Search Results (613)

To address the issues of cities being overwhelmed by the waste and energy crisis, the pyrolysis of municipal solid waste (MSW), oil shale (OS) and their blends was investigated using a thermogravimetric simultaneous thermal analyzer in this study. The experimental research was conducted to investigate the thermal behavior and kinetic parameters of the different blending ratios of MSW and OS, to better utilize these intractable resources, observing whether there is a synergistic effect and trying to find the optimal process conditions. The Ozawa–Flynn–Wall method and the Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose method were used to calculate the activation energy at four different heating rates. The existence of interactions between MSW and OS was confirmed by comparing the experimental thermogravimetric and derivative thermogravimetric curves with the calculated ones. The findings of the thermogravimetric analysis, the calculation of theoretical and experimental curves, and kinetic analysis confirmed the interaction between the components and that the optimal blending ratio is 30% MSW and 70% OS. The optimality results in a relatively smaller activation energy (Eave = 115 kJ/mol), better comprehensive pyrolysis characteristics, and a more beneficial mutual effect. Full article

This article examines how the same heritage or revival site can produce both welcoming and hostile atmospheres depending on the cohort, yielding selectively permeable environments that enable some groups while constraining others. Climatic volatility further shapes these encounters, as extreme weather has been shown to increase negative valence by making movement and access more difficult, especially for marginalized populations. Drawing on built-form analyses and political history—supplemented with interview data on everyday navigation and affective experiences in cities—the paper examines three cases: Cairo’s Tahrir Square, revivalist university campuses and Buenos Aires women’s marches. To explain why these locales produce varying atmospheres for different groups, the article draws on affordance theory—an empirically grounded account of valenced action possibilities that exist independently of any one observer yet remain harder for vulnerable populations to negotiate. These challenges often intensify around heritage and revival aesthetics, which can alienate outsiders, and are amplified by Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) elements, such as elevation changes, ornamental walls and other territorial cues. The study contributes to urban political ecology, especially scholarship on how aestheticized urban forms serve as instruments through which powerbrokers materialize dominance and produce uneven access to public venues. Full article

As China’s urbanization rate continues to rise, the scale of high-rise residences also grows, emerging as one of the main sources of building energy consumption and carbon emissions. It is therefore crucial to conduct energy-efficient design tailored to local climate and resource endowments during the schematic design phase. At the same time, consideration should also be given to its impact on economic efficiency and environmental comfort, so as to achieve synergistic optimization of energy, carbon emissions, and economic and environmental performance. This paper focuses on typical high-rise residences in three cities across China’s northwestern region, each with distinct climatic conditions and solar energy resources. The optimization objectives include building energy consumption intensity (BEI), useful daylight illuminance (UDI), life cycle carbon emissions (LCCO2), and life cycle cost (LCC). The optimization variables include 13 design parameters: building orientation, window–wall ratio, horizontal overhang sun visor length, bedroom width and depth, insulation layer thickness of the non-transparent building envelope, and window type. First, a parametric model of a high-rise residence was created on the Rhino–Grasshopper platform. Through LHS sample extraction, performance simulation, and calculation, a sample dataset was generated that included objective values and design parameter values. Secondly, an SVM prediction model was constructed based on the sample data, which was used as the fitness function of MOPSO to construct a multi-objective optimization model for high-rise residences in different cities. Through iterative operations, the Pareto optimal solution set was obtained, followed by an analysis of the optimization potential of objective performances and the sensitivity of design parameters across different cities. Furthermore, the TOPSIS multi-attribute decision-making method was adopted to screen optimal design patterns for high-rise residences that meet different requirements. After verifying the objective balance of the comprehensive optimal design patterns, the influence of climate differences on objective values and design parameter values was explored, and parametric models of the final design schemes were generated. The results indicate that differences in climatic conditions and solar energy resources can affect the optimal objective values and design variable settings for typical high-rise residences. This paper proposes a building optimization design framework that integrates parametric design, machine learning, and multi-objective optimization, and that explores the impact of climate differences on optimization results, providing a reference for determining design parameters for climate-adaptive high-rise residences. Full article

