煤炭开采对生态系统功能的胁迫作用:模型·实证

为研究煤炭开采对生态系统功能的胁迫作用,基于系统动力学原理构建一般情况下煤炭开采对生态系统功能胁迫作用的系统动力学模型,分析不同情境下煤炭开采对生态系统功能的胁迫作用特征,并以淮河流域典型煤炭资源型城市——淮南市为例进行实证研究. 结果表明:煤炭开采对生态系统功能有胁迫作用,政府是重要影响因素;不同情境下煤炭开采对生态系统功能的胁迫作用不同,表现为情境一(理想状态)<情境二(良性状态)<情境三(一般状态)<情境四(停滞状态)<情境五(糟糕状态);生态治理投资系数和煤炭开采技术投资系数的比值越大,则煤炭开采对生态系统功能的胁迫作用越小. 实证结果通过有效性检验,表明该研究建立的系统动力学模型具有可靠性. 当前淮南市生态治理投资和煤炭开采技术投资的比值为0.511,表明淮南市生态系统功能系统和煤炭开采系统处于一般状态. 研究显示,政府在维持生态系统功能稳态中发挥着一定作用. 煤炭开采对生态系统功能的胁迫作用特征:当生态治理投资系数和煤炭开采技术投资系数的比值为0时,生态系统功能系统和煤炭开采系统处于糟糕状态;当比值为(0,1)时,处于一般状态;当比值为1时,处于良性状态;当比值大于1时,两大系统进入理想状态.      

Management of sustainability transitions through planning in shrinking resource city contexts: an evaluation of Yubari City,Japan

This paper evaluates the planning competences required to enact a managed transition to sustainability at the municipal level for cities facing population, economic and employment decline. Drawing on the ‘shrinking cities’ literature, we argue consolidation of the built environment can become a focal point for sustaining citizen welfare when transitioning cities that are facing decline, especially those previously reliant on resource industries. We evaluate the former coal mining city of Yubari, Japan, which is developing a consolidated urban form with the aim of creating a ‘sustainable’ future city. Findings from interviews and content analysis of Yubari’s planning policy indicate, however, that to translate ‘shrinking’ a city into a managed transition, spatial planning must be accompanied by a wider range of social policy measures and strong cross-sectoral engagement. We also caution that the unique geographical and political context of Yubari mean its model may not be directly replicable in other contexts.     

城市热环境及其微热环境的改善

以苏南５市县３０年来热环境诸因素的变化资料为依据,分析城市区域特征所引起的热环境诸因素的变化趋势,介绍包括规划城市区域的道路网,控制建筑物布局的密度,以及城市绿化和水面等在内的城市规划和建筑设计措施对于改善城市区域微热环境的效用。     

New indicator approaches for effective urban air quality management

Measurements of urban air quality at monitoring stations in developed countries have frequently involved the criteria gaseous pollutants, particulates, hazardous air pollutants, perceived air quality and relevant meteorological conditions. Large numbers of indicators have therefore been established to quantify emissions, concentrations and environmental and human health impacts of each of these groups of substances. To simplify the data for management, several indicators have been grouped together to form urban air quality indices but the weightings of individual variables is contentious. In industrialising and developing countries, data may be limited and traditional air pollutant indicators cannot often be constructed. The emphasis therefore has to be placed on the development of policy-relevant indicators, such as Response Indicators that reflect different policy principles for regulating air pollutant emissions. Indices that quantify the air quality management capabilities and capacities at the city level provide further useful decision-relevant tools. Four sets of indices, namely, 1. air quality measurement capacity, 2. data assessment and availability, 3. emissions estimates, and 4. management enabling capabilities, and a composite index to evaluate air quality management capability, were constructed and applied to 80 cities. The indices revealed that management capability varied widely between the cities. In some of the cities, existing national knowledge on urban air quality could have been more effectively used for management. It was concluded that for effective urban air quality management, a greater emphasis should be given, not just to monitoring and data capture programmes, but to the development of indicators and indices that empower decision-makers to initiate management response strategies. Over-reliance on restricted, predetermined sets of traditional air quality indicators should be avoided.     

Climate pioneership and leadership in structurally disadvantaged maritime port cities

ABSTRACT

Innovative climate governance in small-to-medium-sized structurally disadvantaged cities (SDCs) are assessed. Considering their deeply ingrained severe economic and social problems it would be reasonable to assume that SDCs act primarily as climate laggards or at best as followers. However, novel empirical findings show that SDCs are capable of acting as climate pioneers. Different types and styles of climate leadership and pioneership and how they operate within multi-level and polycentric governance structures are identified and assessed. SDCs seem relatively readily willing to adopt transformational climate pioneership styles to create ‘green’ jobs, for example, in the offshore wind energy sector and with the aim of improving their poor external image. However, in order to sustain transformational climate pioneership they often have to rely on support from ‘higher’ levels of governance. For SDCs, there is a tension between learning from each other’s best practice and fierce economic competition in climate innovation.     

