Search Results (10)

In the context of increasing urbanization, understanding the influence of urban spatial layouts on microclimatic conditions has become crucial, particularly in high-density reclaimed areas like those in the Macao Peninsula, where optimizing thermal comfort is essential for enhancing residents’ quality of life and promoting sustainable urban development. For this study, we assessed high-density reclaimed plots on the Macao Peninsula for a detailed case study. We conducted on-site measurements along with simulations using ENVI-met software, comparing datasets to ensure model accuracy and reliability. Through careful adjustment of simulation parameters to accurately reflect real-world conditions, we found that building layout and size have a significant effect on the Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET). Notably, in the unique climate of the Lingnan area, courtyard layouts demonstrably block external heat and wind, fostering a significantly more comfortable internal microclimate. This design strategy provides not only generous public space for fostering community activities and stronger social bonds, but also creates a visually appealing and cohesive aesthetic. This research seeks to improve resident comfort, optimize urban energy efficiency, and promote sustainable urban development principles. Accordingly, our findings serve as a valuable adaptation reference for urban environmental planning initiatives under the climate in the Lingnan area. Full article

Due to the limited availability of high-quality optical images during the rice growth period in the Lingnan region of China, effectively monitoring the rice planting situation has been a challenge. In this study, we utilized multi-temporal Sentinel-1 data to develop a method for rapidly extracting the range of rice fields using a threshold segmentation approach and employed a U-Net deep learning model to delineate the distribution of rice fields. Spatio-temporal changes in rice distribution in Leizhou City, Guangdong Province, China, from 2017 to 2021 were analyzed. The results revealed that by analyzing SAR-intensive time series data, we were able to determine the backscattering coefficient of typical crops in Leizhou and use the threshold segmentation method to identify rice labels in SAR-intensive time series images. Furthermore, we extracted the distribution range of early and late rice in Leizhou City from 2017 to 2021 using a U-Net model with a minimum relative error accuracy of 3.56%. Our analysis indicated an increasing trend in both overall rice planting area and early rice planting area, accounting for 44.74% of early rice and over 50% of late rice planting area in 2021. Double-cropping rice cultivation was predominantly concentrated in the Nandu River basin, while single-cropping areas were primarily distributed along rivers and irrigation facilities. Examination of the traditional double-cropping areas in Fucheng Town from 2017 to 2021 demonstrated that over 86.94% had at least one instance of double cropping while more than 74% had at least four instances, which suggested that there is high continuity and stability within the pattern of rice cultivation practices observed throughout Leizhou City. Full article

With the advancement of resilience concepts, enhancing resilience capacity has become an effective approach to addressing rainwater and flooding issues. Most rural planning and construction efforts adopt urban planning models from economically developed regions, often leading to surface hardening, which subsequently causes drainage difficulties and severe surface water accumulation during the rainy season. In contrast, traditional Lingnan villages, exemplified by Guangdong’s Changqi Ancient Village, continue to function normally in flood-prone areas, suggesting that their water management knowledge merits investigation. Previous research on rainwater management in traditional Chinese villages has predominantly been qualitative, lacking scientific data support. This study employs an eco-social resilience perspective, combining field surveys and interviews with villagers, and utilizes the SWMM (Storm Water Management Model) software to conduct both qualitative and quantitative analyses of Changqi Ancient Village. The findings reveal the following: (1) The SWMM effectively quantifies rainwater and flood management in traditional villages. (2) From an ecological resilience perspective, the village’s geographical location is crucial. The topography, along with a rainwater regulation system comprising rivers, ponds, ditches, and permeable pavements, significantly influences the village’s drainage performance. (3) From a social resilience perspective, community participation is vital to the long-term stable development of traditional villages. This includes post-disaster collective fundraising by villagers for the restoration of rainwater and flood management facilities, the formulation of village regulations, and the construction and restoration of spiritual sites. (4) From an eco-social resilience perspective, the eco-social resilience system exhibits adaptive cyclical characteristics, where the geographical environment and the local economy significantly shape the ecological spatial patterns of Changqi, while positive interaction between nature and human society ensures the system’s dynamic equilibrium. Full article

