Long Term Trends in Concentration of Major Pollutants (SO<Subscript>2</Subscript>, CO,NO, NO<Subscript>2</Subscript>, O<Subscript>3</Subscript> and PM<Subscript>10</Subscript>) in Prague – Czech Republic (Analysis of Data Between 1992 and 2005)

To assess the effect of changes in traffic density and fuels used for heating at the beginning of the 1990s, 1992–2005 monthly averages of PM₁₀, SO₂, NO₂, NO, CO and O₃ from Prague, the Czech capital, were analyzed together with long term trends in emissions of major pollutants, fuel consumption and number of vehicles registered in Prague. The data from all monitoring stations were retrieved from the database of the state automated monitoring system. Correlation coefficients between ambient monthly averaged temperature and all pollutants of concern showed distinct seasonal trends. The results showed that while SO₂ and to some extent also CO concentrations dropped namely in the first half of the analyzed period (1992–1997) as a result decreased fossil fuel consumption for local heating, the behaviour of other pollutant concentrations followed a different pattern. PM₁₀ concentrations decreased during the beginning of the 1990s but showed a sign of increase after 2000. Concentrations of ozone and NO₂ did not reveal any significant change throughout the whole studied period. It can be concluded that during the studied period traditional urban sources of pollution, such as coal and oil combustion, lost their importance but were simultaneously substituted by pollutants from automotive transport (namely PM and NO₂) making the problem of air quality even worse.     

The importance of differentiating urban and rural phenomena in examining the unequal distribution of locally desirable land

Previous research addressing the unequal distribution of locally desirable land (LDL) has mainly ignored their associated environments (i.e., rural or urban). However, this study proposed a new framework that treats rural and urban regions separately. In rural areas, the LDLs included all public lands. In urbanized areas, the LDLs were defined as green open spaces. Potential inequities in the distribution of LDL were assessed with respect to socioeconomic characteristics of residents in the State of Georgia. Using US Census Bureau Data (2000), Census Block Groups (CBGs) adjacent to LDLs were compared to CBGs outside of LDLs on four socioeconomic variables (per capita income, occupation, education, and race) in urban, suburban and rural environments. Results showed that CBGs adjacent to LDLs were composed of statistically significant upper-class communities containing fewer blue-collar workers, more whites, and higher income and higher educated people in rural, suburban and urban areas.     

城市土壤重金属污染及其生态环境效应

对城市土壤中重金属的来源、空间分布特征、化学形态、在不同介质间的迁移转化及其污染的生态环境效应等近年来的研究进展进行了回顾,指出今后的研究重点是建立城市土壤重金属污染风险评价和标准体系,并应对重金属在城市环境中的迁移转化机制及城市土壤质量演变与郊区之间的关系开展研究。     

A method for evaluating transport energy consumption in suburban areas

Urban sprawl is a major issue for sustainable development. It represents a significant contribution to energy consumption of a territory especially due to transportation requirements. However, transport energy consumption is rarely taken into account when the sustainability of suburban structures is studied. In this context, the paper presents a method to estimate transport energy consumption in residential suburban areas. The study aimed, on this basis, at highlighting the most efficient strategies needed to promote awareness and to give practical hints on how to reduce transport energy consumption linked to urban sprawl in existing and future suburban neighborhoods. The method uses data collected by using empirical surveys and GIS. An application of this method is presented concerning the comparison of four suburban districts located in Belgium to demonstrate the advantages of the approach. The influence of several parameters, such as distance to work places and services, use of public transport and performance of the vehicles, are then discussed to allow a range of different development situations to be explored. The results of the case studies highlight that traveled distances, and thus a good mix between activities at the living area scale, are of primordial importance for the energy performance, whereas means of transport used is only of little impact. Improving the performance of the vehicles and favoring home-work give also significant energy savings. The method can be used when planning new areas or retrofitting existing ones, as well as promoting more sustainable lifestyles regarding transport habits.     

