Environmental health in the complex city: a co-evolutionary approach

While public health and urban planning were closely linked in the past, today both domains are institutionally separate. In most cases, health intersects with spatial planning processes only through obligatory evaluations, such as environmental impact assessments, or restrictive environmental legislation. This institutionalisation of health criteria in most western countries has difficulty in dealing with recent environmental health challenges, leading to continual distrust and conflict between citizens and the government. This impasse has recently been discussed by academics who acknowledge the complexity of both city and health issues. It seems, however, that the full extent of the issue has not been covered yet, leading to recommendations and frameworks that are useful but fixed and retrospective. This paper moves beyond those fixed frameworks to develop a better understanding of the complexity of the current disconnect and explores ideas for a future planning approach, grounded on new ideas of co-evolutionary and adaptive planning.     

Environmental Justice 2.0: new Latino environmentalism in Los Angeles

This paper presents the results of ethnographic research conducted with several environmental justice (EJ) organisations in Latino communities of Los Angeles, California. Traditional EJ politics revolves around research and advocacy to reduce discriminatory environmental exposures, risks, and impacts. However, I argue that in recent years there has been a qualitative change in EJ politics, characterised by four main elements: (1) a move away from the reaction to urban environmental “bads” (e.g. polluting industries) in the city towards a focus on the production of nature in the city; (2) strategies that are less dependent on the legal, bureaucratic, and technical “regulatory route”; (3) the formation of a distinctive “Latino environmental ethic” that offers a more complex consideration of the place of race in EJ organising; and (4) a spatial organisation of EJ politics that moves away from hyperlocal, vertical organisation towards diversified city-wide networks that include EJ organisations, mainstream environmental groups, nonprofits, foundations, and entrepreneurs. This shift in EJ movement politics is shaped by broader political-economic changes, including the shift from post-Fordist to neoliberal and now green economy models of urban development; the influence of neoliberal multiculturalism in urban politics; and the increasingly prominent role of Latinos in city, state, and national politics. New spaces of Latino EJ also reflect the ambitions of Los Angeles as a global city, with urban growth increasingly framed in an international discourse of sustainability that combines quality of life, environmental, and economic development rationales.     

Environmental perceptions of second home tourism impacts in Finland

Experiencing nature and enjoying natural amenities have long been identified as key motives for rural second home tourism. However, the more people travel and spend time in the natural environment, the more it is disturbed by their actions and activities. In this paper, we examine how people perceive the environmental impacts of rural second home tourism and how they justify their views. The study focuses on Finland where rural second homes are widespread. Analysis is based on a questionnaire survey conducted among Finns in 2012 (n?=?1189). Responses from different groups of respondents (second home owners, regular users of second homes and non-users) are quantitatively and qualitatively analysed. The results indicate that the Finnish respondents generally think that second home tourism poses some degree of harmful environmental impacts. However, it is the second home owners who are least worried about these environmental impacts. They generally justify their opinions using a “place-related” perspective, that is, by referring to their own experiences and actions at the cottage site. In contrast, the non-users see environmental impacts more often from a broader perspective by referring to the wider environmental interconnections with second home tourism. In our discussion, we introduce the notions of place-based (relative) and phenomenon-based (relational) environmental perceptions as a potential framework for future research on this topic. In mitigating the increasing environmental impacts of second home tourism, understanding the environmental perceptions and awareness of second home owners and users is crucial to be successful in mobilising sustainable options and environmental governance.     

