Debris flow runout behaviors considering the influences of densely populated buildings

Debris flows pose serious risks to communities in mountainous areas,often resulting in large losses of human life and property.The impeding presence of urban buildings often affects the runout behavior and deposition of debris flows.But the impact of different building densities and sizes on debris flow dynamics has yet to be quantified to guide urban planning in debris flow risk zones.This study focused on a debris flow that occurred in Zhouqu County,Gansu Province,China on August 7th,2010,which was catastrophic and destroyed many buildings.The FLO-2D software was used to simulate this debris flow in two scenarios,i.e.the presence and the absence of buildings,to obtain debris-flow intensity parameters.The developed model was then used to further analyze the influence of large buildings and narrow channels within the urban environment.The simulation results show that considering the presence of buildings in the simulation is essential for accurate assessment of debris flow intensity and deposition distribution.The layout of buildings in the upstream urban area,such as large buildings or parallel buildings which form narrow channels,can affect the flow velocity and depth of debris flow heading towards downstream buildings.To mitigate damage to downstream buildings,the relative spacing(d/a)between upstream and downstream buildings should not exceed a value of two and should ideally be even lower.These findings provide valuable insights for improving the resistance of mountainous cities to urban debris flows.

A semantic vector map-based approach for aircraft positioning in GNSS/GPS denied large-scale environment

Accurate positioning is one of the essential requirements for numerous applications of remote sensing data,especially in the event of a noisy or unreliable satellite signal.Toward this end,we present a novel framework for aircraft geo-localization in a large range that only requires a downward-facing monocular camera,an altimeter,a compass,and an open-source Vector Map(VMAP).The algorithm combines the matching and particle filter methods.Shape vector and correlation between two building contour vectors are defined,and a coarse-to-fine building vector matching(CFBVM)method is proposed in the matching stage,for which the original matching results are described by the Gaussian mixture model(GMM).Subsequently,an improved resampling strategy is designed to reduce computing expenses with a huge number of initial particles,and a credibility indicator is designed to avoid location mistakes in the particle filter stage.An experimental evaluation of the approach based on flight data is provided.On a flight at a height of 0.2 km over a flight distance of 2 km,the aircraft is geo-localized in a reference map of 11,025 km~2using 0.09 km~2aerial images without any prior information.The absolute localization error is less than 10 m.

Application of water loop variable refrigerant flow air-conditioning system in large-scale buildings in northern China

A water loop variable refrigerant flow（WLVRF）air-conditioning system is designed to be applied in large-scale buildings in northern China.The system is energy saving and it is an integrated system consisting of a variable refrigerant flow（VRF）air-conditioning unit,a water loop and an air source heat pump.The water loop transports energy among different regions in the buildings instead of refrigerant pipes,decreasing the scale of the VRF air-conditioning unit and improving the performance.Previous models for refrigerants and building loads are cited in this investigation.Mathematical models of major equipment and other elements of the system are established using the lumped parameter method based on the DATAFIT software and the MATLAB software.The performance of the WLVRF system is simulated.The initial investments and the running costs are calculated based on the results of market research.Finally,a contrast is carried out between the WLVRF system and the traditional VRF system.The results show that the WLVRF system has a better working condition and lower running costs than the traditional VRF system.

Digital Application Objectives and Benefit Analysis of BIM Technology in Large-Scale Comprehensive Development Projects

This paper discusses the digital application and benefit analysis of building information model(BIM)technology in the large-scale comprehensive development project of the Guangxi headquarters base.The project covers a total area of 92,100 square meters,with a total construction area of 379,700 square meters,including a variety of architectural forms.Through three-dimensional modeling and simulation analysis,BIM technology significantly enhances the design quality and efficiency,shortens the design cycle by about 20%,and promotes the collaboration and integration of project management,improving the management efficiency by about 25%.During the construction phase,the collision detection and four-dimensional visual management functions of BIM technology have improved construction efficiency by about 15%and saved the cost by about 10%.In addition,BIM technology has promoted green building and sustainable development,achieved the dual improvement of technical and economic indicators and social and economic benefits,set an example for enterprises in digital transformation,and opened up new market businesses.

