanized by 2030. This study demonstrated the benefits of directional vegetation index application with geospatial analyses in characterizing the environmental quality for planning and management of urban green spaces. This approach could be used for determining the future urban land development scenarios correlating with regional planning procedures.     

浅析“城市环境综合整治定量考核”制度

分析了"城市环境综合整治定量考核"制度在指标设置、考核标准及实施过程中存在的问题,指出其对"城市环境综合整治定量考核"结果的公正性产生了影响。提出在"十二五"城考指标调整中应适当增加环境质量的比重,体现对不同地区、不同级别的城市采取分级管理、分类指导原则,并加强对环保工作的规范化和能力建设的考核,进一步提高城市环境管理水平的对策与建议。     

Assessment of flood adaptive capacity of urban areas in Thailand

Urban floods have a significant impact on the economy, livelihoods, and daily activities. Despite extensive research on flood adaptation, there is a lack of consensus on ways to assess flood adaptive capacity. This research thus proposes an assessment framework of flood adaptive capacity of urban residents in flood-prone areas. The indicators are based on six components: economic resources, social capital, awareness and training, technology, infrastructure, and institutions and policies. The relevancy of the indicators was evaluated by experts in related fields, and a questionnaire was developed to collect data from a random sample of 230 households in 10 flood-prone municipalities in Thailand. Statistical analysis and structural equation modeling were subsequently performed to validate the components and indicators, and a flood-adaptability questionnaire was constructed. As a trial implementation, the questionnaire was applied to a target flood-prone municipality, Phetchaburi, to assess its adaptive capacity to flooding, expressed as flood adaptive capacity index. The adaptive capacity of Phetchaburi municipality to flooding was found to be high indicating the improvement in economic resources and infrastructure components. These findings reveal that the proposed framework is suitable for assessing the flood adaptive capacity of urban residents and useful for integrated flood risk assessment and management.     

Health impact assessment in spatial planning in England –types of application and quality of documentation

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a decision support approach which is applied in various shapes and forms throughout the world. In England, amongst a range of areas of application, HIA is applied in local (spatial) plan making and project development planning. Whilst various authors have reflected on HIA practice in England, the extent of application and its quality has remained unclear. This paper aims at addressing this gap by reporting on the results of a systematic review of HIA in planning. It is found that between 100 and 200 HIAs are likely being produced each year in England. Whilst most assessments are rapid (desk based), there are also examples of comprehensive and intermediate HIAs, where a participatory procedural approach is followed. An important finding is that those HIAs applied within the context of other assessments (integrated impact assessment -IIA, strategic environmental assessment - SEA/ sustainability appraisal -SA and environmental impact assessment – EIA) tend to be of a higher quality than standalone HIAs, mainly because of the existing comprehensive statutory procedural requirements for these other assessments into which HIA can be integrated.     

A new assessment method for urbanization environmental impact: urban environment entropy model and its application

The thermodynamic law is one of the most widely used scientific principles. The comparability between the environmental impact of urbanization and the thermodynamic entropy was systematically analyzed. Consequently, the concept "Urban Environment Entropy" was brought forward and the "Urban Environment Entropy" model was established for urbanization environmental impact assessment in this study. The model was then utilized in a case study for the assessment of river water quality in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone. The results indicated that the assessing results of the model are consistent to that of the equalized synthetic pollution index method. Therefore, it can be concluded that the Urban Environment Entropy model has high reliability and can be applied widely in urbanization environmental assessment research using many different environmental parameters.     

Improving the effectiveness of planning EIA (PEIA) in China: Integrating planning and assessment during the preparation of Shenzhen's Master Urban Plan

The enactment and implementation of the 2003 EIA Law in China institutionalised the role of plan environmental impact assessment (PEIA). While the philosophy, methodology and mechanisms of PEIA have gradually permeated through the various levels of government with a positive effect on the process and outcome of urban planning, only a few cities in China have so far carried out PEIA as a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)-type procedure. One such case is the southern city of Shenzhen. During the past three decades, Shenzhen has grown from a small town to a large and booming city as China has successfully and rapidly developed its economy by adopting the “reform and open door” policy. In response to the challenges arising from the generally divergent processes of rapid urbanisation, economic transformation and environment protection, Shenzhen has incrementally adopted the SEA concept in developing the city's Master Urban Plan. As such, this paper reviews the effectiveness of PEIA in three ways:

• •as a tool and process for achieving more sustainable and strategic planning;
• •to determine the level of integration of SEA within the planning system; and,
• •its effectiveness vis-à-vis implementation.

The implementation of PEIA within Shenzhen's Master Urban Plan offers important insights into the emergence of innovative practices in undertaking PEIA as well as theoretical contributions to the field, especially in exploring the relationship between PEIA and SEA and highlighting the central role of local governing institutions in SEA development.     

