Global urbanization as a shifting context for applying ecological science toward the sustainable city

There is an abundance of conceptual frameworks relevant to sustainability in urban systems.However,to advance urban ecological science and its application to sustainable urban transformations,key existing frameworks must be synthesized.This paper is a conceptual synthesis cast in essay form in order to encompass a broad range of relevant ideas.It starts from the premise that the familiar models of metropolitan and megalopolitan urban structure,of industrially driven urban development,and of the contrasts between urban and non-urban lands are manifestly inadequate representations of evolving global reality.Such inadequacy is illustrated with examples from the United States and from China.Both the form and the interactions involved in contemporary urbanization and urban change suggest the need for a new integrated framework synthesizing two existing yet still evolving concepts:(1)The urban megaregion framework accommodates the spatial extent,interdigitation of contrasting land uses,and the linked spatial relations between nominally urban and nominally rural areas.(2)The new concept of the continuum of urbanity emphasizes the shifts in livelihood and lifestyle driven by regional and global teleconnections and their joint effects on local environments and landscapes.Together these frameworks suggest a common conceptual structure for addressing urban areas of different ages,sizes,forms,and dynamics in both urbanizing and urbanized areas in developing and developed countries and regions.The synthesis of frameworks points to empirical research needs,and has the potential to better match sustainability plans and actions with the diverse urban forms and dynamics now appearing around the world.

World cities in terms of the sustainable development concept

The article considers the issue of the world cities in terms of sustainable development.The population has been increasing in such intensive rates never reached during the middle of the 20th century.The expansion of the cities indicates,on the one hand,the growth of the world’s general socio-economic development,on the other hand,it raises a number of economic,social and environmental problems.The purpose of this paper is to analyze the current state and prospects of the world cities in terms of the sustainable development concept,to identify opportunities,threats,strengths and weaknesses of the world cities,to determine the role of cities in the con-temporary global world and consider further research of the world’s cities.The authors analyzed the world cities rankings and noted that highly developed cities have more chances to quickly implement the sustainable devel-opment concept compared to medium-sized cities due to larger financial resources.The authors built a SWOT analysis of the world cities transformation in terms of the sustainable development concept,identified strengths,weaknesses,opportunities and threats.According to the results of the SWOT analysis,the authors established that sustainable development of cities requires significant investments,particularly in the social sphere develop-ment,purification,and preservation of urban nature from the anthropogenic impacts.The research result is the systematization of the sustainable development criteria used in compiling the world cities rankings,determining the possibilities of the contemporary cities transition to the sustainable development concept.

New Building Typologies for Zero Energy Mass Custom Housing(ZEMCH)in More Sustainable Patterns of Development

Conferences and publications on Smart Cities and self-styled ecological buildings such as“Vertical Forests”,“Biophilic”building complexes and other similar are multiplying.But then,in reality,we continue to design as we have always done for the last ninety years:with the consolidated rules and formal solutions of international post-modern composition,in its various forms.The only attentions are(and not always)to super-insulate the envelopes,arrange photovoltaic panels on the roofs,make the systems smart and cover the facades and roofs with appropriate green washing.Even in the awareness that human settlements and cities are extremely complex phenomena,mostly determined by economic and social factors,rather than by conscious typological-settlement choices,perhaps the time has come to acknowledge that the traditional paradigms of design must be changed.First of all,the types of settlements must be renewed,because it is through their optimization that the greatest savings in terms of energy and sustainability can be achieved.The research presented here is the application of a ten-year study that involved the development of net Zero Energy Mass Custom Housing(ZEMCH)in specific context in southern Italy.The Innovation and Transparency of Tenders Environmental Compatibility(ITACA)Assessment Protocol,derived from the Green Building Challenge’s GBTool,was used as a design guide,which is normally used for the assessment and judgment of sustainability at the building scale and not of the urban design.The result is a settlement model in which network of pedestrian,cycle and public transport is fully integrated with adjacent urban areas;effective landscaping connects public and private green and kitchen-gardens/orchards everywhere;buildings are made with new semi-underground typologies;net ZEMCHs are made with local,recyclable materials with low impact or positive energy balance;wastewater and rainwater are collected,in-loco phyto-purified and reused;renewable energies(sun,earth,wind)satisfy remaining necessities,with a minimum of plant interventions.

