The Impacts of Urbanization on the Distribution and Body Condition of the Rice-paddy Frog(Fejervarya multistriata) and Gold-striped Pond Frog(Pelophylax plancyi) in Shanghai,China

Previous studies have suggested that urbanization presents a major threat to anuran populations. However, very few studies have looked at the relationship between urbanization and anuran body condition. We investigated whether the distribution and body condition of the rice-paddy frog（Fejervarya multistriata） and gold-striped pond frog（Pelophylax plancyi） are influenced by increasing urbanization in Shanghai, China. Four study sites with six indicators of the major land-cover types were scored to indicate their position on an urbanization gradient. We found that both the density and body condition of F. multistriata declined significantly along this gradient. Although we observed a significant difference in body condition of P. plancyi among study sites with different degrees of urbanization, we did not find any corresponding significant differences in population density. Our results indicate that both the densities and body condition of these two anuran species show a negative relationship with increasing urbanization, but that the density of P. plancyi was only slightly affected in Shanghai.

The Interrelation of Urban Health Indicators and COVID-19:A Study of Passo Fundo/RS

The COVID-19(Coronavirus Disease 19)pandemic has demonstrated that cities are at the center of major contemporary events.The epidemiological crisis has highlighted the importance of the urban environment,challenging public managers on managing cities.An initiative that aims to assist in this management process is the concept of Smart Cities,which uses ICT(Information and Communication Technology)as tools for transforming urban dynamics,and through urban indicators,measures information about cities.Thus,the research aimed to analyze the health indicators of Passo Fundo/RS,seeking to analyze the interrelationship of these indicators with the epidemiological data from COVID-19.In the methodology,multi-method procedures were applied,using the indicators of the Connected Smart Cities Ranking as reference,as well as a regional selection of medium-sized cities in the southern region of Brazil.The results show that the health indices of Passo Fundo are,for the most part,lower than those of the analyzed cities,with the indicator related to Population Coverage of the Family Health team as the main weakness.However,it also presents satisfactory indices as is the case of the indicator of Beds/1,000 inhabitants.Regarding the epidemiological picture of COVID-19,Passo Fundo had a high lethality rate when compared to the other analyzed cities.

Spatial dynamics of aboveground carbon stock in urban green space:a case study of Xi'an,China

Greenhouse gas emission of carbon dioxide（CO2） is one of the major factors causing global climate change.Urban green space plays a key role in regulating the global carbon cycle and reducing atmospheric CO2.Quantifying the carbon stock,distribution and change of urban green space is vital to understanding the role of urban green space in the urban environment.Remote sensing is a valuable and effective tool for monitoring and estimating aboveground carbon（AGC） stock in large areas.In the present study,different remotely-sensed vegetation indices（VIs） were used to develop a regression equation between VI and AGC stock of urban green space,and the best fit model was then used to estimate the AGC stock of urban green space within the beltways of Xi＇an city for the years 2004 and 2010.A map of changes in the spatial distribution patterns of AGC stock was plotted and the possible causes of these changes were analyzed.Results showed that Normalized Difference Vegetation Index（NDVI） correlated moderately well with AGC stock in urban green space.The Difference Vegetation Index（DVI）,Ratio Vegetation Index（RVI）,Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index（SAVI）,Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index（MSAVI） and Renormalized Difference Vegetative Index（RDVI） were lower correlation coefficients than NDVI.The AGC stock in the urban green space of Xi＇an in 2004 and 2010 was 73,843 and 126,621 t,respectively,with an average annual growth of 8,796 t and an average annual growth rate of 11.9%.The carbon densities in 2004 and 2010 were 1.62 and 2.77 t/hm2,respectively.Precipitation was not an important factor to influence the changes of AGC stock in the urban green space of Xi＇an.Policy orientation,major ecological greening projects such as ＂transplanting big trees into the city＂ and the World Horticultural Exposition were found to have an important impact on changes in the spatiotemporal patterns of AGC stock.

