Temporal Trends in the Spatial Distribution of Impervious Cover Relative to Stream Location

Use of impervious cover is transitioning from an indicator of surface water condition to one that also guides and informs watershed planning and management, including Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq.) reporting. Whether it is for understanding surface water condition or planning and management, impervious cover is most commonly expressed as summary measurement (e.g., percentage watershed in impervious cover). We use the National Land Cover Database to estimate impervious cover in the vicinity of surface waters for three time periods (2001, 2006, 2011). We also compare impervious cover in the vicinity of surface waters to watershed summary estimates of impervious cover for classifying the spatial pattern of impervious cover. Between 2001 and 2011, surface water shorelines (streams and water bodies) in the vicinity of impervious cover increased nearly 10,000 km. Across all time periods, approximately 27% of the watersheds in the continental United States had proximally distributed impervious cover, i.e., the percentage of impervious cover in the vicinity of surface waters was higher than its watershed summary expression. We discuss how impervious cover spatial pattern can be used to inform watershed planning and management, including reporting under the Clean Water Act.     

The green dividend of urban biking? Evidence of improved community and sustainable development

As the cost of car ownership has skyrocketed, urban biking has experienced the largest share increase of any transportation mode, rising by 40% between the years 2000 and 2014. Growing attention is being paid to the potential local economic development impacts of urban neighbourhoods becoming more bike-friendly. It is now a green economic development strategy in cities as diverse as Chicago, New York City, Portland, and San Francisco to increase bicycling as a transportation mode. This paper reports the results of a survey of 2032 responses from faculty, staff, and students of a car-dependent, downtown university. We use a mixed methods approach, including data from the American Community Survey, to support our arguments and to inform potential savings and economic benefit calculations that can be achieved from bicycle infrastructure investments and anticipated redistributed spending patterns. We argue that urban biking results in a green dividend that promotes local community development and more importantly results in zero carbon emissions.     

Mitigating urban sprawl effects: a collaborative tree and shade intervention in Phoenix,Arizona, USA

Communities in Phoenix are confronted with numerous challenges that adversely affect human health and safety, with disproportionate impacts on low-income communities. While some challenges are being addressed at the city level, new alliances at the neighbourhood level are initiating community development programmes and projects. This article reports on an intervention study carried out in collaboration with community representatives, city staff, and non-profit organisations to mitigate adverse effects of urban sprawl in the Sky Harbour Neighbourhood in Phoenix. Participatory research was conducted to design and test a tree and shade intervention. Challenges associated with navigating community desires and broader principles of sustainable development are discussed. The study offers a replicable and adaptable intervention research design aimed at empowering communities to meet urban challenges.     

“一带一路”战略背景下的中国省域绿色发展:现状、问题与对策

以绿色发展推动生态文明建设将会是我国长期面临的重大课题。"一带一路"是我国新时期的对外开放国家战略,涵盖范围广泛,涉及国内18个省域和沿线65个国家,研究"一带一路"战略背景下的中国省域绿色发展,意义重大。本文通过对"一带一路"战略的基本回顾认为,建设绿色"一带一路"是促进我国经济绿色转型、消除国际社会担忧、推进战略顺利实施的必然选择。"一带一路"战略涉及国内18个省份之间的环境污染状况和绿色发展水平差异较大,东部沿海省份的经济发展水平远高于中西部省份,绿色发展水平相对领先,但同时污染物排放量也明显较大。本文进一步探讨了我国省域绿色发展过程中存在的四个问题,即中国绿色经济发展整体水平不高、地区间同质化竞争严重、污染性产业向中西部省份梯度转移、生态环境脆弱,并分别给出了相应的对策建议。     

The effect of industry activities on public support for ‘fracking’

Research suggests that previous, current, and prospective extractive industry activities influence perceptions of new development. Studies that have drawn this conclusion, however, have usually focused on specific projects in specific communities. Here, these factors are examined on an aggregate, national scale. Combining geospatial data on extractive industry activities and survey data from a nationally representative sample (N = 1061), the influence of extractive industry activities on support for fracking is studied. While limited evidence is found for the impact of proximity to oil and gas wells or production on support for fracking, employment levels in the natural resources and mining sector in the respondent’s county and residence in an area experiencing active oil and gas development significantly increase support for fracking. The results highlight the role of spatial and community factors in shaping support for energy development.     