Nanotechnology as a Sustainable Approach for Achieving Sustainable Future

The nanotechnology revolution affected positively Architecture. Using nanotechnology is considered one of the most successful modern methods to achieve sustainable buildings with high functional efficiency. The discipline is Nano architecture, which uses Nanomaterials, products, or even Nano-shapes in the treatment of structure and construction. Despite the economic and urban advantages of using nanotechnology in the field of architecture and urbanism, we note that using nanotechnology is limited to some buildings uses in the city centers until now such as Administrative, commercial, educational, health, and recreational buildings or residential buildings. In spite of that, we found that nanotechnology was not used in priority buildings as “nuclear power plants” as it is considered one of the most eligible buildings to rely on nanotechnology to achieve safety, security, and functional efficiency requirements which have a great impact on advancing the movement of urban development. From this standpoint, the research recommends the necessity of following a methodology to activate the establishment of nuclear power plants with such technology to preserve the safety of construction, reduce energy consumption, conserve economic resources and reduce pollution. The research is exposed to highlight a set of case studies that used such an effective technique and conclude a group of criteria that are recommended to be followed in the implementation and construction of the Dabaa plant in Egypt to achieve a sustainable nuclear power plant. So the research objective aims to adopt the idea of applying nanotechnology in various uses, whether it is in the city center or the outskirt of the city in order to develop these urban cities and transform them into smart sustainable environmental cities depending on nanotechnology aspects to achieve new sustainability scenario that accommodates the objectives of sustainability, with the support of new technologies. From this point of view, the research presents a proposal that includes a set of points that are recommended to be followed based on nanotechnology to achieve sustainability in the implementation of the Dabaa nuclear power plant in Egypt;which will have a great impact in advancing the movement of urban development in Egypt through improving the envelope of an urban typology, using nanotechnology materials on the façades, roofs, and external renovations with suitable constructive systems and in an easier way.

Artificiality and Naturalness:Semi-underground Houses and Their Role in the Construction of a Sustainable Urban Landscape

The contemporary interest,on one hand for a renewed relationship between city and natural landscape,on the other for settlement typologies intrinsically efficient from an energy standpoint took back the attention on the design of the dug city,or rather,almost completely excavated.This is an emblematic model of the requirement that deals with the factors of its environment,like sun,wind,ground,shadow and flora,forcing some designers to migrate from usual design methodologies,indifferent to these design parameters,and they are careful only to the“laws of form”,in search of criteria and fine calculation tools to optimize the configuration and the structure of buildings,in order to ensure that they can be managed as“passively”as possible.What it means,with the minimum contribution of plants to ensure the best satisfaction of comfort and psychological needs of users:not only lighting,sunbathing,ventilation,thermal comfort in summer and winter,acoustic comfort,but also view characteristics,quality of lighting and sociological aspects.In general dialectic between artifice and nature,the theme of dug architecture today is faced not only as one of the most interesting and rich suggestions,but also as one of those,in which the reflection on objectives,methodologies and tools is longer necessary,to the identification of a new way of urban living and effective solutions against energy consumption.

Urban environmental problems transition and environmental education towards sustainable cities in China

With the rapid economic development and the speeding up of urbanization, the urban environmental problems in China are experiencing a progressive transition, which is characterized by steady transferring to the living (or consumption) oriented pollution pattern from the production oriented pollution pattern. Regarding this transition, the environmental education recognized as an important measure for approaching the objective of sustainable development, should transfer its focus correspondingly in urban area, which is to transfer to the habit cultivating pattern on the basis of the traditional knowledge inputting environmental education pattern. In practice, the urban environmental education should emphasize more on developing or cultivating the sustainable living mode of the urban residents, especially the students in elementary and primary schools and women. By this transform, the environmental education may be guided further towards sustainable development, and to serve the achievement of sustainable cities better in China.

Comparative Analysis between Community and Occupants’ Rating Systems for Sustainable Urban Communities (SUC)