The prevailing challenges of fading characteristics and identity crises in historical and cultural districts of small and medium-sized cities have been identified. Traditional analytical methods have been found to be deficient in systematically capturing the unique forms and urban memory of these districts. The present study thus adopts the Shangcheng Historical and Cultural District of Huangling County as a case study, proposing a comprehensive analytical framework that integrates urban memory and multi-dimensional methods such as space syntax, grounded-theory-inspired coding, and urban image analysis. The district is subject to a systematic assessment of its spatial form, structural design, and the mechanisms by which urban memory is conveyed. The proposal sets out targeted renewal strategies for four aspects: paths, edges, nodes and landmarks, and districts. The research findings are as follows: (1) Paths with high integration and connection degrees simultaneously serve as both sacrificial axes and carriers of folk narratives. (2) Edges are composed of the city wall ruins, Loess Plateau landform, and street spaces. The fishbone-like street structure leads to significant differences in the connection degrees of main and secondary roads. (3) Nodes such as Guanyv Temple-Confucian Temple, the South Gate, and the North City Wall Ruins Square have high visual control, while the visual integration and visual control of the Qiaoshan Middle School and Gongsun Road historical nodes are relatively low, and their spatial accessibility is insufficient. (4) Based on the “memory–space” coupling relationship, the district is divided into the Academy Life Area, the Historical and Cultural Core Experience Area, and the Comprehensive Service Area, providing an effective path to alleviate the problem of functional homogenization. The present study proffers a novel perspective on the revitalization mechanisms of historical districts in small and medium-sized cities, encompassing both theoretical integration and practical strategy levels. It further contributes methodological inspirations and localized planning experiences for addressing the cultural disconnection and spatial inactivity problems of historical urban areas on a global scale. Full article

Understanding the spatial distribution and determinants of perceived fear of crime is essential for enhancing urban safety and promoting equitable city development. This study models and explains perceived fear of crime from street view imagery using a GeoAI framework that integrates deep learning, semantic segmentation, and explainable AI techniques. Focusing on Yeongdeungpo-gu in Seoul, South Korea—a district characterized by diverse urban morphologies—we collected 171,942 pairwise comparison responses through a large-scale crowdsourced survey designed to capture visual perceptions of crime-related fear. A Vision Transformer-based Siamese network (RSS-Swin) was employed to predict continuous fear-of-crime scores, while semantic segmentation (SegFormer-B5) and AutoML regression were applied to identify built-environment features influencing these perceptions. SHAP-based interpretability analysis was then used to quantify the importance and interactions of key visual elements. The results reveal that open and accessible streetscape components, such as roads and sidewalks, consistently mitigate perceived fear, whereas enclosed or unmanaged features, including walls, poles, and narrow alleys, heighten it. Moreover, the effects of vegetation, fences, and buildings vary across spatial contexts, emphasizing the need for place-sensitive interpretation. By integrating predictive modeling and explainable analysis, this study advances a transparent and scalable GeoAI framework for understanding the visual and environmental determinants of crime-related fear and supporting perception-aware CPTED strategies. Full article

Energy efficiency in hospitals—where continuous operation with high internal gains and strict comfort needs—demands facade strategies tailored to climate. This study quantifies how the window-to-wall ratio (WWR) distribution and city-specific envelope properties affect the annual heating and cooling loads of a four-story, 3000 m² hospital in Turkey. Energy simulations were conducted using DesignBuilder (2021) with EnergyPlus under a controlled modeling framework, following ASHRAE healthcare guidelines for internal loads and TS 825:2024 for envelope compliance. Three locations were selected to span national variability: Bursa (Marmara—temperate/transition), Mersin (Mediterranean—hot–humid), and Kars (humid continental—cold). Scenario 1 (S1) assigned a graduated WWR on the south facade by floor—20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% from ground to top—while the north, east, and west facades were held at 20%, 30%, and 20%. Scenario 2 (S2) preserved the same geometry and WWR values but applied the graduated WWR to the north facade instead, keeping the south at 20%, east at 30%, and west at 20%. Within each city, opaque and glazing properties were kept constant across scenarios to isolate WWR–orientation effects. For every city–scenario combination, annual space-heating and space-cooling loads were computed, and window heat gains and losses were analyzed on the facade with variable WWR to support interpretation of performance mechanisms. The results indicate that S2 outperforms S1 in Mersin, S1 outperforms S2 in Kars, and S2 offers a moderate advantage in Bursa. Full article

