Governing climate change for a just city: challenges and lessons from Maputo,Mozambique

As new forms of governance for climate change emerge in African cities, will they enable emancipatory and socially progressive transformations or will they exacerbate existing inequality, poverty and vulnerability patterns? This paper presents one of the case studies developed by UN-Habitat Cities and Climate Change Initiative in Maputo, Mozambique. The case analyses first, the production of urban vulnerabilities under climate change, and second, the existing governance arrangements for climate change in the city. Building on the lessons of the case study, the paper argues that to ensure that new forms of climate change governance lead to socially and environmentally just outcomes climate change interventions should, at least, meet two conditions: first, they should consider the close interactions between social and ecological elements and, specially, how patterns of urban inequality interact with environmental factors; second, they should recognise the opportunities in African cities through a broad notion of governance that looks beyond the government as the sole agent of urban change.     

Can the commons be temporary? The role of transitional commoning in post-quake Christchurch

ABSTRACT

In recent work on commons and commoning, scholars have argued that we might delink the practice of commoning from property ownership, while paying attention to modes of governance that enable long-term commons to emerge and be sustained. Yet commoning can also occur as a temporary practice, in between and around other forms of use. In this article we reflect on the transitional commoning practices and projects enabled by the Christchurch post-earthquake organisation Life in Vacant Spaces, which emerged to connect and mediate between landowners of vacant inner city demolition sites and temporary creative or entrepreneurial users. While these commons are often framed as transitional or temporary, we argue they have ongoing reverberations changing how people and local government in Christchurch approach common use. Using the cases of the physical space of the Victoria Street site “The Commons” and the virtual space of the Life in Vacant Spaces website, we show how temporary commoning projects can create and sustain the conditions of possibility required for nurturing commoner subjectivities. Thus despite their impermanence, temporary commoning projects provide a useful counter to more dominant forms of urban development and planning premised on property ownership and “permanent” timeframes, in that just as the physical space of the city being opened to commoning possibilities, so too are the expectations and dispositions of the city’s inhabitants, planners, and developers.     

Hot,Salty Water: A Confluence of Issues in Managing Stormwater Runoff for Urban Streams

Research increasingly highlights cause and effect relationships between urbanization and stream conditions are complex and highly variable across physical and biological regions. Research also demonstrates stormwater runoff is a key causal agent in altering stream conditions in urban settings. More specifically, thermal pollution and high salt levels are two consequences of urbanization and subsequent runoff. This study describes a demonstration model populated with data from a high gradient headwaters stream. The model was designed to explain surface water‐groundwater dynamics related to salinity and thermal pollution. Modeled scenarios show long‐term additive impacts from salt application and suggest reducing flow rates, as stormwater management practices are typically designed to do, have the potential to greatly reduce salt concentrations and simultaneously reduce thermal pollution. This demonstration model offers planners and managers reason to be confident that stormwater management efforts can have positive impacts.     

The Financial Impact of Different Stormwater Fee Types: A Case Study of Two Municipalities in Virginia

Eight stormwater user fees (SUFs) were applied to the City of Roanoke and the Town of Blacksburg, Virginia, to determine the effect each has on how land use type impacts the sources of revenue. Roanoke is larger and includes more industrial areas, but less multifamily impervious areas than Blacksburg, which translates differently in the SUFs. Residential parcels comprise the highest percentage of the revenue in all eight SUFs in Blacksburg and four in Roanoke. For both municipalities, two specific SUFs consistently comprised the highest percentage burden for residential homeowners while three other SUFs demonstrated the highest burden for commercial parcels. Open space parcels contain little impervious area, yet account for up to 27% of the revenue in the Blacksburg Area fee structure. Industrial parcels comprise more revenue in Roanoke, averaging 10.1‐4.5% in Blacksburg. Fee types that are easier to administer (e.g., Flat fees) may not fully represent the stormwater contribution from the parcels. SUF types that more accurately represent the stormwater burden on the municipality are also more administratively intensive and are more variable with fee factors.     