长株潭城市群生态宜居水平综合评价

随着长株潭城市群工业化进程加快,其经济发展水平和城镇化水平得到飞速的提升,但是生态环境和宜居环境受到较大影响.基于层次分析法,从生态环境、资源节约、公共配套、社会民生4个维度构建生态宜居综合评价指标体系,综合测度2010～2018年长株潭城市群的生态宜居水平.结果显示2010～2018年间,长株潭城市群生态宜居综合水平...     

福州市城区内河引闽冲污后水质变化趋势及防治对策

简述了福州市城区内河河网结构特点和河网水文特征,对1994年-2003年福州城区内河的水质变化趋势进行了分析和评价。结果表明,自1998年福州市全面开始内河引水冲污工程后,内河水质得到了改善,有机污染得到缓解,基本消除了水体的黑臭现象。指出了在内河整治中存在的一些问题。提出,应优化引水方案,最大限度发挥效益;明确河段的使用功能,发挥其潜能;开展生物防治,建立良性循环的水生生态系统,对内河实施综合管理。     

兰州城区大气粒子态汞的污染状况

通过调查发现在市工业区，粒子态汞浓度高，冬，夏平均值为０．９１和１．００ｎｇ／ｍ＾３，最高达１．９２ｎｇ／ｍ＾３，冬夏季无显著性差异，秋季浓度低，交通频繁区和交通商业混合区冬季平均值０．４５ｎｇ／ｍ＾３，夏季０．４９ｎｇ／ｍ＾３在清洁区大部分在０．１０ｎｇ／ｍ＾３左右，最低０．０７０ｎｇ／ｍ＾３，显示夏季和城区粒子态汞浓度偏高的特征。工业区粒子态汞主要是由人为污染产生的气态汞吸附在同一污染源的粒尘     

Growth in urban extent and allometric analysis of West African cities

Urban area expansion is happening at much faster rates in Asian and African cities than elsewhere in the world. This study uses multi-temporal Landsat images to map the urban extent of six small to large cities in West Africa at four different time steps from the early 1970s–2010. The selected cities are Kumasi of Ghana, Daloa of Cote d’Ivoire, Abuja and Kano in Nigeria, Kindia of Guinea, and Ouagadougou of Burkina Faso. All cities revealed significant urban growth in both urban area and population; however, it was apparent that there was a lot of variability in urban area development. Exponential urban growth rates in the cities were measured as ranging between 0.026 and 0.077, with allometric scaling factors matching those of other countries.     

Urban sustainable energy development: A case study of the city of Philadelphia

Cities throughout the world are key sites for energy sustainability activities. However, analysis of such efforts to date has focused on a sub-set of atypical cities: early adopters and/or world cities. This article undertakes a case-study analysis for an ordinary city, Philadelphia, PA in order to assess the extent to which prior research provides adequate policy explanation for ordinary cities and to gain empirical insight on two under-researched aspects: policy actors, and the policy-making and implementation sites (action sites) for urban energy sustainability. Overall, the types of policy drivers, modes of governance, and enabling factors and barriers in the Philadelphia case fit with prior studies. Focusing on actors and action sites, however, offers insight on the city’s relative policy-making approach based on “non-controversy”, the key role of third-sector actors in both policy-making and implementation, and the diversification of action sites through external-level policy-making operationalised locally nevertheless at the expense of reduced control by urban actors. These findings lead to recommendations for urban energy sustainability research and practice.     

Drought,water access,and urban agriculture: a case study from Silicon Valley

In California, the growing popularity of urban agriculture (UA) has unfolded against a backdrop of historic drought. While UA is often celebrated as an urban sustainability strategy, it must be able to persist during drought if it is to perform these functions. Using Santa Clara County – the geographic core of Silicon Valley – as a case study, we use interviews and surveys to explore the implications of drought for UA. We show how developing an understanding of water access for UA during a drought requires examining the social and institutional context of water management and use. In metropolitan California, the highly decentralised water supply system combined with the diverse institutional arrangements that support UA create an uneven landscape of water access. Consequently, the pressure to change water-consuming practices – that is, the stress that institutional drought responses place on different water users – is geographically and socially differentiated. Among UA water users, responses to drought have also varied, in part because the possibilities for change are constrained by the sociotechnical arrangements of UA sites and the different purposes of UA.