Resilience-based retrofitting of existing urban RC-frame buildings using seismic isolation

The improvement of the seismic resilience of existing reinforced-concrete(RC) frame buildings, which is essential for the seismic resilience of a city, has become a critical issue. Although seismic isolation is an effective method for improving the resilient performance of such buildings, target-oriented quantitative improvements of the resilient performance of these buildings have been reported rarely. To address this gap, the seismic resilience of two existing RC frame buildings located in a high seismic intensity region of China were assessed based on the Chinese Standard for Seismic Resilience Assessment of Buildings. The critical engineering demand parameters(EDPs) affecting the seismic resilience of such buildings were identified. Subsequently, the seismic resilience of buildings retrofitted with different isolation schemes(i.e., yield ratios) were evaluated and compared, with emphasis on the relationships among yield ratios, EDPs, and levels of seismic resilience. Accordingly, to achieve the highest level of seismic resilience with respect to the Chinese standard, a yield ratio of 3% was recommended and successfully applied to the target-oriented design for the seismic-resilience improvement of an existing RC frame building. The research outcome can provide an important reference for the resilience-based retrofitting of existing RC frame buildings using seismic isolation in urban cities.

Seismic vulnerability assessment of urban buildings and traffic networks using fuzzy ordered weighted average

Urban buildings and urban traffic network are considered as the vital arteries of cities which have particular effects especially after the crisis in the search and rescue operations. The aim of this study is to determine the vulnerability of urban areas especially, buildings and traffic networks using multicriteria geographic information systems and decisionmaking methods. As there are many effective criteria on the seismic vulnerability that they have uncertain and vague properties, the method of this paper is applying fuzzy ordered weighted average(OWA) to model the seismic vulnerability of urban buildings and traffic networks in the most optimistic and pessimistic states. The study area is district 6 of Tehran that is affected by the four major faults, and thus will be threatened by the earthquakes. The achieved results illustrated the vulnerability with different degrees of risk levels including very high, high, medium, low and very low. The results show that in the most optimistic case 14% and in the pessimistic case 1% of buildings tolerate in very low vulnerability. The vulnerability of urban street network also indicates that in the optimistic case 12% and in the pessimistic case at most 9% of the area are in appropriate condition and the North and NorthEast of the study area are more vulnerable than South of it.

The Application and Prospects of Digital Visualization in Urban Public Building Space Design

With the development and innovation of digital information technology, digital visualization plays an increasingly important role in the design of urban public building spaces. This paper explores the application of digital visualization technology in the design of urban public building spaces and looks ahead to future trends. Firstly, it analyzes the challenges in the design of urban public building spaces, including extensive professional involvement, complex functional layout requirements, rational emergency evacuation routes, multidimensional analysis of architectural spatial environments, and appropriate selection of decorative materials. Next, it introduces the applications of digital visualization technology in showcasing visual design and expression, optimizing spatial functional layouts, enhancing the rationality of evacuation routes, analyzing dynamic environmental impacts and energy consumption, and improving the effectiveness of material selection in the design of urban public building spaces. Lastly, it discusses the prospects of extended reality (XR) technology, interactive design using data platforms, and AI technology in the design of public building spaces. It is hoped that this paper provides inspiration and reference for the deeper application of digital information technology in the field of architecture. .

Seismic vulnerability assessment of urban buildings using the rough set theory and weighted linear combination

Seismic vulnerability assessment of urban buildings is among the most crucial procedures to post-disaster response and recovery of infrastructure systems.The present study proceeds to estimate the seismic vulnerability of urban buildings and proposes a new framework training on the two objectives.First,a comprehensive interpretation of the effective parameters of this phenomenon including physical and human factors is done.Second,the Rough Set theory is used to reduce the integration uncertainties,as there are numerous quantitative and qualitative data.Both objectives were conducted on seven distinct earthquake scenarios with different intensities based on distance from the fault line and the epicenter.The proposed method was implemented by measuring seismic vulnerability for the seven specified seismic scenarios.The final results indicated that among the entire studied buildings,71.5%were highly vulnerable as concerning the highest earthquake scenario(intensity=7 MM and acceleration calculated based on the epicenter),while in the lowest earthquake scenario(intensity=5 MM),the percentage of vulnerable buildings decreased to approximately 57%.Also,the findings proved that the distance from the fault line rather than the earthquake center(epicenter)has a significant effect on the seismic vulnerability of urban buildings.The model was evaluated by comparing the results with the weighted linear combination(WLC)method.The accuracy of the proposed model was substantiated according to evaluation reports.Vulnerability assessment based on the distance from the epicenter and its comparison with the distance from the fault shows significant reliable results.