Sustainable living neighbourhoods:Measuring public space quality and walking environment in Lisbon

Obesity and global warming are two major challengesthat affect communities’health and quality of life.Providing good walking environments,with appropriate pedestrian infrastructure,green areas and access to commercial retail and transport hubs favour liveable,healthy,and sustainable cities.The Lisbon City Hall has implemented an intervention program in the public space as a strategy to improve environmental quality and mitigate the effects of climate change.The program“A square in each neighbourhood”intends not only to reinforce the economic base of Lisbon,namely tourism,restaurants,commerce,and creative activities but also to promote physical activity and improve the quality of living of all citizens.For studying the impact of the public space quality on the walking environment,Campolide,a typical Lisbon neighbourhood,Portugal,which includes one of the requalified squares,was selected.A two-step methodology based on spatial modelling is proposed.In the first step,the public space quality was evaluated based on a set of 13 urban quality attributes.Attributes,intended for the street level,were collected from open data platforms and complemented with a field survey.Then,through spatial analysis,these attributes were used to build the Pedestrian Environment Quality Indicator and the Priority Intervention Indicator.Using these indicators,walking-friendly streets were mapped and the most critical sites that require priority intervention were identified to prepare for the requalification planning process.The street with the highest quality in the study area according to the dimensions evaluated-connectivity,convenience,comfort,cleanliness,and conviviality-has a great offer of trees,bus stops,commercial establishments,commercial diversity,crossings,paper bins/eco points and esplanades.On the opposite side of the rank,the street with the lowest quality has no trees or green areas,transport stops,benches and tables,or commercial activity.The urban quality indicators constitute a helpful tool for city planners and policymakers when planning sustainable living neighbourhoods.

Measurement and Spatial Distribution of Urban Land Use Compactness in Chaoyang District of Beijing,China

China is in the process of rapid urbanization,and wise land use is critical to the long-term sustainability of Chinese cities.Promotion of a compact city is typically believed to be helpful for sustainable land use management.However,given the fact that Chinese cities are characterized by high population densities,the applicability of a more compact solution to expand cities in China remains questionable;there is little evidence to support the many claims in its favor.In seeking to provide empirical data to explore the application of compact city theory in China,one of the key problems researchers face is the task of measuring the urban compactness,in order to objectively investigate the current characteristics of urban compactness.To meet this need,indices were developed for measuring the urban land use compactness,by which the spatial distribution characteristics of urban land use compactness were identified and applied to the Chaoyang District of Beijing.The conclusions can be made as follows:(1) comprehensive land use compactness in Chaoyang District has increased during the period of 2001-2007,especially the population density;(2) the spatial distribution of land use compactness has the characteristics of a ring structure,which shows a decreasing trend with its distance to the city center;(3) there is a strong positive correlation between urban land use compactness and location.The better the location is,the higher the land use compactness is.

Territorial and Urban Evolution of Economic Zone along Durresi Street(Kamza Junction-Kashar Turn)

The territorial expansion of the economic zones along Tirana-Durres corridor,is considered as clear evidence of regional economic development.Since the first 10 years of 1990-2000,the need for a functional planning process was clearly noted.In the early 2000’s,the linear planning on both sides of the highway,from KJ(Kamza Junction)to KT(Kashar Turn),was the real demonstration of that need.This article is a first effort towards an indirect analysis on spatial urban development processes of the last 20 years,indicated by development urban plans for Greater Tirana.This analysis concludes on the defects on integration of this area into the existing structure of Tirana,which are reflected in the new regulatory plans during 2012-2016.This article identifies the functional zoning phenomena,forms and rates of parcels occupation,analyzed through the land use indicators coverage.The urban analysis is focused also on identifying the achievements and failures on the design of spatial structures of social importance.This analysis intends to lead towards a more detailed study of the ways that enable the integration of this industrial area with the residential zone.It is considered as an attempt,which raises a number of issues,for helping the planners,architects and city administrators,involved in the planning and implementation of Partial Urban Plans.

Multi-objective method of selecting performance-based local climatic zones using binomial logistic regression in warm and humid climate

Urban agglomeration is a serious concern due to its high energy usage and impact on the local climate.Developing countries strive to determine the development path to optimize energy usage.The present study aims to examine the local climatic zones(LCZs)performance in warm and humid climate through a multi-objective approach for the residential sector.The performance is assessed by evaluating the urban microclimate and cooling load consumption for both summer and winter months using binomial logistic regression.The study concludes that LCZ 2_(3)(compact mid-rise with open low-rise)and LCZ 6_(B)(open low-rise with scattered trees)perform better for 80%and 50%of total hours in warm and humid climate.It also proves the presence of significant performance differences between mid-rise and low-rise zones.The intra-zonal differences between the climatic variables are higher than the inter-zonal differences due to the impact of land surface temperature(LST).The high aspect ratio and low sky view factor of LCZ 2_(3) help the residents in that morphology in enhancing better thermal comfort and reducing cooling load consumption.The present study contributes to building regulation policymakers by providing information on the suitable morphology for warm and humid climate.