Quality Control for Environmental Policy Appraisal Tools: An Empirical Investigation of Relations Between Quality,Quality Control and Effectiveness

The spectre of regulatory reform carried out in a range of Western countries has generated concern amongst parts of the environmental policy community. Quality and effectiveness are said to be at stake, but empirically there is a dearth of data on the relationship between provisions for quality control and the effects on quality and effectiveness. This research addresses this lacuna by analysing the effects of different quality control provisions in the Netherlands and Denmark for a globally institutionalized environmental appraisal tool—Environmental Assessment (EA). Extensive technical provisions for quality control in the Netherlands have led to it being described as the ‘Rolls Royce’ of EA systems, while in Denmark the polity is expected to take charge of quality control. The effects of quality control are investigated through surveys and in-depth interviews with actors centrally engaged with EA implementation. The results show that quality control provisions are poorly related to the perceived quality and effectiveness of EA. Only the appropriateness of the scope of EA reports is perceived to be strongly related to quality control provisions. The findings are relevant for environmental policy communities concerned with quality control systems and effectiveness of policy appraisal tools and policy-makers contemplating regulatory reforms.     

结合《土壤污染防治行动计划》探讨中国土壤环境监管制度与标准值体系建设

2016年,中国国务院印发《土壤污染防治行动计划》(简称《土十条》),明确提出对农用地土壤实施分类管理,按照污染程度划分为优先保护类、安全利用类和严格管控类;对建设用地要防范新增污染,针对疑似污染地块,开展土壤环境状况调查评估,保障地块安全再利用;以影响农产品质量和人居环境安全的突出环境问题为重点,制定土壤污染治理与修复规划,组织开展治理与修复。实施严格的土壤环境质量保护、污染土壤的风险管控、高风险污染土壤的治理与修复是落实《土十条》的重要任务,也是建设我国土壤环境监管制度的重要内容。土壤环境标准是实施土壤环境管理的重要依据。本文基于《土十条》重要任务以及当前及今后一段时期国家土壤环境管理需求,以土壤环境管理需求为导向,探讨提出了包括土壤环境质量保护标准值、土壤环境风险管控标准值、污染土壤修复标准值的土壤环境标准值体系,可望为国家土壤环境标准体系的建立和标准制修订方法的发展提供技术参考。     

环境管理战略转型研究综述

由于经济社会的发展伴随的环境问题越来越复杂,资源相对不足、环境容量有限越来越突出,环境管理转型问题引起越来越多的国内外学者关注。所谓环境管理转型,是指环境管理思维、策略和方式的转变,是以环境质量为目标导向,从被动应对向主动防控的转变。本文通过文献梳理的方法,综述了国内外学术界对于环境管理战略进行的多角度探讨。通过综述发现,国外学者主要注重环境管理理论研究,如环境管理的模型研究和不同环境管理战略的研究,且国外学者在研究不同环境管理战略时,研究对象多为微观层面的企业组织;而我国学者的研究则主要集中在宏观层面,即从国家的角度来探讨环境管理战略如何完成转型,从而促进我国经济社会的良性发展。现有的国内外研究是环境管理战略相关理论发展和实践推行的重要基础,在环境管理战略研究领域,本文认为还有一些问题需要进一步研究:一是环境管理的转型不仅需要宏观层面的统筹、微观方面的变革,也需要从中观层面来推进,所以中观层面的环境管理研究同样具有重要的现实意义。二是环境管理的转型不仅需要法律手段的支撑、经济手段的配置,也需要公民环保意识的觉醒,所以关于公民环保意识层面的研究也需要加强。     

不完全竞争行业中的环境工具有效性研究:一个理论框架

各级政府贯彻落实绿色发展的理念,实现经济增长与环境保护的共赢,才能真正实现"绿水青山就是金山银山"。在经济"新常态"背景下,防治环境污染是个复杂而系统性的工程,需要进行经济追因与综合治理,其中,制定实施有效的环境政策工具尤为关键。本文把微观经济学中的双寡头产量竞争模型作为基准模型拓展用于环境经济分析,并把环境税、环境规制、排污权交易这三类主要环境工具对企业生产决策的影响纳入基准模型,旨在对比研究不完全竞争行业中环境工具的有效性问题。结果表明:主要基于市场机制的环境经济政策比行政色彩浓厚的环境规制更有效率。提高环境税率或排污权价格均能显著削减行业污染物排放量,如果环境税率恰好等于排污权价格,则环境税与排污权交易这两类环境工具的效力相等。这对进一步建立和完善我国尚处于探索或初始实施阶段的环境工具,促进石化、电力、钢铁等不完全竞争行业的主要污染物减排,具有一定参考价值和借鉴意义。     