中国区域工业企业绿色技术创新效率及因素分解

本文基于两阶段创新价值链下工业企业绿色技术创新的过程,构建了中国区域工业企业绿色技术创新效率评价体系,同时运用主成分分析法对这些指标数据进行降维处理,分别计算出两个阶段的技术创新效率,再通过DEA法测算各区域工业企业整体绿色技术创新效率并进行因素分解。研究发现:1在绿色技术开发阶段,考虑环境因素比不考虑环境因素的效率要低,中、西部地区面临的环境问题更加严峻,三大区域绿色技术开发效率差距悬殊。2在绿色技术成果转化阶段,绿色技术创新效率仍存在较大提升空间,东、中和西部地区绿色技术创新效率从高到低依次排列。3中国工业企业绿色技术创新整体效率偏低,而纯技术效率是导致整体效率低的主要原因。区域差距悬殊且存在继续扩大的风险,中、西部地区在纯技术效率和规模效率两个方面均有很大提升空间。4辽宁、河北、黑龙江、新疆、山西、内蒙古、云南、青海等区域要注重提高区域技术,安徽、吉林、江西、广西等区域则要注重减少资源冗余,宁夏、甘肃则既要注重提高区域技术还要注意较少资源冗余。未来,中国应该建立低碳经济发展模式,将环境污染指标工业企业技术创新效率评价体系,提升绿色技术创新效率。以供给侧改革为突破口,加快区域协同发展,发挥东部地区引领作用,缩小中国东、中、西部地区差异。因地制宜,根据各省份绿色技术创新效率不高的根源,采取有针对性的政策。加大绿色技术开发、清洁生产设备等方面的投入,控制污染物排放,推动以科技创新为核心的全面创新。     

生态福利绩效视角下的上海市可持续发展评价研究

资源与环境约束加剧的大背景下,在"生态门槛"内实现社会福利最大化的可持续发展模式是未来城市发展的必然选择。从生态福利绩效视角出发,选取人均生态足迹和人类发展指数构建城市可持续发展评价指标体系,并采用DEA方法计算二者的投入产出效率,对上海市1999~2012年可持续发展水平进行多维度、动态化的实证分析。研究发现:1上海市人类发展指数、人均生态足迹与经济发展同步增长,但人均生态足迹水平大于生态承载能力,处于严重"生态赤字"状态,并不断恶化;2上海市多数年份的生态福利绩效处于DEA无效状态,且2005年以来进入规模收益递减通道。最后提出政策建议。     

长江中游城市群经济与生态成本空间演化模式分析

综合运用变异系数、泰尔指数及ESDA-GIS多种方法,在充分考虑传统经济影响因子的基础上,尝试引入经济发展生态成本指标,分析长江中游城市群经济综合发展水平与生态成本的空间匹配及演化模式。研究表明:经济综合发展水平高低聚集特征明显,空间极化现象是导致区域经济发展不平衡的主要原因;生态成本空间集聚现象以高高集聚和低低集聚为主,且呈现出高高集聚减少、低低集聚增多的现象,生态成本消耗有所改善;2001~2012年长江中游城市群市域经济综合发展水平与生态成本表现出越来越显著的差异化空间格局,呈现出由低经济综合发展水平-低生态成本过渡到高经济综合发展水平-高生态成本,进而发展到高经济综合发展水平-低生态成本的空间匹配模式的阶段性特征;高经济综合发展水平-高生态成本的经济发展模式仍在大部分城市中存在,经济与生态空间协调发展的潜力仍然很大。     

房地产开发地铁振动达标距离研究

已建和待建的多条地铁线路穿过某房地产开发地块,为了防治地铁运行对建筑造成振动环境影响,需要设定建筑靠近地铁的最小达标距离,包括采取减振措施后的距离。通过现场系统实验监测结合数值模型分析,从工程实践的角度提出了上述距离。对于实验中观察到随距离出现振动局部放大以及进口与国产仪器监测结果不同的现象,佐证了有关学者的理论与实验分析,提出:(1)现有地铁环境影响评价报告常用的60m评价范围偏小,推荐可扩大至80~100m;(2)迫切需要新的振动环境标准发布,避免有关项目的环境管理要求偏低。     

甘肃省风力发电现状及发展对策

介绍了甘肃省的风力资源及风力发电的发展现状,重点阐述了白银地区、玉门地区、酒泉瓜州、金昌地区、敦煌地区和武威地区等几个具有代表性地区的风能资源优势及风电建设情况,指出了甘肃省风力发电在技术和政策等方面目前还存在的主要问题,分析了产生这些问题的原因,提出了促进甘肃省风力发电事业发展的对策。