Naturally ventilated cavity walls (VCWs) retrofit conventional cavity walls with vents that enable buoyancy- or wind-driven airflow and reduce cooling loads during summer. When closed, they retain the thermal performance of traditional walls. Previous studies evaluated VCWs under steady-state conditions but did not capture regional, transient solar heating effects. This study assesses VCW performance across major U.S. climate types using a transient 3D solar heating model for east-, south-, and west-facing façades in four representative cities. Simulated façade temperatures were validated using published measurements and then applied to a regression-based energy model to estimate cooling load reductions. Results show 30–40% savings for east/west façades and 10–20% for south façades, with monthly reductions exceeding 1.0 kWh/m² in all regions. On-peak savings (3–7 PM) were at least 1.5× off-peak values, indicating strong peak-shaving capability. Overall, VCWs offer a low-cost, climate-adaptive retrofit strategy that improves façade energy performance and reduces peak cooling demand. Full article

Rembrandt’s Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp, Nightwatch, and Syndics are rightfully considered masterpieces of seventeenth-century Dutch painting. Few museum visitors realize they are among over one hundred corporate group portraits commissioned in Amsterdam during that period by the civic guard, charitable institutions, and the craft guilds. Such paintings were the result of the collective desire of a group of people to be represented and immortalized during their execution of the jointly shared responsibilities on which the urban society was built. Corporate group portraits were commissioned and produced to occupy wall spaces in semi-public buildings, reinforcing the missions of both the institutions and the sitters. Their meaning changed fundamentally after they started to leave their original locations and found their way into the direct custody of the city. Some of the paintings were acknowledged as masterpieces and, with the focus firmly on their artistic value, their historical function became neglected. Full article

Urban building energy modeling (UBEM) is crucial for assessing energy consumption patterns at the city-scale and for supporting data driven planning and decarbonization strategies. However, its practical deployment is often hindered by the need to balance detailed physics-based simulations with acceptable computation times when thousands of buildings are involved. This work presents a large-scale real world UBEM case study and proposes a workflow that combines EnergyPlus simulations, high-performance computing (HPC), and open urban datasets to model the energy consumption of the building stock in the Municipality of Bologna, Italy. Geometric data such as building footprints and heights were acquired from the Bologna Open Data portal and complemented by aerial light detection and ranging (LiDAR) measurements to refine elevations and roof geometries. Non-geometrical building characteristics, including wall materials, insulation levels, and window properties, were derived from local building regulations and the European TABULA project, enabling the assignment of archetypes in contexts where granular information about building materials is not available. The pipeline’s modular design allows us to analyze different combinations of retrofitting scenarios, making it possible to identify the groups of buildings that would benefit the most. A key feature of the workflow is the use of Leonardo, the supercomputer hosted and managed by Cineca, which made it possible to simulate the energy consumption of approximately 25,000 buildings in less than 30 min. In contrast to approaches that mainly reduce computation time by simplifying the physical model or aggregating representative buildings, the HPC-based workflow allows the entire building stock to be individually simulated (within the intrinsic simplifications of UBEM) without introducing further compromises in model detail. Overall, this case study demonstrates that the combination of open data and HPC-accelerated UBEM can deliver city-scale energy simulations that are both computationally tractable and sufficiently detailed to inform municipal decision-making and future digital twin applications. Full article