化工园区突发环境事件应急预案编制的研究

我国的化工园区为促进经济和社会发展做出了重要贡献。由于化工园区内危险化学品种类多、有毒有害物质数量大、环境风险等级高,存在着发生重特大事故的现实性和可能性。但是,我国至今尚未制定化工园区突发环境事件应急预案编制技术规范,相关研究也未见报道。在当前化工园区安全生产事件高发并严重影响周边环境的情况下,研究化工园区突发环境事件应急预案编制方法,提高应对安全生产事故以及次生突发环境事件的能力尤为重要。通过分析化工园区环境风险物质、环境风险工艺和环境风险受体三个方面的环境风险的特性,初步拟定了化工园区突发环境事件应急预案编制调查评估、建章立制、预案编写三个阶段的技术路线,明确了开展环境风险评估、加强应急能力建设、完善环境风险防范措施和环境应急处置措施的四项编制要点,在此基础上提出了化工园区突发环境事件应急预案由综合预案、现场处置预案、专项预案、环境风险评估报告、环境应急资源调查报告六部分组成的结构框架。     

Bison and cattle grazing management,bare ground coverage,and links to suspended sediment concentrations in grassland streams

This study quantified the impact of bison and cattle grazing management practices on bare ground coverage at the watershed, riparian, and forested riparian scales within the Flint Hills ecoregion in Kansas. We tested for correlations between bare ground coverage and fluvial suspended sediment concentrations during base‐flow and storm‐flow events. We used remotely sensed imagery combined with field surveys to classify ground cover and quantify the presence of bare ground. Base‐flow water samples were collected bi‐monthly during rain‐free periods and 24 h following precipitation events. Storm‐flow water samples were collected on the rising limb of the hydrograph, using single‐stage automatic samplers. Ungrazed treatments contained the lowest coverage of bare ground at the watershed, riparian, and forested riparian scales. Bison treatments contained the highest coverage of bare ground at the watershed scale, while high‐density cattle treatments contained the highest coverage of bare ground at the riparian and forested riparian scales. In bison and cattle‐grazed treatments, a majority of bare ground was located near fence lines, watershed boundaries, and third‐ and fourth‐order stream segments. Inorganic sediment concentrations at base flow were best predicted by riparian bare ground coverage, while storm‐flow sediment concentrations were best predicted by watershed scale bare ground coverage.     

Boosted Regression Tree Models to Explain Watershed Nutrient Concentrations and Biological Condition

Boosted regression tree (BRT) models were developed to quantify the nonlinear relationships between landscape variables and nutrient concentrations in a mesoscale mixed land cover watershed during base‐flow conditions. Factors that affect instream biological components, based on the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI), were also analyzed. Seasonal BRT models at two spatial scales (watershed and riparian buffered area [RBA]) for nitrite‐nitrate (NO₂‐NO₃), total Kjeldahl nitrogen, and total phosphorus (TP) and annual models for the IBI score were developed. Two primary factors — location within the watershed (i.e., geographic position, stream order, and distance to a downstream confluence) and percentage of urban land cover (both scales) — emerged as important predictor variables. Latitude and longitude interacted with other factors to explain the variability in summer NO₂‐NO₃ concentrations and IBI scores. BRT results also suggested that location might be associated with indicators of sources (e.g., land cover), runoff potential (e.g., soil and topographic factors), and processes not easily represented by spatial data indicators. Runoff indicators (e.g., Hydrological Soil Group D and Topographic Wetness Indices) explained a substantial portion of the variability in nutrient concentrations as did point sources for TP in the summer months. The results from our BRT approach can help prioritize areas for nutrient management in mixed‐use and heavily impacted watersheds.