Urban Sci., Volume 10, Issue 8 (August 2026) – 66 articles

Rapid urban expansion in arid intermediate cities often produces fragmented urban structures that exacerbate inequalities in public transport accessibility and hinder sustainable mobility. However, the relationships between urban fragmentation, transport accessibility, and travel behavior remain insufficiently explored in pre-Saharan cities. This study investigates these interactions through the case of El Bayadh, Algeria, using an integrated methodology combining urban morphological analysis, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a household survey of 577 households, traffic counts, institutional interviews, and spatial equality assessment based on the Gini coefficient. Public transport accessibility was evaluated using a 300 m walking threshold, complemented by sensitivity analyses at 400 m and 500 m. The results indicate that approximately 65% of the population lives within 300 m of a bus stop, although coverage is strongly concentrated in central districts. A Gini coefficient of 0.41, provided by the El Bayadh Directorate of Transport and computed across 20 urban zones, indicates moderate-to-high spatial inequalities in accessibility that persist despite increasing the service threshold, suggesting that these disparities are more closely associated with urban fragmentation than with the specific walking-distance threshold used to define service coverage. The transport network comprises 11 bus routes, approximately 160 bus stops, and 90 km of routes; however, limited service quality and uneven spatial distribution contribute to a high dependence on private transport, with 45% of trips made by private car, 35% by taxi, and only 20% by bus. These findings are consistent with accessibility inequalities arising from the mismatch between fragmented urban morphology, centralized urban functions, and the configuration of the public transport network. The proposed framework provides transferable insights for planning more equitable and sustainable mobility systems in rapidly urbanizing arid intermediate cities. Full article

This study examines the complex dynamics of water scarcity and infrastructure challenges in eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Despite its coastal location, the municipality faces persistent water shortages driven by rapid population growth, urbanization, climate change risks, aging and deteriorating infrastructure, and service delivery constraints. Communities including KwaXimba, Phoenix, Inanda, and Tongaat experience inconsistent access to clean water. The study aimed to identify root causes of scarcity, assess the effectiveness of existing water infrastructure, and propose sustainable, community-informed strategies to improve water resilience and equitable access. A qualitative research design was adopted to capture lived experiences and perceptions of water access across seven wards (1, 3, 52, 54, 56, 57, and 61), representing approximately 357,492 residents. Focus group discussions involved five randomly selected participants per ward, identified through councilor databases. Structured discussions were recorded for accuracy. Data were transcribed and analyzed using NVivo through systematic coding, thematic analysis, and organization of data into structured project folders aligned with research objectives. The analysis revealed recurring themes related to infrastructure decay, climate vulnerability, rapid urban expansion, and service delivery inefficiencies, highlighting significant barriers to reliable water access and community well-being. Findings provide evidence-based insights to guide policymakers, planners, and water authorities in strengthening infrastructure planning, climate resilience, and sustainable water governance. Full article

Tourism is a complex economic activity all over the world shaped by distinct local resources: culture, nature, industrial heritage, urban ambiance, place-based uniqueness, and geographical accessibility. The simultaneous governance and management of economic growth motives, preservation of the cultural heritage base, and respect for nature and ecological quality calls for an evidence-based and multi-faceted policy analysis that seeks to achieve sustainable development among conflicting policy objectives in tourist areas. The present paper seeks to explore the feasibility of a sustainable balance for various heterogeneous cultural heritage areas in Europe (‘urban pilot regions’), with particular attention to sustainable local development characterized by circular economic objectives and an ecological balance strategy based on the principle of stakeholders’ co-creation. The paper addresses the knowledge gap between generic policy aims and site-specific views of actors or visitors. To that end, an extensive survey experiment was administered in the urban regions concerned, in which a wide range of relevant management issues/questions related to environmental preferences and perceptions were posed to stakeholders and visitors. The data were analyzed by means of a novel respondent-oriented multivariate statistical tool, viz. Generalized Q-Analysis, which is suitable for handling big databases with many respondents. The paper shows that the application of Generalized Q-Analysis to common survey data enriches the results from the application of a conventional Q-Analysis. Furthermore, the study also highlights that, based on the views expressed by the surveyed visitors, the tourist areas concerned are quite different from each other in attracting specific classes of visitors. Therefore, functional specialization in the tourist sector seems to be an important anchor point for effective governance of urban tourism, not only in Europe, but also elsewhere in the world. Full article

