Role of outdoor trees on pedestrian wind and thermal conditions around a pre-education building for sustainable energy management

Finding sustainable energy resources is essential to face the increasing energy demand.Trees are an important part of ancient architecture but are becoming rare in urban areas.Trees can control and tune the pedestrian-level wind velocity and thermal condition.In this study,a numerical investigation is employed to assess the role of trees planted in the windward direction of the building complex on the thermal and pedestrian wind velocity conditions around/inside a pre-education building located in the center of the complex.Compared to the previous studies(which considered only outside buildings),this work considers the effects of trees on microclimate change both inside/outside buildings.Effects of different parameters including the leaf area density and number of trees,number of rows,far-field velocity magnitude,and thermal condition around the main building are assessed.The results show that the flow velocity in the spacing between the first-row buildings is reduced by 30%-40% when the one-row trees with 2 m height are planted 15 m farther than the buildings.Furthermore,two rows of trees are more effective in higher velocities and reduce the maximum velocity by about 50%.The investigation shows that trees also could reduce the temperature by about 1℃around the building.

Review of Shadow Detection and De-shadowing Methods in Remote Sensing

Shadow is one of the major problems in remotely sensed imagery which hampers the accuracy of information extraction and change detection.In these images,shadow is generally produced by different objects,namely,cloud,mountain and urban materials.The shadow correction process consists of two steps:detection and de-shadowing.This paper reviews a range of techniques for both steps,focusing on urban regions(urban shadows),mountainous areas(topographic shadow),cloud shadows and composite shadows.Several issues including the problems and the advantages of those algorithms are discussed.In recent years,thresholding and recovery techniques have become important for shadow detection and de-shadowing,respectively.Research on shadow correction is still an important topic,particularly for urban regions(in high spatial resolution data) and mountainous forest(in high and medium spatial resolution data).Moreover,new algorithms are needed for shadow correction,especially given the advent of new satellite images.

Simulation of Land-use Scenarios for Beijing Using CLUE-S and Markov Composite Models

This study investigated and simulated land use patterns in Beijing for the year 2000 and the year 2005 from the actual land use data for the year 1995 and the year 2000,respectively,by combining spatial land allocation simulation using the CLUE-S model,and numerical land demand prediction using the Markov model.The simulations for 2000 and 2005 were confirmed to be generally accurate using Kappa indices.Then the land-use scenarios for Beijing in 2015 were simulated assuming two modes of development:1) urban development following existing trends;and 2) under a strict farmland control.The simulations suggested that under either mode,urbanized areas would expand at the expense of land for other uses.This expansion was predicted to dominate the land-use conversions between 2005 and 2015,and was expected to be accompanied by an extensive loss of farmland.The key susceptible to land-use changes were found to be located at the central urban Beijing and the surrounding regions including Yanqing County,Changping District and Fangshan District.Also,the simulations predicted a considerable expansion of urban/suburban areas in the mountainous regions of Beijing,suggesting a need for priority monitoring and protection.

Quantifying Land Use Change in Zhejiang Coastal Region,China Using Multi-Temporal Landsat TM/ETM+Images

Landsat Thematic Mapper （TM） and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus （ETM＋） images in 1985, 1986, 1993, 1994 and 2001 were used to quantify the land use and land cover changes （LUCC） in the Zhejiang coastal region with a stratified unsupervised classification technique in conjunction with visual interpretation and to attempt an identification of the socioeconomic driving forces. In level I an overall accurate classification was achieved using a modified Anderson＇s Ⅰ/Ⅱ/Ⅲ-level classification scheme. The overall accuracy of the land use classification at Anderson level Ⅰ were 89.7% （1985）, 91.6% （1993）, and 90.4% （2001）. The most rapid land use change was a dramatic increase in urban or built-up areas, which quadrupled from 1985 to 2001. Over 90% of this newly expanded built-up area was originally paddy fields or other croplands. In different parts of the Zhejiang coastal region, urban land expansion was spatially uneven. Temporally, land use development did not stabilized, and the two study periods of time （1985-1993 and 1993-2001） had different transition styles. Socioeconomic factors, such as gross domestic product, total population, and financial expenditure, were all highly correlated with the expansion of urban or built-up areas. Based on the degree of urban sprawl and socioeconomic factors, cities and towns were further divided into six subgroups, which may help decision makers improve land use for the region.

