Search Results (77)

Urban wetlands in coastal cities are under growing strain from urban growth, climate change, and governance that is often fragmented. This study evaluates the condition of the freshwater dune lakes located in the Veracruz–Boca del Río–Medellín conurbation in Mexico, a protected corridor made up of 33 dune lakes that is increasingly pressured by urban expansion. We used an interdisciplinary approach that combined ecological monitoring, legal analysis, and participatory management tools. Fieldwork included 24 h monitoring of dissolved oxygen, measurements of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD₅) in representative systems, a diachronic review of the legal evolution of five Natural Protected Areas (NPAs), and community workshops to jointly design interventions. The results showed strong day–night swings in oxygen (4.0–14.8 mg/L) linked to vegetation dynamics, with nighttime hypoxia posing risks for aquatic fauna. BOD₅ ranged from 4.8 to 150.3 mg/L, pointing to severe organic pollution in the most degraded system. The legal review identified repeated patterns of environmental regression, expressed through reductions in protected polygons, the legalization of irregular settlements, and the fragmentation of protected areas through judicial processes. In response, we propose a hybrid management model that brings together riparian restoration, Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS), green infrastructure, and participatory monitoring, emphasizing a key 100 m buffer zone. This integrated strategy aims to improve flood regulation, reduce urban heat island effects, and enhance water quality, while also reinforcing community stewardship and legal protection. We conclude that conserving these urban wetlands effectively requires adaptive approaches that connect landscape-scale and local-scale actions, which are essential for climate adaptation in rapidly urbanizing coastal regions. Full article

Coastal regions in Mexico face significant exposure to hydrometeorological hazards, often resulting in severe flooding and socioeconomic disruption. This study assesses the hydrometeorological resilience of the Veracruz–Boca del Río Conurbation (VBC), a region comprising two coastal municipalities with shared hazard exposure despite distinct governance structures. The hydrometeorological resilience evaluation employs the City Resilience Index (CRI), developed by Bahena which integrates the Technical Resilience Index (TRI) and the Technical Profile of Resilience (TPR) across nine hierarchical indicators. Results reveal moderate resilience levels—59.83% for Veracruz and 58.32% for Boca del Río—with Disaster Risk Reduction Plans and Vital Services indicators as the strongest contributors, while Risk Assessments and Budget Allocation for Emergency Response indicators scored lowest due to limited municipal data. These findings highlight the need for enhanced data transparency, institutional coordination, and resource allocation in disaster management. Beyond its local significance, this study advances the global understanding of resilience assessment frameworks in data-scarce contexts, offering insights applicable to similar regions worldwide. As the first hydrometeorological resilience assessment for the VBC, this research provides a methodological and empirical foundation for future studies and informs targeted resilience strategies for Mexico’s coastal urban areas. Full article

This research delves into the central position of digital technology as a stimulator of sustainable economic advancement. This study examines the complementary convergence of policy structures, law, and environmental economics that unleashes this advancement. This research finds and explores converging strategies in tapping digital innovation towards sustainability goals through benchmarking China, the EU, and the USA. This study bridges a gap in the literature since it undertakes a systematic, cross-disciplinary analysis and offers policymakers valuable inputs to craft effective strategies leveraging technology to a prosperous, sustainable world future. The results prove that new technologies enhance environmental law efficacy, transparency, and enforcement. It provides a prospective framework integrating digital solutions into policy and legal design, connecting economic growth with environmental degradation. Imperial methods in the form of qualitative research grounded on literature review, secondary data, green growth sustainable development, circular economy project studies, and smart conurbations to evaluate the efficacy of digital policy machinery indicate that digitally empowered policies significantly enhance resource productivity, maximise environmental taxation and cap-and-trade instruments, and enhance green innovation. This paper concludes with a policy road map for integrating digital to achieve synergistic economic and environmental objectives, calling for a new paradigm in environmental economic policy and law. Full article