Urban Public Spaces and Design of Historical and Cultural Buildings——Series II of Urban Public Space Design

This paper summarized concept and role of urban public space, highlighted its role in emotional exchange, cultural exchange, and business communication, and the significance of showing inside image of the city in terms of morality and residents' quality. Combining with design of historical and cultural buildings, the paper explored the forms of historical and cultural buildings in urban public spaces from the perspectives of administration square, religious square, cultural square and commercial street, so as to design "human-concerned" urban public spaces that meet human needs and reflect personality of the city.

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.

Design Strategies for the Sustainable Improvement of Urban Social Assistance Buildings

Transformation and innovation of assistance model promote the transition of urban social assistance building to multi-functional building. This paper, on the basis of analyzing complexity and peculiarity of urban social assistance building, as well as researches and practices of sustainable improvement of domestic architecture, proposed environmental, social and economic objectives of the sustainable improvement of urban social assistance building, and elaborated design strategies from the perspectives of site selection and its impact on environment, application, evaluation and utilization of ecological technologies, reform of old buildings, flexible internal layout of building and combination of routine use and disaster use design, so as to improve social benefits and social assessment of assistance buildings sustainably, and to balance humanistic concerns and social resource input.

Method for Evaluating the Influence of Obstruction of Sea Breeze by Clusters of High-Rise Buildings on the Urban Heat Island Effect

This study aims to propose a method for quantitatively evaluating the influence which the obstruction of sea breezes by clusters of high-rise buildings has on the urban heat island effect using a weather simulation model and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Specifically, a method of evaluating the influence of the obstruction of sea breeze by high-rise buildings on the urban heat island effect was proposed. In the method, two scenarios that imagine urban forms which differ with regard to whether or not they contain high-rise buildings are created and weather simulation is conducted, and the results of the simulations are comparatively analyzed focusing on temperature and wind speed. Evaluation was conducted in two stages, and Shiodome of Minato City in the Tokyo Metropolis was selected as the region for evaluation. In two stages of evaluation, a rise in temperature of approximately 0.3 K and a reduction in wind speed of approximately 1 m/s were observed in a region approximately five to ten kilometers square downwind of high-rise buildings in the period 6 PM to 9 PM, and a higher temperature caused by the obstruction of sea breeze by high-rise buildings was identified. The fact that such a higher temperature was confirmed in the time period from 6 PM onwards, in which the temperature decreases, reveals that obstruction of sea breeze by high-rise buildings dulls the decrease in temperature which occurs from evening onwards, and influences nighttime urban heat island formation.

“Dangerous”Buildings and Urban Planning:Locus,Legal Framework and Assessment for the City of Larissa

Dangerous,vacant and abandoned buildings traditionally have been considered as negative elements in the urban environment.Their“harmful”properties include hosting“nests”of criminality(drug trafficking etc.),becoming a threat to public safety(easy to catch fire,collapsing building materials etc.),degrading conditions of public health(rubbish damp,rats infesting etc.),affecting property values in the surrounding areas,loading their owners with taxes(property tax etc.)and no revenues,imposing negative impacts on the aesthetics and the quality of the urban environment.On the other hand,they might trigger opportunities for urban regeneration,provide new available spaces for urban uses if demolished,and provide a stock of urban elements of special characteristics,to be used for the formulation of housing policies.The present article reviews urban policies focusing on these properties and assesses existing implementations.The various factors characterizing the above initiatives constitute challenging planning and legal cases.The complexity of the issue of abandoned buildings in the urban environment,is to be tested in the case of the city of Larissa,Greece.Legal and planning inadequacies in dealing with the above will be investigated,and proposals for the formulation of policies and legal tools will be synthesized.

Fresh Water Demand Minimization in Residential Urban Buildings

In the last decades, there is a lot of discussion in many scientific fields, about the high importance of water as a basic element for the existence and the maintenance of life, aiming to the right and proper usage of water in our everyday basic water-needs due to its limited resources and the growing demand. This research deals with simple ways and technological systems applicable in urban residential buildings for the better management of domestic fresh water, as far as its maintenance and sustainability. Main aim of the survey is the effective minimization of urban daily water usage. All measurements of water quantities have estimated in the imperial gallon （1 gallon = 4.546 liter）, and in liter （1 liter = 0.2 gallon）.

Impact of Urban Areas on Historical and Archaeological Buildings

The present paper is talking about the recent situation of the archeological buildings which exist through modern urban environments. Urban expansion has a large effect on the archeological buildings continuity since such type of development impresses several serious challenges which conservation plans as well as preservation polices must deal with. A number of that main challenges are mega-constructions （tunnels, damps, roads, etc.）, pollution, socio-cultural impacts and traffic. Within Um Qias, the archeological buildings face similar challenges consistent with the urban environment where it is presented and that challenges are reviewed in the local community behavior.

