Agricultural intensity for sustainable regional development:A case study in peri-urban areas of Karawang Regency,Indonesia

Peri-urban areas are playing an increasingly crucial role in the agricultural development and intensification in Indonesia.Peri-urban agriculture is highly vulnerable to change compared with urban and rural agriculture,due to its location in transitional areas.Indicators of peri-urban agricultural intensity can help guide regional development.In this study,we assessed the sustainability of peri-urban areas based on agricultural intensity in Karawang Regency,Indonesia.We developed a village-based index to assess the region’s agricultural intensity by rescaling the village agriculture index(VAI)and combining the local sustainability index(LSI)with factor analysis.Since the unit of analysis is the village,we modified the LSI to the village sustainability index(VSI).In addition,we also developed a logical matrix analysis to determine the level of agricultural sustainability(LoAS)of each village.The combined results of the three indices(VAI,VSI,and LoAS)generated information about agricultural sustainability.The results indicated that peri-urban villages with high agricultural intensity tended to exhibit low levels of social welfare,economic development,and disaster risk.Moreover,high agricultural intensity did not necessarily ensure the prosperity of the people.Instead,there was the economic disparity among the villages in the study area.Encouraging diversity of agricultural intensity seems to be more critical than promoting agricultural intensity itself.Overall,this study highlights the distinctive characteristics and dynamic of peri-urban areas.New approaches,variables,and information regarding the combination of agricultural intensity and sustainability need to be developed as valuable tools for regional planning.

Review of peri-urban agriculture as a regional ecosystem service

The peri-urban area possesses mixed characteristics of rural and urban areas,i.e.,agricultural,and built-up land.This review explains various themes and concepts of peri-urban areas and the importance of peri-urban agriculture(PUA)as an ecosystem service(ES)for their surrounding areas.The methodological approach is a systematic literature search and explanatory review of books and journal articles.The focus of the discussion is as follows:(1)quantification of review results,(2)urbanization pressures,peri-urban,and governance,(3)two different concepts about the peri-urban area,(4)protection of PUA and their resilience,and(5)role of PUA in providing ESs to other regions.The review shows that PUA is more crucial in urban areas than in rural areas in terms of food supply,ecology and biodiversity preservation,disaster mitigation,and recreation.One of the primary causes of PUA loss is massive urban expansion,which entails the conversion of agricultural land in peri-urban areas into built-up land.Hence,we suggest that every country should develop a peri-urban management policy.We argue that sociocultural biases in PUA have resulted in many institutional constraints on peri-urban management being incorporated within existing political and regulatory frameworks,including planning practices and longstanding laws and regulations.

Integration of Transport and Land Use Planning by Transit-Oriented Development for Economic Sustainability of the Standard Gauge Railway Projects in Tanzania

Tanzania is one of the countries in Africa that has engaged in the projects for construction of the electrified Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). However, lack of integration of transportation and land-use planning threatens economic sustainability of the SGR project. This study was carried out for the purpose of finding-out how transportation can be integrated with land-use planning for economic sustainability of the project. The study was carried-out by using qualitative research approach through demonstration as case study. Findings show that construction of the SGR is not integrated with land-use planning around the stations and along the SGR corridor. It is concluded that economic sustainability of the SGR projects can be achieved by integration of transport and land-use planning. As demonstrated, it is recommended to deliberate for integration of transportation and land-use planning in the SGR projects of which the prime land within Transit Stations can be efficiently used by using Transit Oriented Development and secure more land for production activities around the Transit Stations and along the SGR corridor.

An Assessment of the Relationship between Built Environment and Socioeconomic Factors with the Incidence of Meningococcal Meningitis in Kaduna Urban Area, Nigeria

Meningococcal meningitis is an airborne disease that has been a threat to human life in many regions of the world, especially in West Africa. The disease has caused permanent physical impairment to some of its victims and many lives have been lost due to the disease. Factors that are associated with the incidence of the disease which are geographically referenced include built environment, geographical location and climatic conditions. Others are socioeconomic and demographic factors. This study established the relationship between built environment and socioeconomic factors with the incidence of the disease. Data that were used include the incidences of the disease from 2007 to 2011, housing conditions, population density, number of house ownership, employment, income level, and the number of hospitals, schools and refuse dumps. Neighborhoods were used as the unit of analysis in the study. The method of analyzing the data includes factor analysis and some statistical techniques in Geographical Information System such as the Ordinary Least Square (OLS). The findings of the study reveal the spatial variations of the incidence of Meningococcal meningitis in Kaduna Urban Area (KUA). The study recommends that there should be strict observance of the development control regulations especially at the high density residential neighborhood. The model can also be used for other communicable disease to ensure the health of the public.