This study presents an integrated assessment of four decades (1985–2023) of environmental and climate alterations in the principal metropolitan conurbation of the eastern Brazilian Amazon, encompassing Belém and its adjacent municipalities. By combining high-resolution land use/land cover (LULC) dynamics with in situ meteorological data, including understudied elements, such as relative humidity (RH) and wind speed, and satellite-derived precipitation estimates (CHIRPS v3), we advance the scientific understanding of regional climate trends. Our results document significant climate shifts, including pronounced dry-season warming (+1.5 °C), atmospheric drying (−4% in RH), attenuated wind patterns (−0.4 m s⁻¹), and altered precipitation regimes, which exhibit strong spatiotemporal coupling with extensive forest loss (−20%) and rapid urban expansion (+84%) between 1985 and 2023. Multivariate analyses reveal that these land–climate interactions are strongest during the dry regime, underscoring the role of surface–atmosphere feedbacks in amplifying regional changes. Comparative analysis of past (1980–1999) and present (2005–2024) decades demonstrates a marked intensification in the frequency and magnitude of extreme seasonal climate events. These findings elucidate a critical feedback mechanism that exacerbates climate risks in tropical urban areas. Consequently, we argue that mitigation public policies must prioritize the strict conservation of peri-urban forest fragments (vital for moisture recycling and local climate regulation) and the strategic implementation of green infrastructure aligned with prevailing wind patterns to enhance thermal comfort and resilience to hydrological extremes. Full article

Reliable, high-resolution emission inventories are essential for accurately simulating air quality and for designing evidence-based mitigation policies. Yet their performance over Japan—where transboundary inflow, strict fuel regulations, and complex source mixes coexist—remains poorly quantified. This study therefore benchmarks four widely used anthropogenic inventories—REAS v3.2.1, CAMS-GLOB-ANT v6.2, ECLIPSE v6b, and HTAP v3—by coupling each to WRF-Chem (10 km grid) and comparing simulated surface PM₂.₅, SO₂, CO, and NO_x with observations from >900 stations across eight Japanese regions for the years 2010 and 2015. All simulations shared identical meteorology, chemistry, and natural-source inputs (MEGAN 2.1 biogenic VOCs; FINN v1.5 biomass burning) so that differences in model output isolate the influence of anthropogenic emissions. HTAP delivered the most balanced SO₂ and CO fields (regional mean biases mostly within ±25%), whereas ECLIPSE reproduced NO_x spatial gradients best, albeit with a negative overall bias. REAS captured industrial SO₂ reliably but over-estimated PM₂.₅ and NO_x in western conurbations while under-estimating them in rural prefectures. CAMS-GLOB-ANT showed systematic biases—under-estimating PM₂.₅ and CO yet markedly over-estimating SO₂—highlighting the need for Japan-specific sulfur-fuel adjustments. For several pollutant–region combinations, absolute errors exceeded 100%, confirming that emissions uncertainty, not model physics, dominates regional air quality error even under identical dynamical and chemical settings. These findings underscore the importance of inventory-specific and pollutant-specific selection—or better, multi-inventory ensemble approaches—when assessing Japanese air quality and formulating policy. Routine assimilation of ground and satellite data, together with inverse modeling, is recommended to narrow residual biases and improve future inventories. Full article

Background. Food resilience is the ability of the food system to adapt to external and internal disturbances and maintain the outcome of food security. This paper focuses on shaping the concept of urban food resilience regarding the operation of urban food infrastructure and its capacity to provide food security. Methods. To achieve this, a methodology based on the pillars defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for food security, i.e., availability, accessibility, and stability, is used, operationalized from a spatial approach, and evaluated in terms of urban food resilience. Three simple indexes are built, i.e., diversity, redundancy, and short-term stability, and combined into a composite index: the Urban Food Resilience Index (UFRI). Results. The results are analysed from a spatial and quantitative perspective, linking scores with urban surface area, population, and density. The study examines the reality of Chilean intermediate cities distributed throughout the country, using the La Serena–Coquimbo Conurbation as a case study. Conclusions. The ultimate goal is to provide a straightforward methodology for assessing urban food resilience in countries with limited data access, thereby providing a foundation for informed urban planning decision-making. Full article

Energy transformation is one of the processes shaping contemporary urban transport systems, with public transport being the subject of initiatives designed to enhance its attractiveness and transport utility, including electromobility. This article presents a case study for a metropolitan conurbation—the GZM Metropolis in Poland—considering the economic efficiency of implementing buses with conventional diesel engines, electric buses (battery electric buses), and hydrogen fuel cell-powered buses. The analysis is based on the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) method using the discounted cash flow (DCF) method. Full article