China's Land Carrying Capacity Based on Man-grain Relationships

With population growth and increasing pressure on land resources,land carrying capacity(LCC) and food safety have been attracting great attention worldwide.From the point of man-grain relationship and by establishing LCC and land carrying capacity index(LCCI) models,this article firstly analyzes the spatial-temporal dynamics of LCC of China from 1949 to 2005 at county,provincial and national levels.Choosing 2005 as a representative year,this article then evaluates the LCC of 264 pastoral regions(semipastoral regions),663 urban regions and 592 poverty stricken regions of the country.The results show that:(1) from 1949 to 2005,with the increase of grain production,the LCC of China has been improved conspicuously,but due to the rapid population growth,the production can only maintain a low level grain consumption;(2) over the past 25 years(1980-2005),the number of population overloading provinces decreased from 23 to 15 and the mangrain relationship has been improved gradually,but there were more overloading provinces than surplus provinces in China;(3) at county level,there were 1572 overloading counties in 1980 accounting for 68.26% of the total counties of the country and where were 649 million people lived,while in 1990,2000 and 2005,the number of overloading counties were 1066,1133 and 1087 respectively,which shows that the man-grain relationship has been improved obviously during the past 25 years;as for spatial distribution,the surplus counties were mainly concentrated in agriculture developed regions,such as Northeast Plain,North China Plain,middle and lower Reaches of the Yangtze River Plain,and overloading counties were mainly located in regions with poor natural environment and low grain production capacity,such as Northwest China,Tibetan Plateau and Loess Plateau and economically developed urban regions,such as Beijing,Tianjin and Shanghai;(4) animal husbandry improved greatly the LCC of pastoral and semi-pastoral regions,while urban regions were overloading for increasing population pressure and more than half of poverty stricken regions were overloading due to critical natural environment and poor economic conditions.

Correlation Between Economic Development Level and Landscape Pattern in Beijing Peri-urban Areas

With the rapid changes of demographic and socio-economic structure, various ecological and environmental problems have emerged in peri-urban areas. Studies on the correlation between socio-economic development and eco-environmental preservation are inadequate. This paper analyzes the landscape pattern of peri-urban areas to address this issue. First, it studies the differentiation of economic development levels in Beijing peri-urban areas. Then, it explores the correlation between economic development level of each town and its landscape pattern using Pearson Correlation and grade difference indices. Furthermore, it summarizes the problems within current landscape pattern. Three conclusions are drawn from the analysis: (1) on the whole, the economic de- velopment level in Beijing peri-urban areas basically matches with landscape pattern; (2) landscape contagion degree decreases with the growth of economic development level in as much as 30% of Beijing peri-urban areas. This is an irrational phenomenon accord- ing to our judgment; (3) landscape fragmentation grades in more than half of the towns are higher than their economic development grades, suggesting that attention should be paid to excessive fragmentation of land use.

Analyzing the Relationship between Urban Patterns and Land Surface Temperature Using WorldView-2 and Landsat-ETM＋

Global climate destabilization as a result of the increased urbanization is one of today＇s most urgent issues. The detected urban heat island phenomenon in urbanized areas, combined with the decreased vegetation and the anthropogenic heat discharge, is an example of this climate change and in order to take proper actions to reduce this effect, the urban environmental analysis is more than necessary. This paper aims at analyzing and exploring the relationship between land uses of a densely populated urban area with the LST （land surface temperature） combining with WorldView-2 and Landsat ETM＋ satellite imagery. The available thermal band of the Landsat image is used to extract surface temperatures of the study area on a hot summer day. Continuously, the high resolution satellite image of WorldView-2 is used for extracting the land uses. Zonal statistics were applied highlighting the zones with high and low average temperatures. Additional statistical tests （correlation analysis, analysis of variance-ANOVA, etc.） were applied, for evaluating the interaction between the temperature results with the land use types.