India is the most populous country in the world, with a rising urban population and witnessing a surge in noncommunicable diseases such as cancer that impose significant pressure on healthcare professionals, hospitals, and city planners. Over the last decade, India has pursued a vision to transform urban areas into smart cities and roll out digital infrastructure. Rapid urbanization coupled with an ageing population has accelerated demand for precision cancer care (PCC) solutions using advanced technologies such as digital twins (DT), leveraging the developing digital infrastructure in urban India. The fast evolution of e-health technologies and digital infrastructure outstrips healthcare professional readiness, creating challenges for DT adoption for PCC. Past studies on DT adoption primarily focused on organizational adoption and technical implementation challenges. This study addresses this research gap by leveraging the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework to investigate the factors that influence the adoption intention of DT for PCC in urban India. The article reports actionable insights and implications for researchers, healthcare professionals, top management of hospitals, smart city planners, government agencies, and urban policymakers. The study will assist stakeholders such as cancer care organizations, technology service providers, and city planners in planning, designing, and implementing DT for PCC. Full article

Trespassing on railway tracks represents the main cause of accidents in railway transport, often resulting in severe injuries and fatalities. Understanding railway trespassing requires integration of multiple data sources, as accident data alone do not capture its spatial and behavioural characteristics. This study identifies key parameters (variables) for developing a QGIS-based trespassing database. It represents the first step toward creating a comprehensive risk assessment tool for the railway network’s susceptibility to trespassing and the potential risk of trespass-related accidents. The methodology integrates secondary data sources, including accident records, railway infrastructure data, and demographic and socioeconomic data, with primary data collected at trespassing locations (GPS coordinates, behavioural observations, patterns, and environmental characteristics). A key challenge was integrating data from multiple sources into a unified database suitable for GIS spatial analysis. The results include mapping trespassing locations by kilometre position and GPS coordinates, as well as creating a structured multimodal database containing detailed information. The developed database enables spatial analysis, supports the identification of trespassing hotspots and provides a foundation for trespassing prevention. Full article

Industrial legacy cities are trapped in carbon lock-in—a self-reinforcing condition where fossil-fuel infrastructure, industrial structures, and institutional inertia collectively resist urban energy transition. Yet whether and how industrial upgrading policies (IUP) can effectively disrupt this lock-in remains unclear. Using panel data from 148 Chinese legacy cities over 2012–2022, we employ a staggered difference-in-differences model combined with policy-text quantification to evaluate the effects of IUP. Results show that IUP significantly raises urban energy transition by 2.52 percentage points, with technology-enabling instruments delivering the strongest leverage among the three policy tool categories. Mechanism analysis uncovers a co-evolutionary mismatch: green technology innovation mediates 42.21% of the total effect, while the mediating pathway through energy consumption structure remains statistically insignificant—evidence that production-side innovation and energy-side infrastructure exhibit systematically divergent adjustment elasticities in response to industrial upgrading policy. Policy effects also differ across city types, with stronger responses in old industrial base, regenerative, and single-type cities. These findings advance carbon lock-in theory by identifying co-evolutionary mismatch as a distinct source of structural friction in urban industrial transitions and provide actionable pathways for aligning urban industrial restructuring with decarbonization goals. Full article

The Christmas period reshapes urban cultural experience by temporarily suspending everyday routines and placing collective celebration at the centre of public space. During this time, festive illuminations transform cities, intensifying the symbolic role of light and reinforcing seasonal rituals of exceptionality. In many European cities, large-scale decorative lighting is used not only for aesthetic enhancement but also to create distinctive urban atmospheres. This study examines the effects of seasonal festive lighting on light pollution and perceptions of urban space, using Funchal (Madeira, Portugal) as a case study. Combining in situ photometric measurements, satellite-derived night-time data, and a questionnaire-based perception survey, this mixed-methods study compares periods when festive lighting was active and inactive. The results indicate that Christmas lighting was associated with higher levels of artificial illumination, shifts in the spatial distribution of artificial light at night (ALAN), and changes in night-sky brightness. These findings suggest that festive lighting shapes both the visual character of urban space and the seasonal dynamics of light pollution. Full article

