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.     

Implementation of the ecosystem services approach in Swedish municipal planning

While ecosystem-based planning approaches are increasingly promoted through international and national policies, municipalities are still struggling with translating them into practice. Against this background, this paper aims to increase the knowledge of current advances and possible ways to support the implementation of the ecosystem services (ES) approach at the municipal level. More specifically, we analyze how ES have been integrated into comprehensive planning within the municipality of Malmö in Sweden over the last 60 years, a declared forerunner in local environmental governance. Based on a content analysis of comprehensive plans over the period 1956–2014 and interviews with municipal stakeholders, this paper demonstrates how planning has shifted over time toward a more holistic view of ES and their significance for human well-being and urban sustainability. Both explicit and implicit applications of the ES concept were found in the analyzed comprehensive plans and associated programs and projects. Our study shows how these applications reflect international, national, and local policy changes, and indicates how municipalities can gradually integrate the ES approach into comprehensive planning and facilitate the transition from implicit to more explicit knowledge use.     

Determining the robust optimal set of BMPs for urban runoff management in data-poor catchments

Mismanagement of urban runoff can result in inundation which causes serious problems in providing urban services. Best management practices (BMPs) are used for urban runoff management. In this study, a method is proposed to determine the robust optimal set of BMPs for runoff management in data-poor catchments in urban areas. This method includes five main steps: (1) Sensitivity analysis to determine effective parameters in rainfall-runoff simulation model, (2) Calibration of the rainfall-runoff model based on selected effective parameters, (3) Developing a multi-objective optimization model to obtain the optimal sets of BMPs, (4) Selecting the final solutions using the Nash approach for ranking, (5) Evaluation of the robustness of the selected solution using the Management Option Rank Equivalence method. The proposed method is examined in an urban basin located in the north of Tehran, Iran. The results show that the proposed approach provides reliable results for urban runoff management in data-poor areas.     

Planning for compact urban forms: local growth-management approaches and their evolution over time

Urban growth is a key issue for spatial planning as it influences urban patterns and disrupts open landscapes. To effectively steer urban growth towards compact urban forms, many growth-management policies have been developed over recent decades. However, few studies have assessed how municipal policy mixes have evolved over time. In our representative Swiss-wide survey, we evaluated the prevalence and the time of introduction of 18 policies. Our results indicate that large municipalities use a broad range of reinforcing policies over decades. In contrast, small municipalities mostly rely on conventional land-use regulations. The lack of innovative, incentive-based policies casts doubt on small municipalities' ability to effectively manage urban growth. However, our analyses reveal recent efforts by small municipalities to diversify approaches to growth management and adopt innovative policies. These efforts should be supported by guiding small municipalities in their policy choices, and providing support to those lacking planning capacity.     

哈尔滨市松北区城市湿地水环境分析及针对旅游开发活动的保护措施

随着城市的快速发展建设和开发,城市人口的增加和不断的对城市湿地水环境产生不利的影响,导致了松北区湿地水环境的破坏。文章应用层次分析法对松北区城市湿地的水质监测数据进行了系统的分析,可知松北湿地污染特点是以万宝镇为起点,沿河流为轴,靠水流内外扩散、自然分解和水体自净作用使松北湿地的水质从远及近逐渐改善,这对保护湿地水环境具有重要的意义。     

低冲击发展模式下水源地保护的新路径

中国水源地保护与城镇发展矛盾较为突出。在现有水源保护区分级管理制度下,仅对排污口控制,不足以保障水源地安全。在污染物排放破坏水源地环境的表象下,水源地城镇的功能布局和建设方式是影响水源地安全的本质原因,而相关的管控措施十分缺乏。低冲击发展模式是城市与自然和谐相处的一种发展模式,它有利于保障水的健康循环,减轻水污染及保护水源地生态环境,是从根本上保护水源地安全的规划途径之一。因此,水源地保护应在全流域视角下,采取低冲击发展模式对建设进行合理引导。     

兰州冬季城市烟雾层辐射效应的观测分析研究

冬季兰州城市上空形成浓厚的烟雾层。利用1990年11月兰州大学和离城市地面625m高南山顶的辐射和探空资料,分析和计算了烟雾层的辐射效应。兰州城市烟雾层具有浑浊度系数大波长指数小的特点。对到达地面的太阳辐射有很强的削弱。浑浊度系数最大时,烟雾层内的平均加热率为6.16℃/d,。大气层对各波段的消光强弱不同,对可见光削减最大。同时烟雾层使到达兰州地面的大气逆辐射比南山顶增加5.2％,总的入射辐射比南山顶小5.6％,地面辐射差额比南山顶小67.8％。烟雾层的存在增加了城市边界层的稳定性。     

城市污水回用系统研究的整数规划模型

本文介绍研究工作中建立的城市污水回用系统规划的0—1整数规划数学模型、重点探讨了在规划的污水收集系统、污水处理厂位置、处理等级已确定的条件下,如何选择再生水回用对象、回用规模,追加的深度处理规模等经济合理、技术可行的再生水分配系统。通过某地区城市污水土地处理回用系统的实例研究,验证了所建模型的合理性与实用性。     

山地城市地貌环境问题研究

运用环境学和地貌学的理论和方法,分析了重庆城市的环境特点和问题。结果表明,重庆城市地貌环境问题严重,城市地貌环境的致灾性强,大气污染的地貌环境作用显著和城市地貌环境质量的人为退化等。并提出了城市地貌环境保护和治理措施。     

居住区气温变化模型及应用

借助居住区热时间常数和地表热时间常数计算城市局地气温变化,给出的数学模型简单实用,但考虑了多项城市相关参数。结果表明实测值与预测值吻合较好。对部分城市参数作了敏感性分析,初步揭示了各参数变化对城市居住区气温的影响。