Trace Element Patterns and Seasonal Variability of Dust Precipitation in a Low Polluted City – The Example of Karlsruhe/Germany

Urban areas of different land uses can be distinguished by their specific patterns of atmospheric dust and trace element precipitation. Dusts emitted from industrial areas with fossil fuel processing, for instance, are enriched in V, Ni and Co. Cluster analysis groups sampling sites based on their specific element patterns. The resulting groups correspond to the surrounding land use: Urban sampling sites were identified showing similar patterns of dust and trace element precipitation as a reference site; dusts of other urban sites were influenced by diffuse pollution (caused by non-point and dispersed pollution sources), or by specific industrial emissions. Cluster analysis was also used to characterize the chemical dust composition. Three clusters of typical element associations were distinguished. These clusters represent the dust matrix, diffuse urban pollution and pollution due to fossil fuel processing. Dust precipitation and chemical dust composition show seasonal variations. Dust precipitation and concentrations of trace elements in the precipitated dust are negatively correlated during the annual courses. The highest concentrations of trace elements occur during winter, whereas the highest precipitations of dust were found during summer. This finding stresses that both, precipitation and concentration have to be addressed for the environmental assessment of urban dusts.     

An evaluation of a risk-based environmental regulation in Brazil: Limitations to risk management of hazardous installations

The environmental regulation of hazardous projects with risk-based decision-making processes can lead to a deficient management of human exposure to technological hazards. Such an approach for regulation is criticized for simplifying the complexity of decisions involving the economic, social, and environmental aspects of the installation and operation of hazardous facilities in urban areas. Results of a Brazilian case study indicate that oil and gas transmission pipelines may represent a threat to diverse communities if the relationship between such linear projects and human populations is overlooked by regulatory bodies. Results also corroborate known challenges to the implementation of EIA processes and outline limitations to an effective environmental and risk management. Two preliminary topics are discussed to strengthen similar regulatory practices. Firstly, an effective integration between social impact assessment and risk assessment in EIA processes to have a more comprehensive understanding of the social fabric. Secondly, the advancement of traditional management practices for hazardous installations to pursue a strong transition from assessment and evaluation to management and control and to promote an effective interaction between land-use planning and environmental regulation.     

Decision support methods for the environmental assessment of contamination at mining sites

Polluting mine accidents and widespread environmental contamination associated with historic mining in Europe and elsewhere has triggered the improvement of related environmental legislation and of the environmental assessment and management methods for the mining industry. Mining has some unique features such as natural background pollution associated with natural mineral deposits, industrial activities and contamination located in the three-dimensional sub-surface space, the problem of long-term remediation after mine closure, problem of secondary contaminated areas around mine sites and abandoned mines in historic regions like Europe. These mining-specific problems require special tools to address the complexity of the environmental problems of mining-related contamination. The objective of this paper is to review and evaluate some of the decision support methods that have been developed and applied to mining contamination. In this paper, only those methods that are both efficient decision support tools and provide a ‘holistic’ approach to the complex problem as well are considered. These tools are (1) landscape ecology, (2) industrial ecology, (3) landscape geochemistry, (4) geo-environmental models, (5) environmental impact assessment, (6) environmental risk assessment, (7) material flow analysis and (8) life cycle assessment. This unique inter-disciplinary study should enable both the researcher and the practitioner to obtain broad view on the state-of-the-art of decision support methods for the environmental assessment of contamination at mine sites. Documented examples and abundant references are also provided.     

Estimating air quality impacts

LEONARD ORTOLANO has written a textbook, Environmental Planning and Decision Making, that is ideal for introducing undergraduates to the field of environmental planning. His three chapters on environmental impact assessment (from 16 chapters overall) present a range of impact assessment methods in a helpful decision-making context. Specific techniques for considering biological factors in planning, evaluating the visual qualities of the environment, assessing noise impacts, assessing air quality impacts, and assessing impacts on water resources are also covered in five additional chapters. Professional planners and engineers should find this introduction to the approaches employed by specialists of various kinds helpful. With the permission of the publisher, John Wiley and Sons, we here reprint Chapter 15, “Estimating Air Quality Impacts,” from Ortolano's excellent book. This straightforward presentation of a six-step process for establishing the air quality impacts of proposed development projects is a model of clarity.     

Use of a non-planning driving background change methodology to assess the land-use planning impact on the environment

The implementation of land-use planning (LUP) impacts on the environment and may degrade regional environmental quality due to the changes in land-use patterns. To minimize the environmental impact of non-LUP driven (NPD) land-use background changes (LUBC), we propose an NPD land-use background change (NPD-LUBC) methodology to improve the LUP environmental impact assessment (LUPEA) process. With the application of the state-impact-state (SIS) framework and spatial information technologies including remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS), the methodology was tested on the eastern Chinese city of Lianyungang. The results indicate that (1) our proposed methodology is capable of distinguishing the environmental impact in implementing a target LUP, i.e. a LUP scheme to be assessed, from those driven by NPD-LUBC; (2) the prediction of NPD Land-use pattern simulated through the discrimination of NPD forces provides the basic data to support the LUPEA using our proposed methodology; (3) SO₂, PM₁₀, and COD emitted into the atmosphere and water are the major pollutants considered in the LUPEA of the city; and (4) despite the positive impacts of the comprehensive land-use change under the direction of target LUP, the implementation of LUP would have negative impacts on the regional environment in the entire study area and in individual counties/districts respectively in 2020. Our proposed methodology provides a new and operable way for the areas with data to simulate NPD land-use pattern and predict the individual indicator values for the assessment.     