The Historic Centre of Córdoba (Spain), designated a Site of Cultural Interest (BIC) and partially recognised as a ‘World Heritage Site’ by UNESCO, is one of the largest in Europe and, in recent decades, has undergone profound functional, economic and social transformations, which have been accelerated by growing tourist activity. These processes have not yet been analysed systematically, despite the fact that the study of urban processes such as touristification and their implications for certain urban dynamics of gentrification is a highly topical issue. This study aims to determine the extent to which the Historic Centre of Córdoba is undergoing a significant process of touristification and its impact on depopulation, gentrification and other functional and land-use transformations. To this end, a series of demographic, socio-economic, tourism-related and property market indicators have been collected and analysed. The results indicate a recent, intense process of touristification that has exacerbated the critical situation of depopulation and residential abandonment, although no significant process of socio-demographic gentrification has been detected. It is concluded that tourism is neither the sole nor even the main cause of this trend of demographic decline and functional and urban changes; rather, there are multiple historical, socio-economic, urban planning and demographic factors that explain them. This study lays the groundwork for a broader investigation of this urban area, which is of such great significance to the city in terms of heritage, history and identity. Full article

This article investigates the role of European Union (EU) Cohesion Policy (2021–2027) integrated urban development (IUD) strategies in Portugal in supporting the reduction in social segregation and vulnerability. Mostly based on a literature review and field research, the research concludes that the analysed IUD devotes a minor financial support package to social segregation and vulnerability. Even so, the IUD strategies have contributed to supporting the active inclusion of vulnerable social groups, improving access to employment, skills, and qualifications for young and vulnerable social groups, reinforcing equal access to quality services and social protection, and promoting the active inclusion of socially vulnerable groups and social housing. Full article

This study investigates the influence of near-surface air temperature on the performance of internal combustion engines during mobile transects conducted in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, one of the hottest cities in North America. Field measurements were carried out along a 15 km urban transect on representative days in April, August, and February. Air temperature and relative humidity were recorded simultaneously at two engine air intake heights (0.66 m and 2.5 m), complemented by surface temperature data obtained from both in situ measurements and Landsat 8 thermal imagery. The results indicate that near-surface air temperature exhibits considerable spatial and temporal variability and is closely associated with land surface temperature (LST) patterns derived from satellite observations. The correction factor (Cf), used to quantify the combined effects of air temperature and atmospheric pressure on engine performance, showed that extremely high temperatures (approaching 50 °C) may reduce engine performance by up to 3.35% relative to standard test conditions. Conversely, cooler winter conditions may improve engine performance by approximately 4.6%. These results suggest that vehicle operation under extremely hot climatic conditions may deviate from the standardized assumptions adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for emission factor estimation. This study contributes to a better understanding of the effects of extreme urban heat on vehicle performance and demonstrates that localized thermal conditions may influence the assumptions commonly used in vehicle emission assessments. The findings provide valuable information for improving greenhouse gas emission inventories and support evidence-based climate adaptation and urban planning strategies in arid cities. Full article

Urban regeneration has become a key strategy to address urban decline, infrastructure aging and socio-economic challenges, aiming to enhance quality of life and stimulate local development. Beyond physical renewal, it involves social, cultural and economic dimensions that contribute to the revitalization of communities. Recent literature frames regeneration as an adaptive and multifaceted process, drawing on concepts such as change management, dynamic capabilities and sensemaking to interpret urban transformation as a form of institutional learning. This study adopts a qualitative case study approach focused on the Libertà district in Bari (Italy), using document analysis, field observation, and stakeholder mapping to investigate both tangible and intangible outcomes of regeneration policies. Particular attention is devoted to understanding how socio-institutional and spatial transformations are translated into economic outcomes, using residential property values as an exploratory indicator of economic change. In this regard, variations in residential property values are considered as an exploratory indicator of economic dynamics associated with regeneration, while acknowledging that property price increases do not necessarily correspond to benefits for all community members and may also reflect issues related to affordability and social displacement. The findings suggest that regeneration should be understood as a coordinated and collaborative process involving multiple stakeholders and institutional actors. The analysis highlights the relevance of cultural initiatives, stakeholder interactions and changes in the physical environment as key elements of the transformation process. Furthermore, the study discusses the extent to which changes in the local real estate market may be associated with broader regeneration dynamics, recognizing the limitations of establishing direct causal relationships. Overall, the research proposes an original perspective on urban regeneration as a learning-based and organizational process in which social, institutional, and spatial transformations interact with economic change in complex and context-dependent ways. Full article