Regional Variation in the SME-Audit Firm Relationship

The purpose of the paper is to examine how the relationship between small and medium sized enterprises （SMEs） and their auditor varies between regions. Auditing literature, regional, and network studies are used to set up hypotheses on differences between rural regions and the metropolitan urban region. Survey data from 421 SMEs are analyzed and findings support that in rural regions, especially those with a strong entrepreneurial culture and tight inter-organizational links, the SME-auditor relationship is to a larger extent trust-based compared to the urban region. In the rural region, the auditor assumes the role as a business support agent providing valuable strategic advice. The SME-auditor relationship is weakest in the urban region where the auditor＇s role is limited.

Conceptualizing and Measuring Economic Resilience of Resource-based Cities： Case Study of Northeast China

This paper develops a conceptual model and an indicator system for measuring economic resilience of resource-based cities based on the theory of evolutionary resilience and the related concepts of persistence, adaptation, and transformation. Nineteen resource-based cities in Northeast China were analyzed using the indicator system. The results showed that Liaoning and Jilin provinces had higher economic resilience than Heilongjiang Province. Panjin, Benxi, and Anshan in Liaoning Province were the top three cities, while Shuangyashan and other coal-based cities in Heilongjiang Province ranked last. Metals-and petroleum-based cities had significantly higher resilience than coal-based cities. The differences in persistence, adaptability, transformation, and resilience among resource-based cities decreased since the introduction of the Northeast Revitalization Strategy in 2003. Forestry-based cities improved the most in terms of resilience, followed by metals-based and multiple-resource cities; however, resilience dropped for coal-based cities, and petroleum-based cities falling the most. The findings illustrate the importance and the way to develop a differentiated approach to improve resilience among resource-based cities.

Physico-chemical and Bacteriological Specification Groundwater of Tangier

The drinking water for all the inhabitants of Tangier is still an aim far from being achieved. Therefore, all rural areas and some urban areas feed water wells and springs whose composition and safety are unknown. In the absence of data on water and ignorance of consumers towards the risk of poisoning and waterborne diseases transmitted by these waters, the authors conducted a study to determine the composition, physico-chemical quality and bacteriological these waters. This study is to provide a basic physico-chemical and bacteriological data from these waters in some urban areas of old or missing infrastructure in some sites in the province of Tangier. Such as Ziatine sites, Gzenaya, Rmilate, Malabata ＋ Mnar, Mghoura ＋ Aouama and Downtown. Analyzes are performed according to AFNOR methods （AFNOR： French Standards Association）. The results indicate that these waters are generally mild and are experiencing significant geochemical imbalance. Moreover, these waters also have a significant organic and bacteriological pollution. It is concluded that the waters of these sites are of poor quality, unfit for human consumption.

Road-Spine versus Road-Tube： Roads as Space Generators

Arteries devoted to sustain streams of users, resources and debris, are a foremost factor and pre-condition of the development of urban areas and of the transformation of landscapes. Roadscapes reflect outcomes related to super urbanization tendencies. Often conceived as isolated tubes, roads cut and obscure form, structure, biotic and abiotic factors of sites, urban fabrics and spaces. A broad vision of landscape is a basis for reconceiving roads. The concept of road-spine emerges： the road is conceived as the basis of a bundle of routes, nodes, surfaces, poles and tiles, devised to frame and shape a mosaic of open spaces, crops, farms, stores, basins and service areas. The road-spine entails the idea of a permeable infrastructure devised to integrate diverse functions： from serving various forms of motion, by ordering an isotropic grid of routes, to framing a porous urbanscape; from disposing surfaces meant to preserve biocenosis and biotopes, to favoring osmosis amid land uses. It also prefigures a distribution of land uses dependent on site vocations, and a mosaic of scenarios open to encounter, evasion, rest, amusement, participation, and to spontaneous practices of space.

Observed Climate Change in East China during 1961-2007

By using in situ daily observations in East China during 1961-2007 and NCEP reanalysis data, the methods of statistical analyses, urban minus rural and observation minus reanalysis, it is revealed that the observed climate change and surface warming in East China were mainly induced by urbanization. The results show that East China has experienced two warmer periods of 1930s and 1980s in the past century; from 1951 to 2007, the regional mean temperature increased at a rate of 0.14℃ per decade; heat waves happened in urban center more frequently, and local climate showed a warming and dry trend; there was no significant linear trend in regional mean precipitation in the past 50 years. Urbanization was a crucial element for the regional warming; about 44% of the warming was due to heat island effect in the mega city.