Lead, Zinc and Iron Pollutants Load Assessment in Selected Rivers in Southern Nigeria: Implications for Domestic Uses

The aim of the study is to comparatively assess the concentrations of lead, zinc and iron in Rivers Ase, Warri and Ethiope, in Nigeria. Monthly water samples were collected from six randomly selected sites along the rivers course. 72 water samples were collected from each river at 0 - 15 cm depths. Samples were analysed based on the standard methods recommended by the WHO for testing lead, zinc and iron. The assessment of the water quality was done using the Water Quality Index (WQI) of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME-WQI). While hypotheses were tested using ANOVA. Findings indicated that CCME-WQI values were 47.3, 66.52 and 78.7. This meant that the water quality of River Ase is impaired and departed from desirable levels, while that of Warri and Ethiope were considered to occasionally be impaired and depart from desirable levels. The ANOVA model showed that there is a significant variation in heavy metal load in the selected rivers at P < 0.05. River water was put to domestic uses such as drinking (20.5%) preparing food (17.8%), bathing (19.8%), washing clothes and dishes (21.3%), brushing teeth (13.3%), and catering for domestic animals (7.5%). Poverty (49.5%) was the major reason for the use of river water for domestic purposes. The locals highlighted that they usually suffer from cholera (26.8%), diarrhoea (25.8%), dysentery (24%) and typhoid (23.5%) as a result of using the river water. The study recommended routine monitoring of anthropogenic and geologic activities, testing of the water regularly amongst others.

Effects of Urban Land Use Change on Selected Public Utilities for Sustainable Development in Akure, Nigeria

Urban landuse change is one of the main driving forces of global environmental change. It is central to the sustainable development debate. The aim of this research is to examine the effects of urban landuse and its impact on selected public utility services in Akure with a view to improve strategies to protect these utilities for sustainable development. The research was conducted using remote sensing, Geographical information System and questionnaire to collect the required data for the purpose of fulfilling the objectives of this study. In this study of analyzing the urban landuse change, 2010 and 2018 IKONOS are used in a post classification comparison analysis to map the landuse changes and identify the conversion process in Akure. The landuse change statistics results obtained revealed that residential landuse has changed rapidly for the periods (2010-2018). The results also show increase in commercial landuses between the same periods. The results of the analysis reveal that the built-up area has been growing rapidly for the periods (2010-2018). Findings show that, housing provision (residential), business purpose (commercial) and educational (institution) are the major causes of land use change in the study areas. To reduce the effect of land use expansion in the study areas, policy measures were recommended which include regulating the growth and spread of development, regional development programs. In our opinion, the information provided by these technologies could help city planners and policy makers to attain and sustain future urban development.

Humble Opinions on the Relationship between the Percentage of Urban Residents in an Urban Region and the Economic Status in This Region in China

It is a fact that in U.S. the immigration between rural areas and city areas is free, but in China this type of immigration is restricted by HUKOU system (Hukou, namely the household registration system, was designed to control rural-urban in China). All of those national policies in city areas are much better than those in rural areas, so those corresponding differences bring about great discrepancy of the economic status (mainly including GDP per person and income per resident) between rural and city areas in the same urban region, especially in different urban re- gions because the percentage of urban residents in those urban regions is in-equable. The present paper mainly researches the topic of relationship between the percentage of urban residents and the economic status in an urban region in China, including the relationship between the economic and the political functions of a settlement in China during the process of urbanization.