Cities, being elementary concentrations of socio-economic activities and resource-environmental pressures, confront significant challenges in promoting new quality productive force (NQPF) development because technology, resource, and information conditions may be spatially associated across cities. Although the nexus among cities has gained widespread recognition in China’s high-quality development such as in innovations and low-carbon transformation, a critical gap exists in quantitatively assessing how model-estimated inter-city spatial correlations relate to high-quality development within an integrated framework. To bridge this gap, this study constructs an urban social correlation network (SCN) analysis framework, integrates spatial correlation methods to overcome the limitations of traditional heterogeneity assessment, and applies it to 283 Chinese cities from 2010 to 2023 to measure network characteristics and structural resilience related to NQPF. The results show that the network density rose from 0.0608 in 2010 to 0.1577 in 2023. By 2023, the SCN featured higher connectivity and reciprocity, comparatively high but lower efficiency, low hierarchy, and no obvious core–periphery structure. The 283 cities were divided into four blocks, exhibiting denser intra-regional than inter-regional links, and strengthened inter-regional interactions over time. The displayed node-removal trajectories declined faster under centrality-ordered removal than under one reported random-removal sequence. The network was more vulnerable to intentional attacks than to random attacks. Motif analysis indicates that M1 and M2 dominated and contributed to low network density, while the shift from open structural holes toward a mix of open and closed structures was associated with network evolution. These findings indicate that cultivating key node cities and improving inter-city coordination mechanisms to enhance network resilience are critical pathways for advancing NQPF development with Chinese characteristics, providing quantitative evidence for targeted inter-city coordination policymaking. Full article

Urban expansion generates habitat fragmentation, light pollution, and vegetation loss, driving biodiversity decline globally. Insectivorous bats are particularly suited to track these changes: their taxonomic and functional diversity, combined with their differential sensitivity to landscape configuration and roost availability, makes them reliable bioindicators of urbanization impacts. This study characterized bat acoustic diversity and community composition along an urban–rural gradient in Tacna, Peru, using passive acoustic monitoring. Twenty-three stations equipped with autonomous ultrasonic recorders were established between December 2024 and April 2025. Sonotype identification was validated through linear discriminant analysis (DFA), achieving 94.47% accuracy by Leave-One-Out Cross-Validation (LOOCV). Nine sonotypes were identified, seven Molossidae and two Vespertilionidae; Myotis atacamensis showed the highest detection frequency across all districts. Diversity indices were highest in the peri-urban zone of Pocollay (S = 8; H′ = 1.664) and lowest in Gregorio Albarracín (S = 4; H′ = 0.964). The high dissimilarity between Pachía and the urban core of Tacna (BC = 0.817) points to marked compositional differences linked to urbanization intensity. Records of Nyctinomops laticaudatus and N. macrotis constitute the first documentation for the urban area of Tacna. These results suggest urban and peri-urban sectors may function as ecological oases for bat sonotypes within a hyperarid matrix, providing a baseline for evaluating the role of green spaces, landscape connectivity, and artificial lighting in arid cities. Full article

The extensive use of high-resolution digital elevation data, along with continuous improvements in computing power and geographic information system (GIS) tools. Has driven the development of spatial data processing, management, and spatial interpolation methods. This study aims to construct a high-quality spatial distribution map of thermal comfort in densely populated areas of northwestern Jordan using climate data collected from six meteorological stations between 1991 and 2024, based on the indoor temperature index (IAT). To analyze the spatial variability of climate elements, a digital elevation model (DEM) with a spatial resolution of 30 m was used and resampled to a 0.5-km grid. Spatial interpolation employed inverse distance weighting (IDW), with each grid cell using data from the three nearest meteorological stations. The results showed that areas with higher temperatures inside the villas were clearly concentrated in the summer, especially in the lowlands near the Jordan Valley. Indicating that these areas are more susceptible to thermal stress. The model results also show that it performs well in predicting thermal comfort, with a coefficient of determination (R²) between 0.95 and 0.98 and mean squared error (MSE) between 0.35 and 0.50. which reflects the ability of these models to represent the relationship between climate variables and predict thermal comfort levels with a high degree of accuracy. The results indicate significant spatiotemporal differences in thermal comfort within the study area, with longer durations of heat stress in summer. This highlights the importance of combining geospatial methods with numerical simulations in studying the impacts of climate change and supporting urban planning and climate adaptation strategies. Full article