Ancient walled cities represent key material evidence for early state formation and human–environment interaction on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. However, traditional field surveys are often constrained by the vastness and complexity of the plateau environment. This study proposes an improved deep learning framework, AC-YOLOv11, to achieve automated detection of ancient city remains in the Qinghai Lake Basin using 0.8 m GF-2 satellite imagery. By integrating a dual-path attention residual network (AC-SENet) with multi-scale feature fusion, the model enhances sensitivity to faint geomorphic and structural features under conditions of erosion, vegetation cover, and modern disturbance. Training on the newly constructed Qinghai Lake Ancient City Dataset (QHACD) yielded a mean average precision (mAP@0.5) of 82.3% and F1-score of 94.2%. Model application across 7000 km² identified 309 potential sites, of which 74 were verified as highly probable ancient cities, and field investigations confirmed 3 new sites with typical rammed-earth characteristics. Spatial analysis combining digital elevation models and hydrological data shows that 75.7% of all ancient cities are located within 10 km of major rivers or the lake shoreline, primarily between 3500 and 4000 m a.s.l. These results reveal a clear coupling between settlement distribution and environmental constraints in the high-altitude arid zone. The AC-YOLOv11 model demonstrates strong potential for large-scale archaeological prospection and offers a methodological reference for automated heritage mapping on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Full article

Urban green infrastructure (UGI) is widely used to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Its multiple benefits are well documented, with health-related benefits receiving growing attention, especially post-COVID-19. However, the existing evidence remains fragmented and limited to narrow disciplinary perspectives, offering only partial insights into the intersection of UGI and climate adaptation measures with health co-benefits. This paper addresses these gaps by providing an interdisciplinary review of the field. It presents a systematic literature review of studies between 2015 and 2025, assessing the extent of documented evidence and drawing out key policy implications. The review adopts the PRISMA framework and synthesizes evidence from 178 primary research articles across seven databases. Health co-benefits are reported across ten types of UGI: residential greenery, urban vegetation, school greenery, trees, urban parks, urban forests, green roofs and walls, green streets, grasslands, and community or private gardens. Building on the review’s findings and additional literature, the paper discusses seven key implications for urban policy and spatial planning, which are relevant to climate adaptation policymakers, urban planners, and public health authorities working in cities. Full article

As a typical representative of soft capping, primary vegetation capping has both protective and destructive effects on earthen city walls. Addressing its detrimental aspects constitutes the central challenge of this project. Because the integration of MICP technology with plants offered advantages, including soil solidification, erosion resistance, and resilience to dry–wet cycles and freeze–thaw cycles, the application of MICP technology to root–soil composites was proposed as a potential solution. Employing a combined approach of RF-RFE-CV modeling and microscopic imaging on laboratory samples from the Western City Wall of the Jinyang Ancient City in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China, key factors and characteristics in the mineralization process of Sporosarcina pasteurii were quantified and observed systematically to define the optimal pathway for enhancing urease activity and calcite yield. The conclusions were as follows. The urease activity of Sporosarcina pasteurii was primarily regulated by three key parameters with bacterial concentration, pH value, and the intensity of urease activity, which required stage-specific dynamic control throughout the growth cycle. Bacterial concentration consistently emerged as a high-importance feature across multiple time points, with peak effectiveness observed at 24 h (1.127). pH value remained a highly influential parameter across several time points, exhibiting maximum impact at around 8 h (1.566). With the intensity of urease activity, pH exerted a pronounced influence during the early cultivation stage, whereas inoculation volume gained increasing importance after 12 h. To achieve maximum urease activity, the use of CASO AGAR Medium 220 and the following optimized culture conditions was recommended: an activation culture time of 27 h, an inoculation age of 16 h, an inoculation volume of 1%, a culture temperature of 32 °C, an initial pH of 8, and an oscillation speed of 170 r/min. Furthermore, to maximize the yield of CaCO₃ in output and the yield of calcite in CaCO₃, the following conditions and procedures were recommended: a ratio of urea concentration to Ca²⁺ concentration of 1 M:1.3 M, using the premix method of Sporosarcina pasteurii, quiescent reaction, undisturbed filtration, and drying at room-temperature in the shade environment. Full article