Pattern and mechanism of urban spatial growth in Nanjing City, 1979-2007

Urban spatial growth has become a hot topic of geographic science and urban research. Exploring the patterns and mechanisms of urban growth is the prerequisite to understand the urbanization process of China. The paper provides a spatial analysis method of using Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS), and presents major patterns and mechanisms of urban spatial growth during the period from 1979 to 2007 in Nanjing City. Firstly, the paper introduces the data, study area and methodology of the research. Then, the patterns of urban spatial growth are identified. Subsequently, the main mechanisms of urban spatial growth are analyzed. Finally, some conclusions are drawn definitely. The features of urban spatial growth in Nanjing are as follows: during 1979-1988, urban spatial growth of each district was slow, and the inner growth was in excess of suburban growth; during the period of 1988-2000, urban growth of suburban was in excess of inner city, the most insensitive growth appeared in the southeast, and the growth of each aspect was relatively insensitive expect east and west; during the period of 2000-2007, urban growth of suburban was violent, the most insensitive growth appeared in the southeast, and the urban growth of each direction was insensitive except the west. The mechanisms of urban spatial growth are complex, the main ones of which are social and economic development. Besides, the guiding of urban planning and influence of urban spatial structure are quite obvious.

Fusion of Landsat 8 OLI and PlanetScope Images for Urban Forest Management in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

In recent years image fusion method has been used widely in different studies to improve spatial resolution of multispectral images. This study aims to fuse high resolution satellite imagery with low multispectral imagery in order to assist policymakers in the effective planning and management of urban forest ecosystem in Baton Rouge. To accomplish these objectives, Landsat 8 and PlanetScope satellite images were acquired from United States Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Explorer and Planet websites with pixel resolution of 30m and 3m respectively. The reference images (observed Landsat 8 and PlanetScope imagery) were acquired on 06/08/2020 and 11/19/2020. The image processing was performed in ArcMap and used 6-5-4 band combination for Landsat 8 to visually inspect healthy vegetation and the green spaces. The near-infrared (NIR) panchromatic band for PlanetScope was merged with Landsat 8 image using the Create Pan-Sharpened raster tool in ArcMap and applied the Intensity-Hue-Saturation (IHS) method. In addition, location of urban forestry parks in the study area was picked using the handheld GPS and recorded in an excel sheet. This sheet was converted into Excel (.csv) file and imported into ESRI ArcMap to identify the spatial distribution of the green spaces in East Baton Rouge parish. Results show fused images have better contrast and improve visualization of spatial features than non-fused images. For example, roads, trees, buildings appear sharper, easily discernible, and less pixelated compared to the Landsat 8 image in the fused image. The paper concludes by outlining policy recommendations in the form of sequential measurement of urban forest over time to help track changes and allows for better informed policy and decision making with respect to urban forest management.

Understanding the Long-Term Changes in Groundwater Level—A Tale of Highly Urbanized City

The rapid drop in the groundwater level has raised concerns in the sustainable water management plan in many cities of the world. It is important to understand the underlying factors of such depletion. To improve knowledge of the changes in groundwater, this study investigates a long-term perspective of urbanization, and evaluates the influence of several factors including land cover, water use, and abstraction. Multi-year land cover maps are used to detect urbanization and land cover types. Hotspot analysis and correlation-regression are applied to assess the relationship between changes in groundwater and the driving factors. The investigations confirm that an extensive withdrawal of groundwater due to urbanization results in a progressive drop in the water level. However, the major industrial and commercial zone shows the consistent hotspot of groundwater depletion. The results indicate that groundwater abstraction and types of water use have a high influence on the changes in urban groundwater.

Challenges of the Performance Standards of the International Finance Corporation in Financing the African Integrated High-Speed Railway Network and the Way Forward: The Case of Standard Gauge Railway in Tanzania

Financing of the African Integrated High-Speed Railway Network (AIHSRN) through Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) Projects is very expensive. As a result, most of the African countries seek financial supports from the International Financial Institutions (IFIs). However, conditions provided by the IFIs through the Performance Standards (PS) of the International Financial Corporation (IFC) increase cost of the projects and thus, it becomes a burden to most of the African countries. This study aimed to explore the causes of IFC-PS through the SGR Projects that escalate costs and how to address them. The Tanzania SGR Lot 1 Project that covered 205 km from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro was selected as a case study. The methods used for data collection involved literature review, focus group discussions and interviews. The results and findings show a gap between the IFC-PS and the National Laws and Regulations that escalates costs of the projects if funds from the IFIs were to be secured. To bridge the gap, it is recommended that the African countries should engage into negotiations with the IFIs to agree to waive IFC-PS conditions that escalate costs provided they are adequately covered in the national laws and regulations;engagement of locally established national and regional financial institutions;and the responsible government institutions in the African countries should sit together for assessment and review of the IFC-PS against the national laws and regulations.