Whether economic growth decouples from municipal solid waste (MSW) generation in upper–middle-income economies remains contested. We test the Waste Kuznets Curve and a disposal-to-recovery substitution effect using a 13-year panel of 1101 Colombian municipalities, combining step-wise fixed-effects models with a non-parametric generalized additive model (GAM), a family of spatial specifications, and a selection-aware recovery model. We find no evidence of income-driven decoupling in landfilling. Once the urban density and demographic structure are controlled, the income terms lose significance, the non-parametric estimate is predominantly monotonic, and density emerges as the main structural driver. Material recovery grows faster than disposal with income (relative substitution), but this signal is concentrated where recovery is measured—only 27% of municipalities report it, and coverage falls from every metropolitan municipality to one in five in the rural periphery, and the income terms are stable across every spatial representation—so that once selection is corrected the recovery elasticity falls from about 5.9 to a non-significant 1.3. Rather than spontaneous decoupling, Colombia exhibits persistent coupling alongside an institutionally engineered, spatially unequal recovery capacity. Achieving SDG 12 therefore requires stratified policies that mandate consumption reduction in mature urban economies while subsidizing shared circular infrastructure for historically neglected rural jurisdictions. Full article

The worsening jobs–housing imbalance in high-density urban areas has become increasingly prominent. However, existing studies predominantly focus on the city and regional scales, with limited attention to small-scale spatial units, failing to provide empirical evidence for refined regulation of transport and land use. As a typical compact development mode at the small scale, Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) offers an ideal spatial unit for examining micro-level jobs–housing relationships. However, its influence on jobs–housing balance remains unclear. This study takes 72 built subway station areas in Shenzhen’s highest-density built-up area as the research object. Employing quadratic polynomial regression and XGBoost-SHAP methods, it reveals the effects of transportation supply and land use on the employment–residential ratio, as well as threshold effects and indicator synergies. The main findings are as follows: (1) Transportation supply (Node), land use (Place), and TOD degree (TODness) all exhibit U-shaped effects on the employment–residential ratio, with inflection points at Node = 0.330, Place = 0.412, and TODness = 0.776, identifying the critical transition from balance to employment polarization. (2) Number of subway directions is the most critical indicator, together with betweenness centrality, floor area ratio, population size, and land use entropy, each exhibiting notable threshold effects. (3) A significant interaction effect exists between betweenness centrality and land use entropy, suggesting that traffic network connectivity and land use evenness can jointly regulate the employment–residential ratio in both directions. This study provides a quantitative basis for phased regulation of jobs–housing relationships in high-density TOD station areas, with findings transferable to other high-density cities. Full article

European urban policy increasingly requires city benchmarks that are people-centred, multidimensional and methodologically defensible, yet perception-based environmental evidence is rarely aggregated without arbitrary weighting. Accordingly, this paper develops and justifies a synthetic index of perceived urban environmental performance (UEP) for European cities. Specifically, using the environmental module of the 2023 Eurostat Urban Audit Perception Survey (UAPS) for 83 Functional Urban Areas (FUAs), four satisfaction indicators (air quality, noise, cleanliness and green spaces) are aggregated with a benefit-of-the-doubt (BoD) composite indicator that assigns each city endogenous, self-favouring weights. Standard, weight-restricted and cross-efficiency variants are estimated, benchmarked against an equal-weight comparator, and embedded in an exploratory spatial data analysis. The results demonstrate that nine cities form the efficient frontier, led by Oulu, Luxembourg and Zurich, while Skopje, Naples and Athens anchor the lower tail. Additionally, a robust North–South gradient emerges, and green space satisfaction is the dominant structural driver of composite scores, partially compensating weak air quality in many cities. The study addresses perception-based BoD benchmarking—uncovering dimension-specific environmental governance deficits masked by national indicators—and complements objective environmental monitoring for European Union (EU) cohesion and climate-neutrality policy. Full article

Transportation infrastructure plays a fundamental role in shaping sustainable urban and regional development by improving accessibility, strengthening territorial cohesion, and supporting long-term economic resilience. While previous studies have primarily examined this relationship through macroeconomic indicators and secondary datasets, limited attention has been given to the perceptions of transportation professionals directly involved in infrastructure planning, implementation, and management. Addressing this gap, the present study investigates how transportation professionals in Greece perceive the contribution of transport infrastructure to sustainable regional development within the European policy context. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was employed, administering a structured questionnaire to 384 transportation professionals in October–November 2025. The study examined four interrelated dimensions: socio-economic contribution, environmental sustainability, infrastructure resilience, and long-term development. Multiple regression analysis showed that all four dimensions are significantly and positively associated with perceived regional development, with socio-economic contribution (β* = 0.359) and long-term development (β* = 0.304) showing the largest coefficients (R² = 0.597, p < 0.001). The study contributes practitioner-grounded evidence from the Greek context, with implications for the European Green Deal, TEN-T, and EU Cohesion Policy. Full article