Post-industrial and post-mining areas are an important element of cities historically associated with industrial activity. The transformation of degraded areas is a challenge for spatial policy, which is characterized by a substantial impact on the cultural heritage of mining and industry. The case of Piekary Śląskie shows the consequences of deindustrialization, which leads to the degradation of urban space and requires innovative revitalization strategies considering the principles of sustainable development and the concept of blue–green infrastructure. Archived topographic maps and current interactive maps of the study city were used in a spatial data analysis. The aim was to determine the directions of the spatial development of post-industrial and post-mining areas using the example of a medium-sized city located in the core of the Katowice conurbation, while considering the role of blue–green infrastructure in the revitalization process. Integrating blue–green infrastructure into the city’s planning documents may serve as a model for other urban areas, highlighting the synergy benefits between urban development and environmental protection. Such solutions support the development of a green economy to improve residents’ living conditions and increase the city’s competitiveness in the region. The specific examples of the revitalization of the areas in the Andaluzja and Julian mines and the reclamation of the brickyard in the area of Kozłowa Góra in Piekary Śląskie show that a multifunctional approach to revitalization contributes to the harmonious development of urban spaces. Full article

In many conurbations, the pressure on the quality of living increases and affects the most vulnerable human and non-human populations the most. This article describes a proposal for the mapping and design investigation of how a green metropolis can be developed. The approach distinguishes between the landscape producing pain, the ways of healing, and the opportunities to create environments that people can love. This approach reveals concrete and widespread pain in the metropolis, such as impacts on natural landscapes (rivers and mountains), air pollution, ecological degradation, and hydrological disconnections. The strategy to remediate this pain is to uncover hidden and altered creeks and rivers, creating an abundant zone of ecological space around them before human activities and urbanization change the land uses. In addition to this, specific design principles have been developed for hydro-ecological corridors, water retention, green islands, and greenways. Designs for these places can be replicated to support a healing strategy in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area (MMA). Each place creates an environment that the urban residents will appreciate and preserve. The approach to analyzing landscape pain, designing healing strategies, and promoting local places of love can be applied to enhance the quality of life for many urban residents and non-human ecologies in metropolitan areas around the globe. Full article

Density and diversity are fundamental attributes of urban environments, shaped by complex land use patterns that evolve over time. This study conducted a comprehensive spatiotemporal analysis of urban growth in two adjacent mid-sized cities, Cheonan and Asan, Korea, employing a spatial statistical framework designed to capture the intricate interplay between building density and diversity. Unlike traditional approaches that analyzed these factors independently, this study integrated both measures into a unified analytical model, identifying zones where high density and high diversity co-clustered over the past two decades. The empirical findings show a consistent monocentric growth pattern across both cities, while also uncovering emergent areas of strong co-clustering, indicating a shift towards more integrated land use practices. This spatial overlap points to a synchronized development trajectory and suggests the potential conurbation of the two cities. By examining the co-clustering dynamics of density and diversity, this study provides new insights into urban development processes, offering valuable guidance for planners and policymakers in shaping future growth strategies. Full article

The trade distance is an important constraining factor underpinning the emergence of social and economic interactions of complex systems. However, agent-based studies supported by the granular analysis of distances are limited. Here, we present a complexity method that places the actual geographical locations of individual firms in Japan at the epicentre of our research. By combining methods derived from network science together with information theory measures, and by using a comprehensive dataset of Japanese inter-firm business transactions, we evaluate the effects of spatial features on the structural patterns of the economy. We find that the normalised probability distributions of the distances between interacting firms obey a power law like decay concomitant with the sizes of firms and regions. Furthermore, small firms would reach large distances to become customers of large firms, while trading between either only small firms or only large firms tends to be at smaller distances. Furthermore, a time evolution analysis suggests a reduction in the overall average trading distances in last 20 years. Lastly, our analysis concerning the trading dynamics among prefectures indicates that the preference to trade with neighbouring prefectures tends to be more pronounced at rural regions as opposed to the larger central conurbations. Full article