The campus courtyards in the Lingnan area are commonly used spaces. Therefore, their thermal comfort is highly important for improving user satisfaction. This study conducted field research on 18 courtyards in four universities in Lingnan to explore the effects of their architectural design factors on the thermal environment. Relevant studies have proved that courtyards are cost-effective in microclimate regulation, and individual factors such as the scale and openness of the courtyards have also been shown to have an effect on the thermal comfort of the courtyards. This study synthesizes multidimensional architectural design factors to explore and analyze the thermal environments of college courtyards. Physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) is selected as the thermal comfort evaluation index for the study and the conclusions are as follows: (1) The thermal environment is the most important factor influencing visitors to the courtyards (22%), and good thermal comfort improves the efficiency of using the college courtyards; (2) the courtyards have a positive microclimate regulating function, and a cooling effect occurs in 80% of them; and (3) the floor location, type, orientation, and sky view factor (SVF) of the courtyards are the main design factors affecting the thermal environment and PET. The first three factors were negatively correlated with PET (p < 0.05),and SVF was positively correlated with PET (p = 0.651). Passive courtyard design strategies are presented based on the findings of this study. Full article

Marine controlled-source electromagnetics (MCSEM) is an effective method to map the spatial distribution of gas hydrate and calculate gas hydrate saturation. An MCSEM survey is conducted in the Lingnan low uplift (LNLU), Qiongdongnan Basin (QDNB), South China Sea (SCS), and then the measured data are processed to obtain the geoelectric structure. The estimated gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) ranges from 0 to 320 mbsf, and shallow high-conductive sediments serving as gas hydrate caps are at depths ranging from 0 to 100 mbsf (meters below the seafloor). The 2D resistivity model reveals multiple high-resistivity bodies at depths ranging from 100 to 320 mbsf, and BSRs are at depths of 240 mbsf to 280 mbsf, indicating a transversely uneven gas hydrate reservoir in the study area. Moreover, two high-resistivity bodies are detected beneath the GHSZ, implying the presence of potential gas transport pathways. The gas hydrate saturation with a variation of 0–68.4% is calculated using the MCSEM resistivity and Archie’s law. According to the resistivity model and geological data, the transversely uneven gas hydrate reservoir may be associated with multiple gas sources, including shallow biogenic gas and deep pyrolytic gas. The shallow biogenic gas is transported to the GHSZ via short-distance migration and free diffusion, and the deep pyrolytic gas is transported to the GHSZ via two microcracks. In addition, this case emphasizes that the dynamic accumulation of gas hydrate is an important factor causing reservoir heterogeneity. Full article

Chinese medicinal herbs (CMHs) have been used for thousands of years because of their significant properties regarding the prevention and treatment of diseases, such as COVID-19. There is an increasingly diminishing supply of wild medicinal resources, and the demand is greater than the supply. Ecological balance and the conservation of natural Chinese medicinal herbs are serious issues in sustainable development, which requires the minimum requirements to be met without compromising the resources of future generations, especially with respect to the maintenance of production and consumption as well as the quality control of CMHs. Hong Kong is an urban business city, busy with work and the fast pace of life. The sustainable development of CMHs is difficult in a huge population situated in an area with very scarce land coverage. The conservation of CMHs in urban horticulture is extremely neglected because people lack living space; for example, Aquilaria Sinensis (the incense tree), also called “pak muk heung” in Cantonese, was an indigenous species that was illegally logged in the past. This led to detrimental effects on the population density and genetic diversity of the species. There is no doubt that Hong Kong is required to set up a management model in community facilities for these emerging modern social configurations, such as building a Chinese herbal garden for the conservation and promotion of a healthy urban environment and giving people a chance to gain more information on CMHs. The current study employed problem analysis and strategic decisions for the sustainable development of 62 kinds of CMHs in a Chinese herbal garden, which converged with some medicinal itineraries of Lingnan herbal medications, and implemented a theoretical framework of management models for ten secondary schools, e.g., the Aroma garden of the L’Occitane at the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi) Tsing Yi campus and Land from the Far East Consortium International Limited in Sai Kung Pak Kong. In the present original article, we would like to establish a sustainable management model for Chinese herbal gardens in an urban city. The sustainable development model for the Chinese herbal gardens is based on five major aspects: (1) land resources, (2) manpower planning, (3) economy, (4) education or training, and (5) ecosystem (cultivation). These are the essential factors of management and are implemented in our Chinese herbal gardens. We aim to find a suitable management model for Chinese herbal gardens and to promote it in other urban cities. Full article