Artificial intelligence assisted intelligent planning framework for environmental restoration of terrestrial ecosystems

The environmental restoration of terrestrial ecosystems helps to protect the natural world and enhances sustainable land resource development. Modern and efficient approaches for the conservation of ecological functions must be established for more severe land degradation. In this paper, artificial intelligence assisted intelligent planning framework has been proposed to manage the environmental restoration of the terrestrial ecosystem. Facilitating balance of ecosystem service provision, demand, and using machine learning to dynamically build Biological Retreat Configuration (BRCs) that helps better to apprehend the influence of urban growth on environment-related procedures. Such factors can be used as a theoretical reference in the combination of commercial development and eco-friendly conservation. The BRC of the metro area of Changsha Zhuzhou Xiangtan (CZX) has been developed in this study to classify ecological sources using the Bayesian network model efficiently. Using the Least Collective Resistance (LCR) model and circuit theory, the environmental passage and environmental strategy points were established. The BRC was developed by integrating seven environmental factors with 35 ecological policy points. The results showed that the supply and demand of organic unit services (EUS) were spatially decoupled with the deterioration in locations with a significant EUS trend. The urban agglomeration's environmental sources and ecological corridors have been primarily located in forests and waters. The terrestrial environmental pathway has been scattered around the outer edge of the region, while the aquatic green corridor has been extended over the whole town. The environmentally sensitive areas were located primarily around the borders of the growing region and the intersections between land development and forest area. Finally, environmental components have been mainly identified in existing zones of biological defense, which support the effectiveness of Machine Learning (ML) in green sources forecasting and offer novel insight into the development of urban BRCs. The proposed approach has proven to be effective for the planning of assessing environmental restoration in terrestrial ecosystems.     

An energy and mortality impact assessment of the urban heat island in the US

Increased summer energy use and increased summer heat related mortality are the two most cited detrimental impacts of the urban heat island (UHI). An assessment of these impacts was made that considered the annual impact of the UHI, not just the summer impact. It was found that in north of the US there was a net decrease in energy use from the UHI, as heating energy reductions were larger than the increase in cooling energy. In the south there was a net energy increase from the UHI. The impact of the UHI on heat related deaths was an estimated increase of 1.1 deaths per million people. The impact of the UHI on cold related deaths was an estimated decrease of 4.0 deaths per million people. These estimates are caveated by the acknowledgement that compounding factors influence mortality. Hypothermia related death rates were three times higher in rural areas than urban areas. This is surprising as the homeless population is usually considered the most at risk, yet they mostly live in urban areas.     

Evaluating the environmental sustainability of biomass-based energy strategy: Using an impact matrix framework

A roadmap for a more sustainable energy strategy is complex, as its development interacts critically with the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. This paper applied an impact matrix method to evaluate the environmental sustainability and to identify the desirable policy objectives of biomass-based energy strategy for the case of Alberta. A matrix with the sustainability domains on one axis and areas of environmental impact on the other was presented to evaluate the nexus effect of policy objectives and bioenergy production.As per to our analysis, economic diversification, technological innovation, and resource conservation came up as the desirable policy objectives of sustainable development for Alberta because they demonstrated environmental benefits in all environmental impact categories, namely climate change, human health, and ecosystem. On the other hand, human health and ecosystem impacts were identified as trade-offs when the policy objectives for sustainability were energy security, job creation, and climate change. Thus, bioenergy can mitigate climate change but may impact human health and ecosystem which then in turn can become issues of concern. Energy strategies may result in shifting of risks from one environmental impact category to another, and from one sustainable domain to another if the technical and policy-related issues are not identified.     

一种新的城市群大气环境承载力评价方法及应用

针对中国国土资源环境承载力评价研究理论与方法存在不足的情况,以全国主体功能区中处于优化开发区域的5个城市群为例,用一种新的方法评价城市大气环境纳污承载力。以城市大气污染防治标准为基础,根据不同级别城市空气污染指数所对应的天数占全年监测天数的比例,确定5个城市群的城市大气环境纳污承载力底限水平得分。评价结果表明,快速增长的经济给大城市的大气环境带来巨大压力,处于优化开发区的珠三角城市群的大气环境纳污承载力得分87.13,为较高承载级别。其他城市群得分从高到低依次为辽中南(78.73)、京津冀(77.92)、长三角(77.23)、山东半岛(76.32),均为中承载级别。要使这些城市群保持良好的空气环境,必须加大污染防治力度,优化国土规划空间布局,在大力发展经济的同时,兼顾其对环境的负面影响。