Urban climate risks, particularly extreme heat and flooding, increasingly threaten public infrastructure in rapidly urbanizing regions. Public schools represent critical community assets, yet their spatial planning often overlooks the role of natural capital in mitigating environmental risks. This study examines the intersection of natural capital and urban design through a case study of public schools in the Mount Vernon District of Fairfax County, Virginia. Using cartographic modeling and spatial analysis, the study assesses school-site exposure to urban heat island effects and localized flood risks by integrating geospatial data on land cover, surface temperature, and hydrological conditions. Results indicate that all analyzed school sites exhibit notable vulnerability to both heat exposure and flooding. The findings highlight the importance of incorporating natural capital—such as expanded tree canopy, green infrastructure, and permeable surfaces—into school site planning to enhance climate resilience and environmental quality. Full article

Cities increasingly invest in social infrastructure—parks, plazas, libraries, and other shared environments—to foster connection and wellbeing. Yet proximity does not reliably translate into meaningful social interaction, thereby revealing a persistent gap in understanding how connection emerges in urban contexts. This paper advances a relational model of urban social wellbeing that shifts analytical focus from spatial provision to interactional process. Drawing on an integrative conceptual synthesis of urban studies, micro-sociology, and social psychology, the model specifies how environmental conditions shape patterns of engagement over time. Urban social life unfolds as a staged sequence of interactional dynamics that progress from co-presence and recognition through civil inattention, triangulation, acknowledgment, interaction, and repetition. Across these stages, perceived social risk operates as a probabilistic filter that shapes transition likelihoods and explains why interaction often stalls. The paper further introduces social fitness as a contextual and relational capacity that develops through repeated interaction. By distinguishing between relational capacity and relational outcomes, the model explains how social wellbeing emerges through relational layering, as individuals accumulate a portfolio of strong, weak, and invisible ties that support belonging and integration. Conceptualizing urban social life as a dynamic system, the model offers a framework for empirical investigation and positions urban design as the shaping of interactional conditions. Full article

Stresses of climate change, urbanization, and segregation make the City of Norfolk in Virginia’s Tidewater region a fitting context for qualitative research into coastal resilience, urban nature, and residents’ perceptions of the environment. Dissertation research into sea level rise and urban development provided a rich environment for developing a practical multi-method system for community-engaged investigations of flooding effects, gentrification, and the loss of urban nature. Multi-method research illuminates social, racial, and economic dynamics in Norfolk residents through participant observation, archival research, semi-structured interviews, and walking interviews. The data generated by archival content analysis and semi-structured interviews can offer insights into citizens’ roles and experiences regarding climate change, urban development and redevelopment, and distressed nature in the city. Innovative use of participant observation and the walking interview can engage with questions of respondents’ personal beliefs about nature and the city, highlighting new possible applications of these methods. This research adds to the literature on the effects of climate change and displacement in Norfolk’s planning policies. It supersedes discussions of the mechanics of climate change to assess a range of residents’ perceptions on their own terms. The article provides a clear framework for engaging with residents around issues on climate, urbanization, and environmental stress. It therefore offers a methodological contribution to the field of qualitative research in coastal climate change science and the human experience of the dynamic, modern city. The article’s findings and methods may not be applicable in rural areas or in areas which are not facing acute climate change. Full article

Although conventionally quantified as an urban–rural thermal anomaly, urban heat islands are systematic expressions of development choices that shape unequal exposures and health risks across cities. This article develops an integrated urban development-health framework explaining how imperviousness, vegetation deficit, landscape configuration, urban morphology, thermally absorptive materials and nocturnal heat retention connect heat exposure with physical disease, mental well-being and climate-responsive planning. A critical integrative review reported using PRISMA 2020 and PRISMA-ScR principles, organised evidence from urban climate, public health, environmental epidemiology and planning. The synthesis covers the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI), Local Climate Zones (LCZs), sky-view factor (SVF), height-to-width ratio (H/W), land-surface temperature (LST), Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET), wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) and nocturnal minimum temperature, together with cardiovascular, respiratory, psychiatric, sleep, mortality and well-being outcomes. Six recurrent amplification pathways were identified: imperviousness and low canopy cover; nocturnal heat retention; social vulnerability; blue-green and cool infrastructure; heat–pollution–humidity interaction; and sleep/mental-health disruption. The Urban Heat-Health Development Index (UHHDI) and Urban Heat-Health Amplification Pattern (UHHAP) are proposed as transparent, review-derived tools for urban diagnosis and policy prioritisation. A Spanish/Mediterranean climatic-zone transition analysis illustrates how future climatic severity can be translated into planning-relevant exposure potential. The findings support a shift from simply describing urban heat to diagnosing development-driven heat-health risk, with implications for urban regeneration, thermal justice, public-health adaptation and healthy-city governance. Full article