Cities as leaders in EU multilevel climate governance: embedded upscaling of local experiments in Europe

ABSTRACT

The success of local climate governance in Europe depends not only on leading cities but also on the dynamics between leaders, followers, and laggards. Upscaling local experiments helps to close the gap between these actors. This process is driven by the increasing embeddedness of cities and their networks in EU multilevel governance. Embedded upscaling combines horizontal upscaling between leading cities with vertical upscaling between leaders and followers that is mediated by higher levels of government, and hierarchical upscaling that even reaches the laggards. Various types of upscaling, their combinations, and their impacts are analyzed. Networks have become denser and networking has intensified. City networks and their member cities have become embedded in national and EU governance, lost authority and depend more and more on regional, national, and European authorities.     

2006─2010年环保重点城市主要污染物浓度变化特征

利用2006─2010年全国环保重点城市的空气质量日报数据,分析了大气ρ(SO2)、ρ(NO2)和ρ(PM10)的变化特征. 结果表明:从年际变化看,ρ(SO2)和ρ(PM10)呈下降趋势,ρ(NO2)变化不显著.从季节变化看,ρ(SO2)、ρ(NO2)和ρ(PM10)均呈冬季高、夏季低的特征.从浓度谱分布看,全国大气中ρ(SO2)、ρ(NO2)和ρ(PM10)分别集中在0～0.150、0～0.100和0～0.250 mg/m3范围内,ρ(SO2)和ρ(PM10)谱峰区间逐渐向低浓度范围偏移,高浓度事件逐渐减少,表明SO2和PM10污染得到较明显的控制,而ρ(NO2)谱峰变化不大.从浓度变化看,山西ρ(SO2)、ρ(NO2)和ρ(PM10)下降最明显,年变化率分别为-11.2、-3.6和-14.2 μg/m3;青海ρ(SO2)、山东ρ(NO2)和ρ(PM10)的上升趋势最明显,年变化率分别为4.4、2.7和4.5 μg/m3.      

Community energy plans in Canadian cities: success and barriers in implementation

Climate change and sustainable development concerns have motivated some municipalities in Canada to develop community energy plans, which focus on energy needs at the local level for the development of efficient, economical and environmental energy systems. Five Canadian cities that were early adopters of community energy planning principles were studied to assess whether implementation has occurred and what barriers have been experienced. The cities achieved success in the implementation of energy management in municipal operations despite barriers in jurisdiction, perception of cost, communication and capacity, but energy management in the community had not been fully implemented and long-term changes were not prevalent. While reductions were made in the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by municipal operations, the community's overall GHG emissions were not significantly reduced. Long-term impacts on a city's function and growth will be key if community energy planning is to significantly impact community-wide GHG emissions and energy use.     

The local nonprofit sector and the pursuit of sustainability in American cities: a preliminary exploration

This paper reports on the results of a study of the relationship between the nonprofit sector and the pursuit of sustainability in 13 moderate sized US cities with populations between 400,000 and 600,000. Dividing the cities into two groups – those that have been more serious and less serious about adopting and implementing sustainability policies, analysis of a survey of local public officials examines differences in the nonprofit landscape. Analysis shows that the cities that are more serious about sustainability have local public officials who interact more with nonprofit organisations, and are more likely to report the presence of at least one nonprofit group that supports city sustainability policies. Additionally, these reported groups are more likely to be “local”, or homegrown, and to be explicitly dedicated to the environment or sustainability. While far from definitive, the results provide evidence that the nonprofit sector is different in cities with sustainability policies, and suggest that the role of these nonprofit groups in the governance decisions of city leaders warrants more in-depth study.     

Local or global food markets: A comparison of energy use for transport

Abstract

This study compares energy use for food transport to a farmers' market in Sweden with energy use for transport in the conventional food system. The farmers' market was investigated through data sampling from on-site investigations. The conventional food system was studied with the aid of life cycle assessments reported in the literature. Overall, the study found no significant differences in levels of energy use for transport to the farmers' market compared with the conventional food system. For certain products, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, transport-related energy use was much lower in the local system although the season in Sweden for this kind of product is restricted to two or three months at the end of the summer. However, there is considerable potential to increase energy efficiency in local food systems by organizing the selling in new ways and by using more energy efficient vehicles.