This study aims to fill a research gap by focusing on ride-hailing services (RHSs) as first- and last-mile (FLM) modes linking intercity hubs, which have been explored less than metro hubs. Involving 418 RHS users in the Yogyakarta conurbation, Indonesia, this study applies confirmatory factor analysis to identify the motivations for using RHSs as FLM modes and employs a seemingly unrelated regression model to analyse factors influencing RHS usage and the relationship between first-mile and last-mile use, which remains underexplored. The model’s results reveal that the utilization of RHSs for the first mile is mostly seen among younger, educated, and wealthy persons. However, these variables did not impact last-mile-mode use. The model’s results also show that in FLM contexts, vehicle ownership did not substantially impact RHS use. In addition, RHSs are less often used for trips to intercity bus terminals compared to airports and railway stations. This study also highlights the significance of user preferences, such as comfort and safety, seamless transaction and service, and cost and time efficiency, in influencing the use of RHSs for FLM modes. Increasing RHS accessibility at transit hubs, expanding e-payment options, simplifying payments, and prioritizing fairness are suggested strategies to improve urban sustainability through RHSs. Full article

Accessibility to care is a major public health issue. Various tools to assess it are available, but they do not solve the problem of scale. Moreover, accessibility is a multidimensional concept that is not taken into account with current tools. The SCALE index aims to overcome these two limitations by proposing a synthetic measure on a more precise scale than the administrative unit or the sub-municipal scale. Under the assumption of access to care facilities for all and access to the nearest facilities, the potential accessibility distance was calculated for each couple (residential area, accessible facilities). This was defined as the average distance by road that the population has to travel to access care. To take the availability of resources into account, these distances were weighted by the theoretical pressure on the facilities. The SCALE index was then calculated using a linear combination of the distances of potential accessibility to care facilities It highlights differences in accessibility at the national and regional scale. Using this index, it was possible to provide maps for all French regions and the major cities in a story-map. The major conurbation around Paris and the main urban centers has high accessibility. Low accessibility forms a “Y” shape. In conclusion, the SCALE index measures accessibility at the scale of a small geographic unit taking the proximity and the availability of health professionals into account. It is also possible to take into account the diversity of accessibility in a given territory. Full article

The chemical complexity and toxicity of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are primarily encountered through intensive anthropogenic emissions in suburban areas. Here, pollution characteristics, impacts on secondary pollution formation, and health risks were investigated through continuous in-field measurements from 1–30 June 2020 in suburban Nanjing, adjacent to national petrochemical industrial parks in China. On average, the total VOCs concentration was 34.47 ± 16.08 ppb, which was comprised mostly by alkanes (41.8%) and halogenated hydrocarbons (29.4%). In contrast, aromatics (17.4%) dominated the ozone formation potential (OFP) and secondary organic aerosol formation potential (SOAFP) with 59.6% and 58.3%, respectively. Approximately 63.5% of VOCs were emitted from the petrochemical industry and from solvent usage based on source apportionment results, followed by biogenic emissions of 22.3% and vehicle emissions of 14.2%. Of the observed 46 VOC species, hexachlorobutadiene, dibromoethane, butadiene, tetrachloroethane, and vinyl chloride contributed as high as 98.8% of total carcinogenic risk, a large fraction of which was ascribed to the high-level emissions during ozone pollution episodes and nighttime. Therefore, the mitigation of VOC emissions from petrochemical industries would be an effective way to reduce secondary pollution and potential health risks in conurbation areas. Full article

A low emission zone (LEZ) is a mechanism for reducing the negative impact of traffic pollution on an urban environment, where exhaust emissions are strictly regulated to meet certain environmental criteria. Such solutions increasing the sustainability of the urban environment are gaining popularity, especially in Western European agglomerations, where there are currently more than 300 zones, mainly in Italy and Germany. Thus far, there are no LEZs in Eastern and Central European countries, but Warsaw authorities plan to launch an LEZ in 2024. According to the ongoing project, the zone is to be implemented gradually, in five stages between 2024 and 2032, and the emission criteria will be tightened accordingly. The gradually reduced emissions of NO_X and PM were utilized as the input dataset in the regional CALPUFF model predictions to calculate the concentrations of these main traffic-induced pollutants within the zone. The direct effect is a reduction in air pollution in the urban center, which is the area most exposed to pollution risk due to heavy traffic. Computer simulations reveal that implementation of the zone in Warsaw will result in a significant reduction in NO_X concentrations within the LEZ, such that its mean concentration in the zone becomes comparable to the rest of the conurbation. However, it will bring only a slight reduction in PM_2.5 concentrations. This results from the long-standing dominance of coal combustion in the Polish economy. This also applies to the urban municipal sector, being clearly predominant over the road traffic contribution. Balance can be achieved once the de-carbonization process has been completed. Full article