Shrinking and Super-Aging Suburbs in Japanese Metropolis

Japan＇s aging rate has exceeded 26%, ahead of any other country in the world. Aging is progressing rapidly in both rural and urban areas. Recently, super-aging in old suburbs is remarkable. Recently, Japanese old suburban housing estates are declining. They are facing several serious problems. Most serious problems are aging of residents and decreasing population, and these are caused by long-term dwelling. Because many Japanese think that ＂Japanese Dream＂ is occupancy of detached house in suburb. Japanese suburban residents tend to stay after child rearing. And another severe problem is the increasing vacant houses. In this study, the authors try to clarify the conditions of shrinking suburbs in Japanese cities and will introduce some activities for revitalization in suburbs. As for aging of suburban residents, in old housing estates, the first generation of migrants grew older and continued to live in their own house in suburban areas. Furthermore, their children grew up and moved out. These are caused by the failure of town planning, which supplied the same type of houses in short term. Furthermore, increases in vacant houses are seen throughout every old suburban housing estate, and it induces new uneasiness and social troubles and drop in housing price.

Freshmen or Pre-graduates, Who Need More Attention？--Mental Health Changes From Chinese Freshmen to Pre-graduates

First year of college was found to be the most challenging and stressful year due to the transition from home to school and the adjustment to new life, however, others reported that pre-graduates suffered from more mental problems under the pressure of job-hunting and uncertainty of future. This study sought to examine mental health development measured with University Personality Inventory （UPI） among Chinese college students and its relationship with family factors （family income, family residence, and sibling status~） with a longitudinal design. Data of 390 Chinese college students were collected at their first and the third year of college period. The results showed that Chinese college students＇ overall mental health declined in the third year than in the first year. Urban students showed a more rapid increase in physical symptoms from the first year to the third year than rural students. The results indicated that psychological intervention should be extended to students facing graduation, especially those from urban area.

A review of non-agricultural land-use in peri-urbanization area:research progress and perspectives

The peri-urbanization area as a kind of rural-urban interface is changing rapidly ,physical, economlc and social terms. The land use pattern in such area is shifting away from the assumptions of mainstream paradigms to new conceptual landscapes, which leads to a series of problems on economic development and social stabilization. There are many researches on non-agricultural land-use in peri-urbanization area. In this paper both international and domestic research literature is reviewed by dividing six parts. The first part introduces the conception of peri-ur-banization area and its driver factors. Then in the second and the third part, the paper expatiates on the progress in the non-agricultural land-use in peri-urban area on land-use problems in the research area, while the fifth part reviews the integrating ways of non-agricultrual land-use. Finally, recommendations for further study are draw with specific reference to the current and future position of non-agricultural land-use study in peri-urban area.

Mechanical-Mathematical Modeling and Monitoring for Landslide Processes

Landslides are one of the most widespread and dangerous phenomena in the urbanized territories. In Moscow they affect about 3% of the most valuable territory, including churches and historical buildings located at high banks of the Moskva River. Recently the landslide activation occurred. Normal functioning of city infrastructure and implementation of effective slope protection measures require special landslide monitoring. Mechanical-mathematical model of high viscous fluid was applied for the landslide-prone slopes modeling. Equation of continuityand an approximatedNavier-Stockes equation f or slow motions in a thin layer were used. The results of modelling give possibility to define the landslide section with upmost velocity that should be monitored in the first place. Some important parameters used for numerical modelling can be defined from monitoring data.