城市河流异养菌耐药状况及微生物群落结构特征

为深入了解城市河流中细菌的耐药状况和微生物群落结构特征,在西安市浐河和灞河河段8个采样点以及某污水处理厂二级出水排放口采集水样,利用细菌培养技术、PCR检测和DGGE(变性梯度凝胶电泳)分析技术,对河流中异养菌耐药率、四环素抗性基因以及微生物群落结构进行研究. 结果表明:浐河和灞河水样中异养菌对SMZ(磺胺甲恶唑)、TET(四环素)、CIP(环丙沙星)和CTX(头孢噻肟)的平均耐药率分别为18.3%、6.2%、2.7%和1.3%,耐药率高低顺序与污水厂排放水中的异养菌相同. 城市河流中异养菌浓度与其耐药率并不存在显著的相关性. 与上游河段相比,污水厂排放口下游河段的异养菌浓度没有明显增加,但对多种抗生素的耐药率却有所升高. 浐河和灞河中四环素抗性基因主要是tetA和tetB,检出率分别为100%和75%,这意味着城市河流中异养菌对TET的耐药性可能主要通过编码外输泵蛋白的抗性机制来实现. 污水厂排放水进入城市河流,并未显著影响河流中的微生物群落结构,但却使某些原有的敏感物种消失,而病原菌或条件致病菌在邻近污水厂排放口的下游河段则有所增加.      

张家港市河道水质时空分布特征研究分析

为探索张家港市河道水体水质现状及时空分布特征,本研究应用主成分分析对2018年张家港市13条重要河道中的水温、pH值、DO、电导率、浊度、高锰酸盐指数、总磷、氨氮等水质指标进行分析,识别主导水体变化的环境因子.研究得出：①2018年张家港市河道水质整体较好,大部分河道水体处于III类水;②主成分分析表明,氨氮、总磷（TP）、高锰酸盐指数（COD_Mn）和电导率（EC）的变化主导着研究区域水质变化,4个环境因子之间呈显著正相关;③空间分析表明张家港河是监测河流中污染最为严重的河流,港口桥监测断面为水质污染最严重区域,张家港市市区及东南区域河道污染劣于其他地区;④季节上水质污染程度为冬季 > 春季 > 秋季 > 夏季.通过多元统计方法对河道水质时空变化进行分析,为制定可持续的城市河流水污染控制策略提供了新思路.     

两种改良型活性污泥法在城市污水处理中的比较

介绍了2种改良型活性污泥法———氧化沟工艺和百乐克工艺的特点,并针对2种工艺实际应用中的情况,分析2种工艺在今后发展应用中的趋势。     

UASB处理低浓度城市生活污水的中试试验

研究1·2m3厌氧反应器(UASB),在自然温度(水温32~5℃)下,处理CODCr浓度为200mg/L左右的低浓度生活污水。实验采用颗粒污泥接种二次启动法。水处理系统在水温32~5℃范围内运行6个月的时间,UASB反应器在上升流速为1·4~1·7m/h,水力停留时间(HRT)为3·0~2·5h,CODCr有机污泥负荷(SLR)为0·06~0·13kg/(kg·d)时,去除效率比较稳定,CODCr去除率达40%~80%。     

城市环境保护中污水治理的相关问题研究

随着我国向工业型国家转型的进程加快,我国作为一个水资源贫乏的国家,水污染的问题日益突出。因此,对于我国城市污水处理问题进行研究探讨,对于实现我国可持续发展战略有着重大的意义。本文主要对目前我国城市污水处理中存在的问题进行了分析研究,并在此基础上,对我国的城市污水处理提出了一些有针对性地对策与措施。     

城镇居民食物消费的生态足迹及生态文明程度评价

城镇居民食品账户生态足迹核算一直面临着消费项目不完善与消费-土地利用矩阵信息匮乏的问题。研究通过改进自下而上生态足迹模型,较好地解决了上述问题;并构建了食物消费的生态文明度概念与分类层次体系,在生态影响“数量”评估的基础上开展了“质量”评估。论文对2005—2012年中国及各省城镇居民食物消费的生态影响及生态文明度进行了实证研究,结果表明：1）城镇居民部门食物账户的生态影响变动主要驱动力为在外就餐;2）全国及大陆省份中除山西、江西和青海外的28个省份城镇居民食物消费的生态文明度发生了不同程度的下降。中国如果忽略城镇市场倒逼机制对生态文明的巨大作用,规模扩大与食谱增富的城镇化可能将整个中国带入生态环境脆弱性增强的境地。