The Implementation of Large-Scale Urban DevelopmentProjects in Brazilian Cities Case Study:Rio deJaneiro/RJ

The planning and implementation of large-scale urban development projects(UDPs)tend to arouse expectations of increasing investments to urban and social improvements.However,these urban interventions have been less democratic and more elite-driven priorities,resulting in socio-spatial segregation in the city.In the case of the Rio de Janeiro/RJ,the urban interventions planned for the years following the 2016 Olympic Games have not yet occurred in the totality.In this sense,it is necessary to understand the impacts of this mega-event’s intervention when the legacy does not attend the expectations of improvements in the city.Thus,the analyses took into account official documents and the perception of residents close to the areas that received interventions for the Olympic Games,regarding the changes that occurred in these places.It is evident the importance of discussing the subject to later outline guidelines or strategies that aim to minimise significant impacts generated by this insertion in the urban environment.

Real-time Visualization of Urban with Gigantic Amount of Detailed Buildings

Complex urban scenery is generally composed of gigantic amount of detailed buildings, efficient representation and rendering are essential for its visualization. We present an accelerating method for urban visualization. Our approach can optimize the organization of models in accordance with the quadtree based terrain, which makes the parallelization easier. Through minimizing the draw call within one rendering process, our approach can reduce the time cost of each frame and improve the framerate greatly. Hereby, our system can handle large-scale detailed models with high diversity and also can afford the ability to adjust the rendering strategy automatically according to the state of the hardware.

Adaptive-Reuse of Historic Industrial Buildings and Sites in China

The paper analyzes the definite place of industrial building in the history of urban development. Due to the development of urban economy and the transition of the traditional industrial structure, many historic cities and towns both at home and abroad have witnessed a large scale "demolition" and abandonment of industrial buildings in urban renewal during last 30 years. Consequently, it has been leading to the discontinuity of urban cultural and historic context. The paper discusses and expounds the clas...

Building Height Trends and Their Influencing Factors under China’s Rapid Urbanization:A Case Study of Guangzhou,1960–2017

Understanding the spatiotemporal patterns of three-dimensional urban forms,especially building height,can have important implications for improving urban air quality and mitigating the urban heat island effect by optimizing urban planning and management policies.This study investigated building height evolution and its influencing factors over approximately half a century(1960–2017)in Guangzhou,China.The results indicated that the logarithmic declines in height,quantity,and area of urban buildings followed Zapf’s law,which restricts the three-dimensional shape of the urban form.The urban building height decreased from the center to the periphery of the city and decreased with decreasing altitude and increasing distance from main roads.These characteristics constituted the three main spatial differentiation rules of building height in the central district of Guangzhou,and all exhibited a logarithmic decrease,which gradually strengthened over time.The development of a double-layered height structure of low-rise and high-rise buildings between 1990 and 2017 was a notable manifestation of the increase in vertical urban height over time.The three factors of city center,altitude,and accessibility,which represent centrality,low relief,proximity to water,and proximity to road networks,highlighted the roles of traffic accessibility and commercial attraction in building height evolution.The importance of location macroscopically depends on the combined effect of the geographical pattern,urban planning,and market forces of cities located on a plain near hill or by a river.The principle of profit orientation restricted spatiotemporal building height patterns.

Analysis of the impact of large scale seismic retrofitting strategies through the application of a vulnerability-based approach on traditional masonry buildings

The buildings＇ capacity to maintain minimum structural safety levels during natural disasters, such as earthquakes, is recognisably one of the aspects that most influence urban resilience. Moreover, the public investment in risk mitigation strategies is fimdamental, not only to promote social and urban and resilience, but also to limit consequent material, human and environmental losses. Despite the growing awareness of this issue, there is still a vast number of traditional masonry buildings spread throughout many European old city centres that lacks of adequate seismic resistance, requiring therefore urgent retrofitting interventions in order to both reduce their seismic vulnerability and to cope with the increased seismic requirements of recent code standards. Thus, this paper aims at contributing to mitigate the social and economic impacts of earthquake damage scenarios through the development of vulnerability-based comparative analysis of some of the most popularretrofitting techniques applied after the 1998 Azores earthquake. The influence of each technique individually and globally studied resorting to a seismic vulnerability index methodology integrated into a GIS tool and damage and loss scenarios are constructed and critically discussed. Finally, the economic balance resulting from the implementation of that techniques are also examined.