A Numerical Study of the Urban Intensity Effect on Fog Evolution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region

The influence of urban intensity on fog evolution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region (China) is investigated numerically with the the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with the urban canopy parameterization-building energy model (UCP- BEM) urban physics scheme. The experiments were designed with a focus on the influence of different urban intensities, which are represented by a different fractional coverage of natural land, buildings, and energy consumption inside buildings in an urban environment. The results of this study indicate that urban areas notably influence fog evolution when natural land is reduced to a small fraction (e.g., less than 10%). Developed land changes fog evolution through urban effects. Higher urban intensity (HUI) generally results in warmer temperatures and lower wind speeds throughout the day, while inhibiting morning specific humidity loss and afternoon specific humidity gain because of the HUI effect on surface heat flux, surface roughness, and surface moisture flux. HUI leads to later and weaker liquid water content formation, with a higher liquid water content base, primarily due to its effect on near surface temperatures. This finding implies that HUI may inhibit the conditions for fog formation. In addition, urban areas with equal natural and developed land coverage seem to greatly enhance the upward surface moisture flux, which is attributed to the combination of a relatively large potential evaporation on developed land and an ample moisture supply from natural land. As a result, the specific humidity increases in the afternoon.

Urban Redevelopment, Gentrification and Gentrifiers in Post-reform Inland China: A Case Study of Chengdu, China

Since its process evolved in recent years, the definition of gentrification has expanded to cover different forms of social upgrading, new spaces and new actors around the world. Studies on gentrification in Chinese cities began to take off in the 2000 s. However, they all mainly focused on the newly emerging global cities and there has been a lack of investigation on provincial cities. Furthermore, discussions on gentrifiers′ profiles and their motivations for housing choice are absent from literature on Chinese gentrification. Therefore, this paper aims to assess the relevance of the broad definition of gentrification in provincial Chinese cities through empirical research on urban redevelopment projects in Chengdu, and to examine the characteristics of gentrifiers(as new incoming residents) in it. The results show the rationality of gentrification processes as urban redevelopment in Chengdu, and reveal original outcomes on the corresponding gentrifiers′ profiles and the motivations behind their housing choice, which are different from the general features of gentrifiers in standard Western gentrification research.

Cartography of Air Pollution in an Industrial City in North-Eastern Algeria by Using Two Indexes： Poleotolerance Index and Atmospheric Purity Index

Of all the methods of studies on bio-estimation of air pollution by lichen flora, the authors cannot justify a choice of one method over another. Consultation of previous work by researchers has allowed us to compare these methods and to better understand their strengths and limitations. Under the terms of estimating the pollution, these methods are classified into three categories. Some are qualitative, quantitative and others are finally some indirect methods. The methods used to assess the overall air pollution relative value for each station studied. As part of our work, the authors have chosen a quantitative approach based on the combination of two methods. They are based on pollution indices obtained from mathematical formulas based on various parameters related to the lichen flora. They are represented by the I.P. （index poleotolerance） and the I.A.P. （index of atmospheric purity） and these two indices allowed us to map of global air pollution in the city of Skikda and petrochemical industry as well as peri-urban areas （Haddaiek, Hamadi Krouma, Hamrouche Hamoudi, Larbi Ben M＇Hidi）. The authors have identified areas of iso-pollution around different emission centers represented by the largest petrochemical area, traffic and households in urban areas of Skikda, Hamadi Krouma, Hamrouche Hamoudi and Larbi Ben M＇Hidi.

Application of Multi-agent Models to Urban Expansion in Medium and Small Cities: A Case Study in Fuyang City,Zhejiang Province,China

In this study, three-phase satellite images were used to define rules for the allocation of time and space in construction land resources based on a complex adaptive system and game theory. The decision behavior and rules of government agent, enterprise agent and resident agent in construction land growth were explored. A distinctive and dynamic simulation model of construction land growth was built, which integrated multi-agent, GIS technology and RS data and described the interaction among influencing agents, Taking Fuyang City in the Changjiang River Delta as an example, an assessment process for the remote sensing data in construction land and scenario planning was constructed. Repast and ArcGIS were used as simulation platforms. A simulation of the spatial pattern in land-use planning and the setting of scenario planning were conducted by using the incomplete active game, which was based on different natural, social and economic levels. Through this model, a simulation of urban planning space and decision-making for Fuyang City was created. Relevant non-structured problems arising from urban planning management could be identified, and the process and logic of urban planning spatial decision-making could thus be improved. Cell-by-cell comparison showed that the simulation accuracy was over 72%. This model has great potential for use by government and town planners in decision support and technique support in the policy-making process.