Quantitative analysis of the impact of various urban socioeconomic indicators on search-engine-based estimation of COVID-19 prevalence

Numerous studies have proposed search engine-based estimation of COVID-19 prevalence during the COVID-19 pandemic;however,their estimation models do not consider the impact of various urban socioeconomic indicators(USIs).This study quantitatively analysed the impact of various USIs on search engine-based estimation of COVID-19 prevalence using 15 USIs(including total population,gross regional product(GRP),and population density)from 369 cities in China.The results suggested that 13 USIs affected either the correlation(SC-corr)or time lag(SC-lag)between search engine query volume and new COVID-19 cases(p<0.05).Total population and GRP impacted SC-corr considerably,with their correlation coefficients r for SC-corr being 0.65 and 0.59,respectively.Total population,GRP per capita,and proportion of the population with a high school diploma or higher had simultaneous positive impacts on SC-corr and SC-lag(p<0.05);these three indicators explained 37e50%of the total variation in SC-corr and SC-lag.Estimations for different urban agglomerations revealed that the goodness of fit,R2,for search engine-based estimation was more than 0.6 only when total urban population,GRP per capita,and proportion of the population with a high school diploma or higher exceeded 11.08 million,120,700,and 38.13%,respectively.A greater urban size indicated higher accuracy of search engine-based estimation of COVID-19 prevalence.Therefore,the accuracy and time lag for search engine-based estimation of infectious disease prevalence can be improved only when the total urban population,GRP per capita,and proportion of the population with a high school diploma or higher are greater than the aforementioned thresholds.

Urban growth dynamics and expansion forms in 11 Tanzanian cities from 1990 to 2020

With rapid urban expansion across Tanzania,there is a need to institute steps to address factors and forms as well as impacts and challenges associated with the observed trend.This study’s aim is to use spatial urban landscape indices to analyze the spatial changes in urban forms,patterns,and rates across 11 urban centers in Tanzania over a 30-year study period(1990–2020).During the past three decades,urban lands of 11 cities and town in Tanzania have grown by a total of 480 km2.Leapfrog growth was found as the most dominant form of urban expansion in Tanzania while Dodoma,the capital city of Tanzania,had the highest rate of urban expansion when compared to all other individual cities.The most robust and significant interaction of the AWMLEI and MLEI was found in Kigoma,Arusha,Mtwara,Mafinga,and Tunduma cities.In contrast,Mbeya agricultural city,Arusha the tourist city,Tabora,and Geita Lake zone areas did show their own peculiarities revealing an interesting spatial temporal variation in rate and form of expansion.The outcome of this study reveals that the influence and management of economic and socio-cultural opportunities will be an effective tool for the determination of the rapidly expanding cities and towns of Tanzania.

Evaluation of urban redevelopment impact on non-motorized traffic

As an important component of city evolution, urban land redevelopment has an impact on transportation system. The current traffic impact analysis （TIA） is lack of a comprehensive component for non-motorized transportation under redevelopment. For a better guidance of land redevelopment and non-motorized transportation planning, it is necessary to evaluate the negative impact of redevelopment on non-motorized traffic in the TIA. In this paper, an evaluation framework for the impact analysis is built up. We organized the pro- cedures and components of impact evaluation, and proposed the corresponding qualitative and quantitative evaluation indicators for non-motorized traffic under redevelopment. Level of service （LOS） and its criterion are employed for external impact evaluation, and level of safety, convenience, independence, and comfort which are four aspects of quality of service （QOS） are proposed to analyze the internal impact. The framework is applied to a redevelopment study in Shanghai, China. The case study results indicate that the rede- velopment from a residential area to a mixed commercial area has a significant impact on non-motorized traffic. The potential negative impact from both external and internal traffic can be minimized by reasonable improvements in the internal land use design.