This study examines how spatial design, particularly lightscape interventions, operates as a behavioral nudge associated with collaborative participation intention in urban environments. Drawing on nudge theory, place attachment, and cultural heritage literature, we analyze data from a questionnaire survey of 720 urban residents across major metropolitan regions in Japan using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicate that urban development and cultural heritage assets are positively associated with lightscape interventions, which in turn show a strong positive relationship with collaborative participation intention. While urban development exhibits both direct and indirect relationships with participation intention, the influence of cultural heritage assets operates primarily through lightscape interventions as a mediating mechanism. These findings suggest that cultural heritage alone does not automatically stimulate civic participation; rather, its social value is activated when heritage resources are translated into meaningful spatial and visual experiences. Lightscape interventions thus serve as an effective non-coercive mechanism linking spatial and cultural resources to civic engagement intentions. This research offers valuable insights for urban planners and policymakers seeking design-based, non-coercive strategies to enhance citizens’ place attachment and willingness to contribute to community activities. Full article

This study addresses the need to establish precise variables to assess subjective urban vulnerability, moving beyond the strictly one-dimensional or perceptual–environmental measurements regularly applied in the study of this territorial reality. Following an initial theoretical proposal, a thematic content analysis of semi-structured interviews was conducted with stakeholders who carry out their professional activity in vulnerable neighborhoods. The diagnostic questionnaire was evaluated through a three-round Delphi process by a multidisciplinary panel of experts from the Spanish university system. The results definitively validated 32 indicators, distributed across three dimensions of subjective urban vulnerability: physical space of the neighborhood (16), social identity (8), and social cohesion (8). In conclusion, this framework provides researchers in the field of territorial science and public managers with a validated, precise instrument for designing interventions tailored to the psychosocial complexity of vulnerable neighborhoods, in the Spanish and European context, improving the understanding and management of these spaces. Full article

Criminality represents one of the major challenges faced by Brazilian cities, particularly due to the limited state capacity to control violence. To provide support for addressing this issue, the research focuses on systematizing responses to the investigative question regarding the identifiable foundations for sharing urbanistic-criminal solutions within the framework of the urban agenda. With the aim of analyzing this reality through a case study in Itumbiara, Goiás, Brazil, the assessment relied on field surveys and relational analysis of criminal, landscape, and institutional data. Considering three temporal intervals—before, parallel, and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic—to recognize its influence on the phenomenon under review, the results on the distribution of thefts and robberies along a road sample show a decline in crime even after the official end of the health crisis. Socio-behavioral and socio-political parameters scored lower than socio-morphological ones but overall were classified as medium-low quality. The formulated guidelines combine analytical variables and criminological theories to support public policies for integrated management of safe scenarios, reinforcing the hypothesis that such interactions enable principles for coordinated measures in planning and security in urbanized areas. Full article

The construction of adequate infrastructure in low-resource regions is frequently constrained by limited technical facilities, inadequate supply chains, and the absence of standardized quality control. This study presents a case study of the reinforced concrete foundation system of a multifunctional sports hall constructed in Cacine, Guinea-Bissau, where concrete production was carried out under severe logistical and technological constraints. Following construction, laboratory investigations were performed to evaluate the transported cement sample, locally available aggregates, and concrete specimens collected on site. Cement characterization included particle-size distribution, thermal analysis, and compressive strength testing, while the concrete was assessed through compressive strength and water absorption measurements. The aggregate grading complied with the relevant technical requirements and fell within the recommended grading envelope; however, the cement exhibited lower mechanical performance than expected from its declared class, although the non-standard specimen geometry does not permit formal conformity assessment. The concrete reached an average 28-day compressive strength of 12.9 MPa and exhibited relatively high water absorption, reflecting the combined influence of volumetric batching, high water demand, limited mixing efficiency, and the absence of chemical admixtures. Scenario analyses based on the Bolomey relationship indicated that improved control of the effective water-to-cement ratio could substantially enhance concrete performance. Although the study is limited by retrospective testing and a small number of specimens, it provides practical insight into the adaptation of concrete technology to resource-constrained environments and identifies key technological priorities for future infrastructure projects in Guinea-Bissau and similar regions. Full article

