Geographies

The growing recognition of the need for systemic approaches to urban climate transitions calls for comprehensive monitoring and evaluation frameworks that extend beyond Greenhouse Gas emissions to include measures that impact human behaviours, as well as process indicators that enable timely adjustments to climate action pathways. The extant literature offers limited insights into EU regional patterns and differences in the assessment of actions toward climate neutrality. This study examines indicators of process and co-benefit selected for the pilot projects of cities that aim to be climate neutral by 2030 in 21 European countries, and it aligns the indicators set utilised in the NetZeroCities pilot projects with the international frameworks of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and New European Bauhaus. The findings highlight the relevance accorded by cities in all European regions to learning, awareness and participation, and inform on potential regional differences in the prioritisation of specific sustainability goals across North, West, South and East Europe. The methodology contributes to the sustainability science and transdisciplinary literature by aligning cities’ indicators with the SDG and NEB frameworks. Findings suggest that the EU focus on engagement, participation and social learning is being taken up by cities; furthermore, they contribute insights for a potentially more geographically and culturally aware design of European urban climate transitions.

Evaluations of recreational beaches are necessary to guide their management. In this study, we conducted a socio-ecological evaluation to propose management guidelines for San Francisco beach in northwestern Mexico, using a beach quality index and recording user perceptions. The results showed that the beach quality is high, based on the recreational, natural, and protection functions considered in the beach quality index. This finding was consistent with user perceptions of beach services, environmental conditions, and cleanliness. The findings of this study can be applied to strategies focused on the use and preservation of San Francisco Beach, aiming to maintain the natural landscape and sanitary quality, provide public services, ensure cleanliness, subdivide recreational areas, and implement year-round surveillance.

Land use change driven by accelerated urbanization in Mongolia has precipitated significant degradation of urban riverine ecosystems over the past two decades. This study investigates hydrological transformations in the Selbe River Catchment of Ulaanbaatar, a cold semi-arid urban system undergoing intensive densification. Using the Site-scale Urban Water Mass Balance Assessment (SUWMBA) framework, we quantified water cycle dynamics across four temporal intervals (2008, 2010, 2018, and 2023), capturing shifts in surface runoff, infiltration, and evapotranspiration associated with land use transitions. Calibration and validation employed discharge records from the Selbe-Dambadarjaa gauging station. Results show that total inflows increased from 223 to 312 mm between 2008 and 2023, driven by a more than twentyfold rise in imported water (from 1 to 22 mm). Evapotranspiration declined by roughly one-third, while infiltration displayed a threshold-type non-linear response—rising sharply between 2010 and 2018 before decreasing again in 2023 as imperviousness intensified. Model performance weakened after 2018, underscoring the limitations of conventional hydrological frameworks in rapidly urbanizing contexts. A redevelopment scenario for the Selbe Sub-Center, aligned with the Ulaanbaatar City Master Plan 2040, projected substantially reduced evapotranspiration (132 mm) and markedly increased stormwater runoff (270 mm), reflecting expanded impervious cover and diminished vegetation. Imported water and wastewater flows (each 386 mm) also increased due to full connection to centralized supply and sewerage infrastructure, indicating a shift toward engineered water pathways and reduced hydrological connectivity to the Selbe River. These findings highlight the urgency of water-sensitive urban design and provide evidence directly informing Mongolia’s 2040 Urban Master Plan and decentralization strategy. The study establishes methodological precedent for applying SUWMBA to cold, semi-arid catchments and contributes quantitative insights for integrated land–water management policies.