Overpopulation globally is an addressed issue impacting human lives, marine lives, and the surrounding ecosystem;it is adding pressure on the available resources that should be optimized to suit the needs. Yet with improper management of resources and monitoring of daily activities, the environment will be further negatively impacted. With overpopulation higher urbanization rates are noticed with the demand of seeking better health facilities, better education, better jobs and better well-being;this progression is driving more demand into the infrastructure sector to be able to accommodate the growth rates. Hence, the need to having sustainable communities aiming at optimizing the resources used, working towards more feasible, environmentally friendly and cost-effective communities with a better occupant’s experience is in action. Sustainable development goals (SDG) are vital goals developed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in 2015 to address and guide through 17 interconnected global goals serving the previously mentioned trend. Out of the 17 goals, Sustainable Cities and Communities (goal #11) and Good Health and Well-Being (goal #3) are the focus of this paper directed towards holding a comparative analysis between the community scale commonly known and mostly used rating system Leadership of Energy and Environmental Design (LEED-Cities and Communities) (USA) versus similar rating systems like Tarsheed-Communities (Egypt) and Estidama-Pearl (UAE) rating systems meeting sustainable development goal #11. Conjointly, another complimenting comparative review of the occupant’s health and wellbeing rating systems, such as Fitwel (USA) and Well (USA) are studied under sustainable development goal #3;however, they are focused on a building scale assessment. Living Community Challenge (LCC, USA) rating system linking community rating system with health & wellbeing credits was first issued in 2006, yet is it not cost effective neither easy to apply acting as a primary step while being affordable, accessible, and easy to implement. The objective of this paper is to highlight the pros and gaps under both categories of studies of community rating system and occupants’ health & wellbeing rating systems based on scientific content and commercial acceptance and do-ability. This comparison is done via comparing credits and sections within each rating system type;this will support in addressing the focal points needed for an integrated rating system between both categories that will serve in meeting SDG Sustainable Cities and Communities (goal #11) and Good Health and Well-Being (goal #3).

Spatial Accessibility of Bakeries and Supermarkets in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

The recent events and constant global changes show the importance of rethinking city planning.In this context,the 15-Minute City concept got important as it brings people closer to activities and services,through short trips by active modes,being the key to a sustainable city.Based on this concept,this paper analysed the spatial accessibility of residents of Belo Horizonte(Brazil)to two establishments essential to the quality of life:bakeries and supermarkets.The analyses were made through the influence areas,spatial clusters,and the Local Indicators of Spatial Association.The results showed that bakeries are more accessible than supermarkets,which are not accessible to the entire population,especially in low-density and low-income regions.In addition,areas with potential for new projects were identified by the relationship between existing facilities(supermarkets or bakeries)and population density/income.Finally,the results highlight the challenges for developing sustainable cities considering the 15-Minute City concept throughout the territory of Belo Horizonte.

International Cities Club to Demonstrate Urban Sustainability

The inaugural ceremony of International Standardized Sustainable City Club and the Award Ceremony of International Standardization Conference Base were held in Hangzhou on June 30.Tian Shihong,SAC Administrator,Zhang Xiaogang,ISO President,John Walter,President-elect of ISO,Xu Liyi,Hangzhou mayor and other representatives attended the event.

The sustainable development of innovative cities in China： Comprehensive assessment and future configuration

Innovative cities not only constitute an important basis for innovation activities, but also play a strategically critical role in constructing an innovative country, producing new forms of urban development, and fostering urban sustainable development. Currently, China is marching toward the goal of establishing an innovative country by 2020, but in the start-up phase of this process of innovative city construction, the fundamental transition from factor-driven development to innovation-driven development is not being realized. As a result,a wide gap currently exists between China＇s innovative cities and the advanced innovative cities in developed countries. This paper argues that this necessary transition is being constrained by a series of bottlenecks in investment, income, techniques, contributions, and talents. The article takes 287 prefecture-level cities as its object of comprehensive assessment, developing a comprehensive assessment system for innovative cities and devising innovative monitoring system software in order to evaluate the current situation in China＇s innovative city construction. The analysis addresses four key aspects – namely,independent innovation, industrial innovation, living environmental innovation, and institutional innovation – as well as the spatial heterogeneity of the innovative city construction process. The results demonstrate that the level of innovation in Chinese cities is low, and the paper warns that building an innovation-oriented country will, as a consequence,be difficult. Some 87.8% of the cities studied maintained comprehensive levels of innovation that were lower than the national average. The level of comprehensive innovation in a city was found to have close and positive correlation with economic development. The level of the eastern region of China was, in particular, found to be significantly higher than that of the central and western regions. The levels of urban independent innovation, industrial innovation,environmental innovation, and institutional innovation showed consistent spatial heterogeneity, as did the comprehensive level of innovation in cities. In the future, the authors suggest, China should speed up the construction process in accordance with the basic principles of ＂independent innovation, breakthroughs in key fields, market-oriented, regional interaction, talent-supported,＂ with the purpose of building up Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai,and Guangzhou as global innovation centers; and Nanjing, Suzhou, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Wuxi,Xi＇an, Wuhan, Shenyang, Dalian, Tianjin, Changsha, Qingdao, Chengdu, Changchun, Hefei,and Chongqing as national innovation centers, by 2020. Through this process, China will finally build a national urban innovation network that includes 4 global innovative cities, 16 national innovative cities, 30 regional innovative cities, 55 local innovative cities, and 182innovation-driven development cities, thereby contributing to the establishment of an innovative country by 2020.