There is an urgent need to evaluate the toxicity of xenobiotics and environmental mixtures for preventing loss in water quality for the sustainability of aquatic ecosystems. A simple prebiotic chemical pathway based on malate formation from pyruvate (pyr) and glyoxalate (glyox) is proposed as a quick and cheap screening tool for toxicity assessment. The assay is based on the pyr and glyox (aldol) condensation reactions, leading to biologically relevant precursors such as oxaloacetate and malate. Incubation of pyr and glyox at 40–70 °C in the presence of reduced iron Fe(II) led to malate formation following the first 3 h of incubation. The addition of various xenobiotics/contaminants (silver, copper, zinc, cerium IV, samarium III, dibutylphthalate, 1,3-diphenylguanidine, carbon-walled nanotube, nanoFe₂O₃ and polystyrene nanoparticles) led to inhibitions in malate synthesis at various degrees. Based on the concentration inhibiting malate concentrations by 20% (IC20), the following potencies were observed: silver < copper ~ 1.3-diphenylguanidine ~ carbon-walled nanotube < zinc ~ samarium < dibutylphthalate ~ samarium < Ce(IV) < nFeO₃ < polystyrene nanoplastics. The IC20 values were also significantly correlated with the reported trout acute lethality data, suggesting its potential as an alternative toxicity test. The pyr-glyox pathway was also tested on surface water extracts (C18), identifying the most contaminated sites from large cities and municipal wastewater effluents dispersion plume. The inhibition potencies of the selected test compounds revealed that not only pro-oxidants but also chemicals hindering enolate formation, nucleophilic attack of carbonyls and dehydration involved in aldol-condensation reactions were associated with toxicity. The pyr-glyox pathway is based on prebiotic chemical reactions during the emergence of life and represents a unique tool for identifying toxic compounds individually and in complex mixtures. Full article

Traditional stone cave dwellings in northern Shanxi exhibit distinct differences from conventional cave dwellings in terms of form and material, characterized by their freestanding stone-built structures that possess unique value. In the context of rapid urbanization, these dwellings encounter issues related to decreasing quantities and a lack of comprehensive systematic research. This research utilizes a mixed objective–subjective methodology to assess the indoor environment of the stone cave dwellings in Dongwa Village, Shuozhou City. Thermal comfort is evaluated using the PMV-PPD and TSV models, whereas air quality is assessed through gray correlation analysis. Results indicate: (1) The thermal inertia of stone cave dwellings’ envelopes significantly surpasses that of brick structures. However, their exterior wall and roof thermal conductance coefficients exceed national standard limits, respectively, by 4 times and 1.7 times; (2) The PMV thermal neutral temperature (21.32 °C) was notably higher than the TSV thermal neutral temperature (10.96 °C), suggesting that residents have developed cold adaptation. The thermal preference temperature (12.75 °C) exceeded the TSV value, reflecting strong resident demand for improvements; (3) Winter pollutant exceedance rates were markedly higher than those in summer, with air quality classified as experiencing “heavy pollution” levels. Residents reported a high level of subjective satisfaction, suggesting the presence of a cognitive bias. This study aims to reveal environmental issues in traditional local stone cave dwellings under modern residential demands, providing references for sustainable improvements in rural building environments. Full article

This paper presents the results of a multidisciplinary research project carried out over the past two years by the Archaeological Mapping Laboratory at the CNR-ISPC, Lecce, and the Heritage Materials Science group at the CNR-ISPC, Florence, in collaboration with the PASAP Med Ph.D. Programme at the University of Bari “Aldo Moro”. The investigation focuses on stone procurement strategies employed by the Messapian settlement at Ugento, near the Ionian coast of Salento. Archaeological surveys within its territory and surrounding areas enabled the identification and petrographic characterization of ancient extraction sites, allowing for the classification of several calcarenite types. Systematic sampling and petrographic analyses of archaeological specimens shed light on the sourcing strategies adopted for both the construction of the city’s defensive walls—erected in the mid-4th century BCE—and selected architectural and sculptural elements preserved in the Ugento Archaeological Museum and the Colosso Collection, dating from the Archaic to the Hellenistic periods. The analyses show that the availability of lithotypes in the region significantly influenced construction techniques, particularly in the city walls, while in certain cases—such as specific architectural elements made of pietra leccese—it required the import of lithologies absent from the immediate vicinity. Full article