Detection and Mapping of Violent Crime Hotspots in Southwestern Nigeria

The increasing rate of insecurity in Nigeria, especially the southwest requires a paradigm shift from popular approach to crime hotspots detection. This study employed geospatial technologies to integrate spatio-temporal crime, social media and field observation data from the communities in all the six states in the southwest to develop crime hotspots that can serve as preliminary information to assist in allocating resources for crime control and prevention. Historical crime data from January 1972 to April, 2021 were compiled and updated with rigorous field survey in September, 2021. The field data were encoded, input to the SPSS 17 and analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis. A total 936 crime locations data were geolocated and exported to ArcGIS 10.5 for spatial mapping using point map operation and further imported to e-Spatial web-based and QGIS for the generation of hotspot map using heatmap tool. The results revealed that armed robbery, assassination and cultism were more pronounced in Lagos and Ogun States. Similarly, high incidences of farmers/herdsmen conflicts are observed in Oyo and Osun States. Increasing incidences of kidnapping are common in all the south-western states but very prominent in Ondo, Lagos and Oyo States. Most of the violent crime incidents took place along the highways, with forests being their hideouts. Violent crimes are dominantly caused by high rate of unemployment while farmer/herdsmen conflicts were majorly triggered by the scarcity of grazing fields and destruction of arable crops. The conflicts have resulted in the increasing cases of rape and disruption of social group, intake of hard drugs, cult-related activities, low income and revenue generation, and displacement of farmers and infrastructural damages. The study advocates regular retraining and equipping of security agents, establishment of cattle ranch, and installation of sophisticated IP Camera at the crime hotspots to assist in real-time crime monitoring and management.

Users’ Perception on Operation and Performance of Public Transport Systems in African Developing Countries: The Case of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Dar es Salaam City, Tanzania

Public transport system has been a means of addressing transportation challenges in urban areas, such as traffic congestion, traffic jam and long travel time in cities worldwide. Transportation in Africa is unique in that it has the least developed public transport systems in the world, while also being one of the fastest urbanizing continents. Bus Rapid Transit being one of the public transport systems was introduced in Africa in 2008 as a means to provide solution on urban transportation challenges. Despite of public transport being the main means of transport in African developing countries, there have been a number of challenges that affects efficiency of performance of the system and makes its users uncomfortable. Therefore, the study aimed at exploring the setbacks or challenges associated with operation and performance of the BRT system in the African developing countries and address them. The study employed mixed methods research design that integrates both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods and analysis. The study findings reveal that, there is an improvement on the perspectives of the commuters on public transport after introduction of BRT system. However, some challenges such as long waiting time, passengers overcrowding during peak hours, as well as safety and security can slowly change the perspective of the commuters. Therefore, to address these challenges it is recommended to reduce the long waiting time and improve accessibility by introduction of passenger information displays (bus information system) and automated fare collection system;reduce travel time by introduction of bus priority signal;and improve safety and security by introduction of signage and CCTV Camera within the bus and bus stops.

Ordinary Urban Heritage of Rattanakosin: Ordinary restaurants and everyday foods of the historic center of Bangkok

This paper discussed the selection criteria for Ordinary Urban Heritage (OUH) in Rattanakosin, the historic center of Bangkok through the case of ordinary restaurants and everyday foods. The OUH stands for an alternative approach to heritage understanding and conservation, derived from the notion of ordinary heritage, vernacular heritage, and urban heritage emphasizing the heritages of the everydayness of ordinary people. The OUHs have co-existed and inherited through the evolution of the city but are overlooked by the official conservation process. Ordinary restaurants and everyday foods were selected by 5 criteria, 1) appeared for more than 50 years;2) created, developed, and used by ordinary people;3) found as the clusters;4) able to be adapted to the urban context;5) exist until the present day.The methodology applied to the analysis of the historical documents and Bangkok maps from 1887 to 1974, and the selection criteria developed from past research in another old commercial district of Bangkok were also reinvestigated with observational surveys. Ordinary restaurants and everyday foods are the outcomes representing the heritage of everyday life of ordinary people that are ubiquitously related to commercial activities.