Digital transformation is portrayed both as a lever of territorial convergence and as a driver of polarisation between urban cores and peripheries, yet its effect on regional economic resilience has rarely been measured systematically. This study transposes the Economic Resilience Index framework from the national to the regional scale, building a Regional Resilience Index (R-ERI) for 236 NUTS2 regions of the EU-27 from Eurostat indicators, anchored in the capacities of absorption, recovery, and adaptation and measuring resilience as a capacity rather than as a realised shock trajectory. Two complementary models are estimated: a spatial Durbin panel with two-way fixed effects (2018–2023), spanning the COVID-19 pandemic and 2022 energy shocks, and an exploratory cross-sectional difference model exploiting regional artificial intelligence (AI) adoption data disaggregated by NACE branch (2023–2025). The results show that resilience is strongly spatially autocorrelated (Moran’s I between 0.66 and 0.74; p = 0.001); that digital connectivity generates a positive indirect effect on neighbouring regions despite a negative own-region effect; and that the synergy hypothesis—that digitalisation yields more resilience when combined with traditional sectors—does not hold robustly, the interaction being null in the panel and only marginally positive in the AI layer (p = 0.10). We conclude that digital connectivity is not, on its own, an automatic convergence mechanism, and that cohesion policy should account for each region’s sectoral structure and peripheral position. Full article

This study provides evidence on the impact of a heavy rail-based suburban metro station in Fremont, California, on house prices using geographically weighted regression (GWR) and multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR). The dataset comprises sale price, sale date, and property and locational characteristics for single-family houses sold during the January 2000–April 2018 period within two miles of the Warm Springs Station on the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system. The results demonstrate that, relative to the referent period (2000–2001): (a) the station-led house price impacts are spatially heterogeneous—the house price increased in one pocket only, comprising less than one-tenth of the dataset, not across the entire 0–2 mile station area, (b) the price increase in that pocket began right after the project announcement period, and (c) the price impacts indicated by the MGWR model markedly differ from baseline ordinary least square regression (OLS) estimates. Overall, the study’s findings highlight the need to move beyond average estimation techniques, such as OLS, to those that account for spatially heterogeneous price impacts, such as GWR and MGWR. Full article

Background: To date, there are no known published studies in Portugal that link the perceived neighborhood walkability of a specific geographical area to the functional capacity and social participation of older adults living in the community. Thus, the main objective of this study, conducted in Portugal, is to examine whether the perceived neighborhood walkability is associated with functional capacity, walking confidence, social participation, and exercise self-efficacy among community-dwelling older adults, thereby contributing to the national evidence base on the influence of contextual factors on human functioning, with particular relevance to active and healthy aging. Methods: An exploratory, cross-sectional study was conducted using data from older adults (aged 50 and over) living in the community, in Portugal. A member of the research team assessed physical function using objective measures of upper and lower body function, balance and mobility. To assess the perceived neighborhood walkability, a validated questionnaire for Portuguese adults living in the community with good internal consistency (α = 0.848) was used. The walkability dimensions assessed were safety, facilities/surroundings, comfort/esthetics and accessibility/connectivity. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to analyze the relationships between continuous variables. Differences between groups were analyzed using independent sample Student’s t-tests or analysis of variance (ANOVA) as appropriate. Results: Perceived neighborhood walkability was associated with several sociodemographic, health, and psychosocial variables. Higher educational levels and better self-perceived health were associated with more positive perceptions of walkability. Participants without urinary incontinence and osteoarthritis reported significantly higher walkability scores, particularly in the safety, facilities/surroundings, and comfort/esthetics dimensions. Older age was associated with higher scores in the facilities/surroundings dimension, whereas slower gait speed and higher anxiety levels were associated with lower perceptions in this dimension. Few significant associations were found between perceived neighborhood walkability and objective physical function measures, and these associations were generally weak. Conclusions: Overall, the findings suggest that neighborhood walkability is a multidimensional construct influenced not only by environmental characteristics but also by health status, psychological factors, and individual perceptions. These results reinforce the importance of considering contextual and environmental factors when promoting mobility, participation, and healthy aging among community-dwelling older adults. Full article