Review on Sustainable Cities:Assessing the Performance and Practice of Urban Environments

Sustainable Cities:Assessing the Performance and Practice of Urban Environments Authors:Pierre Laconte,Chris Gossop Year:2016 Publisher:I.B.Tauris & Co.Ltd ISBN:9781784532321(288 pages,in English) How to build sustainable cities has always been a common concern to the world for a long period of time.Sustainable development usually includes three dimensions:economy,society。

Urban development and resource endowments shape natural resource utilization efficiency in Chinese cities

Improving the efficiency with which natural resources are utilized is an indispensable for achieving sustainable development and carbon neutrality. By analyzing the utilization efficiency of energy, water, and land, we established a comprehensive natural resource utilization efficiency index(NRUEI). We then calculated the 2016 index for 165 cities in China,and investigated what caused it to vary. We found three main results:(1) the NRUEI varied greatly across China and there were significant positive correlations between urban energy utilization efficiency(EUE), water utilization efficiency(WUE) and land utilization efficiency(LUE);(2) the NRUEI showed a significant positive correlation with a city’s population size,economy(Gross Domestic Product(GDP)), and the level of urban social development(GDP per capita);(3) cities in East China have the highest natural resource utilization efficiency,while cities in Northeast China have the lowest. These results indicate that China’s increasing urban development is associated with rising natural resource utilization efficiency and that the city’s endowment of natural resources is an important factor affecting that efficiency. Further, the results showed that the determinants of a city’s NRUEI differed in large and small cities. Lastly, our results suggest that improving EUE is key for improving NRUEI in urban China, and different efficiencies can be improved intertwined. A major takeaway of this study is that there is great potential for improving natural resource utilization efficiency in Chinese cities and we include city-specific suggestions for efficiency improvements.

空间耦合视角下的北京市可持续发展类型区划分与政策启示研究

Accurately diagnosing and assessing complicated spatial linkages at various scales has become a crucial strategy for enhancing the efficacy of urban government policies and initiatives in the modern era.There is still room for improvement in identifying spatial scale disparities and coupling linkages in cities,although the standard research paradigm on urban sustainability has produced numerous positive outcomes.To advance urban sustainability research from the perspective of spatial coupling,this study used cluster and cross-tabulation analyses for considering urban sustainable development patterns from the requirements of both development scale and spatial accuracy.Subsequently,the spatial unit coupling relationship between district and street scales was explored.Our findings indicated significant scale dependence in the spatial divergence between the built environment sustainability levels of streets and the economic,social,and environmental sustainability levels of districts.The implication is that significant differences exist in the built environment levels of various sustainable development type districts.The scale effect of the spatial coupling relationship influences urban planning and the transition of sustainable development.Maintaining reasonable population density and maximizing the structure and quality of social public resources supply are priorities for streets with the highest habitat sustainability that are located in low-growth type districts.Priority should be given to population deconcentration for high habitat sustainable streets located in synergistic development type districts to increase the level of public service protection.Supporting facilities should be added to medium sustainable streets in low-growth areas to increase the mix of land use,which should encourage additional production activity concentration,thereby fostering overall economic strength.Further,increasing the accessibility of local public service facilities for low and medium sustainable streets located in ecologically biased areas should be prioritized,but a green and low-carbon orientation should be maintained during building.

行为分析的社会—空间维度——中国行为地理学前沿进展（英文）

The interaction between urban space and individual behavior has led to essential social, economic and environmental consequences. Behavioral geography provides a new effective theoretical and methodological framework to investigate behavior patterns in cities. In recent years, behavior approach has become an influential analytical paradigm in Chinese urban geography. This paper provides an overview of behavioral geography research in China, by introducing the theoretical and empirical progress in behavior analysis. It is argued that behavioral approach offers a new perspective to understanding China＇s urban sociospatial reconstruction and addressing social and environmental issues at micro scale. Although theoretical development still lags behind developed countries, Chinese scholars have made much progress in empirical investigations of classical socio-spatial behavior theories. This paper also provides an overview of new trends in Chinese behavioral geography that has started to apply the behavioral approach to urban social, economic and environmental issues. This paper suggests that social dimensions of behavior should be addressed more comprehensively and rigorously by using interdisciplinary theoretical and methodological frameworks, to better understand the complexity of Chinese cities and research the critical social and environmental issues in cities.