Downtown Retailing Development Under Suburbanization——A Case Study of Beijing

The role of retailing has diminished in the center of cities of Western countries since its heyday in the 1920s. This trend was caused by violent transformations in the economic, social and locational contexts which involve resi- dential suburbanization, as well as new forms of commercial development out of town. As far as transforming China is concerned, the downtown retailing center has also come to turning point of development in the context of suburbaniza- tion. Based on the survey of Beijing residents’ shopping behavior, the present research tends to making clear the actual change and development problem of downtown retailing center. Combining with the macro retailing environment, re- lated influencing factors are further discussed too. Study results show that downtown retailing still plays an important part in resident’s shopping activity. However, with rapid urban sprawl, retailing in urban center has been greatly threatened by booming out-of-town commerce. In the course of such spatial change, the suburbanization of resident, the prevalence of new commercial forms and the change of consumers’ life style all have exerted their own pressure on downtown retailing. But for the special socioeconomic background of development and the support of government policy, it will still keep its vitality of retailing for a long period of time.

Analysis of Climate Variability, Perceptions and Coping Strategies of Tanzanian Coastal Forest Dependent Communities

Climate variability and change are among the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Like in many other areas globally, the coastal communities of Tanzania have always been facing climatic variability at various time scales. Using focus group discussion and a household survey, this study analyzes the perceptions of climate variability and change and the strategies for coping and adaptation by the selected coastal rural and peri-urban communities in Tanzania. The perception of climate variability and change is complemented with the time-series analysis of rainfall and temperature data from Julius Nyerere International Airport Met. station and Kisarawe using Instant Statistical Software. Results indicate that households are aware of climate variability and identify indicators of climate change and variability as being decreasing rainfall trends, increasing incidences of droughts, unpredictable rainfall patterns, disappearance of wetlands and failure to predict on-set of rainy season using traditional knowledge. Households primarily attribute reduced crop yields to changes in rainfall pattern and increasing incidences of drought leading to soil moisture stress. The implications are that the agriculture dependent households are now food insecure. As a way of coping to the observed changes, the coastal communities among others have shifted to production of high value horticultural crops and use of forest resources. Nevertheless, the increased use of forest resources is threatening the existence of coastal forests and contributes to the decline of forest resources and disappearance of wildlife in the forest reserves. It is concluded that the communities studied are aware of climate issues as revealed from perceived indicators of climate variability and changes. The results from statistical analysis of 30 years climatic data are consistent with community’s perception of climate variability and change. The study recommends examining the present coping strategies for the sustainability of the coastal forests and in designing of alternative adaptive strategies such as alternative energy options, crop diversification and environmental friendly activities such as beekeeping.

Possibilities of urban flood reduction through distributed-scale rainwater harvesting

Urban flooding in Chittagong City usually occurs during the monsoon season and a rainwater harvesting(RWH)system can be used as a remedial measure.This study examines the feasibility of rain barrel RWH system at a distributed scale within an urbanized area located in the northwestern part of Chittagong City that experiences flash flooding on a regular basis.For flood modeling,the storm water management model(SWMM)was employed with rain barrel low-impact development(LID)as a flood reduction measure.The Hydrologic Engineering Center's River Analysis System(HEC-RAS)inundation model was coupled with SWMM to observe the detailed and spatial extent of flood reduction.Compared to SWMM simulated floods,the simulated inundation depth using remote sensing data and the HEC-RAS showed a reasonable match,i.e.,the correlation coefficients were found to be 0.70 and 0.98,respectively.Finally,using LID,i.e.,RWH,a reduction of 28.66%could be achieved for reducing flood extent.Moreover,the study showed that 10%e60%imperviousness of the subcatchment area can yield a monthly RWH potential of 0.04e0.45 m3 from a square meter of rooftop area.The model can be used for necessary decision making for flood reduction and to establish a distributed RWH system in the study area.

Planning for Sustainable Water Supply through Partnership Approach in Wukari Town, Taraba State of Nigeria

It has been observed that government resources and interventions towards sustaining water supply in Wukari town have been insufficient. The result has been constant water crisis and shortages over the years. The objective of this paper is to explore the possibility of partnering for sustainable water provision, to identify potential partners and to propose an appropriate partnership framework. Two hundred and seventy-five (275) questionnaires were administered in the three (3) wards of the town from where respondents were drawn at random. Findings revealed that the centralized system of water management, the location of Wukari on a basement rock and the scarcity of state financial resources are some of the greatest obstacles to sustainable water supply. However, about (90%) of the respondents are willing to collaborate with other stakeholders while the community members are ready to provide land and labor for the partnership arrangement. This study recommends a paradigm shift from the centralized water management to a partnership approach between service providers, recipients of services and other related stakeholders.