In recent years, semi-outdoor space has become an important research subject in the field of thermal comfort. Overhead space located on the ground floor is a common type of semi-outdoor space in China’s Lingnan region with a hot and humid climate. Its thermal comfort has been scarcely studied. This study aims to reveal the importance and influencing factors of overhead public spaces in hot and humid areas, and to explore the corresponding adaptive behaviors of people. In this research, several overhead public spaces in Shenzhen University were selected to conduct field measurements and questionnaire surveys (n = 509) in hot and cold seasons. The results indicated that the acceptable physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) range for 90% of the population was 26.2–30.4 °C in hot season, 9.9–19.2 °C in cold season, and 17.6–25.3 °C for the whole year. The respondents preferred “neutral” in cold season and “slightly cool” in hot season. Respondents in hot season were more eager to adjust their thermal comfort, while those in cold season were more comfortable exposing themselves to the sun. Concurrently, the neutral temperature and neutral temperature range for different seasons was obtained and compared with the results of other studies. The results provide references for thermal comfort adjustment in hot and humid areas as well as optimization suggestions for the planning and design of overhead spaces. Full article

Effective natural ventilation reduces humidity, cools the space, and enhances thermal comfort. In light of the frequent ventilation issues in the Lingnan area, this research suggests a successful ventilation technique using Jiangmen’s “Yunshan Poetic” Moon Island houses as an example. With its symmetrical architectural layout of townhouses and its primary courtyard villa product, the community typifies the Lingnan area. First off, we discovered that the district’s average temperature is as high as 30.95 °C and its average humidity is as high as 83.592%RH using actual measurements and simulation of heat and humidity data. The district’s buildings’ issues with dampness, peeling walls, and substance mold are primarily caused by poor ventilation. Secondly, the PHOENICS program was used to provide efficient ventilation solutions for the following six aspects: external wind infusion organization, group orientation layout, planar grouping optimization, building façade combination, monolithic building openings, and indoor ventilation block. In order to determine if the technique is effective, the ventilation variables are compared before and after optimization using the Building Ventilation Effectiveness Test and Evaluation Criteria. The study concluded that the building’s architectural characteristics and the local climate have an impact on natural ventilation’s effectiveness. This serves as a guide for both the scientific layout development of future urban settlements and the optimization of ventilation of existing villa buildings in humid and hot areas. Full article

Over the last 20 years, energy consumption in the residential sector in China has grown rapidly, and the growth is faster than that of any other energy form. To assess the limitations of the spatial characteristics of household energy consumption in urban areas, this paper selected Guangzhou as the research area. Specifically, the old town, core area, central area and peri-urban areas, which best reflect the evolutionary characteristics and spatial differentiation of households, were assessed. Based on the surveyed database of community-scale household energy consumption (N = 1097), the spatial heterogeneity of household energy consumption and carbon emissions at the community scale were assessed through exploratory spatial data analysis and the standard deviation ellipse method. The results report that (1) the main sources of energy consumption in Guangzhou households were water heating equipment, kitchen equipment and refrigeration equipment, which were related to the climatic conditions and cultural traditions of the city. (2) There was significant spatial heterogeneity in the carbon emissions from household domestic energy use in Guangzhou. (3) The economic level, the effects of the Lingnan culture and the characteristics of residents are the main drivers influencing the spatial characteristics of household energy consumption and carbon emissions in Guangzhou. We propose that policy development should actively promote energy-efficient equipment, such as water heating and cooling equipment, in urban households and take full account of the basic household energy needs of residents in old urban and suburban areas while promoting the development of low-carbon buildings. Full article

Having a healthy built environment becomes increasingly important, especially under the effects of COVID-19. This paper intends to combine sustainable goals based on climate change with passive design principles to achieve a healthy built environment regarding the building performance of residential buildings. The Yuedao Residential Community in the Lingnan area was taken as an example for the research. Based on relevant standards of healthy buildings, the thermal, light, and acoustic environment requirements were determined. The methods of building performance simulation and on-site measurement were used to quantify the research object environments. Then, the outcomes were obtained based on these standards. As observed, the thermal environment’s adaptive thermal comfort level was level III. It was hot indoors, but the light and acoustic environments met the requirements. Building designs based on a built environment optimized by external shading systems aim to solve problems through building performance simulation and qualitative analysis. After optimization, the thermal environment improved. According to the literature review, this research focused on a healthy built environment with a sustainable passive design in terms of building performance. A research workflow was established that could be used for more practical research, with abundant research methods. The problems were solved to varying degrees, and the Lingnan architectural culture was preserved. Moreover, this research filled the gap in interactive research on healthy built environments with sustainable passive design regarding building performance. Full article