Search Results (48)

Peri-urban belts are where most metropolitan residents actually meet farmland, and where urban food policy and agroecological transition physically overlap. They are also where wild food plants (WFPs) grow: on verges, ditch bank, and field margins, the interstitial biodiversity that complements cultivated crops. We ask whether the knowledge that makes those plants usable survives peri-urbanisation, and whether it can serve as a proxy for the resilience of the surrounding agroecosystem. Two Northern Italian landscapes with comparable perennial monoculture but opposite positions on the urban–rural gradient were compared through a diachronic design: the peri-urban lowland of the Trevigiano (Veneto), inside the dispersed-city fabric of the Venice–Padua–Treviso region and under rapid Prosecco expansion, and the Langhe (Piedmont), a UNESCO-listed hill district of low settlement density whose agriculture is nonetheless fully industrialised around wine grapes, hazelnuts, and tourism. Interviews with 74 informants were conducted through complementary designs: a cohort-structured approach in the Trevigiano and actor-diversified and diachronic interviews in the Langhe, recorded 13 folk food taxa in the Trevigiano against 43 in the Langhe (Jaccard 0.19). The peri-urban repertoire is thin and mostly inert: recognition survives while practice does not, with gaps of up to 86 percentage points between the two, and only Humulus lupulus, anchored in ritual, dialect, and a commercial product, is transmitted intact. The non-peri-urban repertoire is broader and still mobile, relocated by younger foragers onto unmanaged refugia and partly professionalised. The proxy, however, has a precondition. WFP knowledge indexes a healthy agroecosystem only where the land is clean enough to gather from, and the Trevigiano is not: informants avoid treated margins. The one EU instrument that would have banned pesticides in public green areas was withdrawn in 2024. We conclude that peri-urban planning should treat edges, unmanaged interstitial land, and treatment transparency as food-system infrastructure, and propose paired habitat and knowledge indicators for peri-urban agroecological assessment. Full article

Settlement heritage, represented by traditional villages, preserves important historical, cultural, and spatial information on long-term human–environment interactions. Under rapid urbanization and rural transformation, many traditional villages in northern China have experienced increasing spatial fragmentation and functional decline. From a river-basin perspective, this study examines the spatial evolution and driving mechanisms of traditional villages in the Yongding River Basin using GIS spatial analysis, GeoDetector, and K-means clustering. The results show that traditional villages are strongly clustered along river valleys and tributary junctions, forming a corridor-oriented spatial structure closely associated with terrain and historical transportation routes. Their distribution evolved from dispersion to clustering and from localized concentrations to wider expansion, while the spatial centroid gradually shifted southeastward. Natural factors provide fundamental environmental constraints, historical transportation elements are closely associated with the pathways of spatial expansion, and sociocultural factors regulate and reinforce existing spatial patterns. Based on the combined characteristics of the selected influencing factors, traditional villages were further classified into three types, for which differentiated conservation and utilization strategies were proposed. These findings highlight the role of river-basin systems in shaping long-term settlement evolution and provide a regional framework for the integrated conservation of traditional villages. Full article

The planktonic dispersal of Limnoperna fortunei larvae and the byssal attachment of juveniles and adults make this species a major invasive biofouling species in water-conveyance infrastructure, while artificial hydraulic connectivity further facilitates its spread. Dense colonization can reduce conveyance capacity, increase energy consumption, accelerate structural deterioration, and impair water quality, thereby posing multiple risks to infrastructure operation. This narrative and critical review synthesizes evidence from 110 publications retained after screening 537 records retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection up to 30 June 2026. The review characterizes the stage-specific progression of L. fortunei biofouling from propagule input and early settlement to mature fouling and post-treatment residual risks. It compares the applicability of eDNA/qPCR assays, conventional field surveys, and remotely operated vehicle (ROV)-based image inspection, and evaluates the effectiveness and operational limitations of physical, chemical, coating-based, and biological control measures across different risk stages. Current management often targets individual stages, with limited linkage between monitoring results and subsequent intervention. Accordingly, we propose a risk-oriented decision pathway that integrates early warning, settlement confirmation, fouling-load assessment, targeted removal, and post-treatment verification while accounting for hydraulic safety, water-quality constraints, and asset accessibility. By aligning management actions with biofouling stage and asset condition, this framework provides a basis for more sustainable operation and maintenance of water-conveyance systems. Full article

In the kinship-based social structure of traditional China, traditional villages often exhibit strong clan organizational characteristics, which are reflected in their spatial layouts and settlement forms. However, existing studies on traditional villages have paid limited systematic attention to clan culture as an endogenous form of social organization. Taking traditional villages in southern Shanxi as the research object, this study classifies traditional villages from the perspective of clan culture based on clan-related characteristics and analyzes the typical spatial structural features of different village types. On this basis, GIS techniques are used to examine their spatial distribution patterns and to compare the spatial differentiation of different village types in terms of elevation, slope, road accessibility, and proximity to water systems. The results show that, from the perspective of clan culture, traditional villages in southern Shanxi generally present an “east-dense and west-sparse” spatial distribution pattern. Different types of traditional villages show certain differences in spatial distribution and natural-locational conditions. The distribution pattern of Clan-Space-Dominated Villages is relatively consistent with the overall distribution of traditional villages in southern Shanxi; these villages are mostly located in areas with higher elevation, greater terrain relief, and relatively weaker road accessibility. Multi-Clan-Partitioned Villages show a multi-scale and multi-node clustering pattern and are more often distributed in areas with relatively better road connections and gentler terrain. Family–Courtyard-Dominated Villages present a pattern of “overall dispersion with local clustering” and are mostly distributed in hilly and gully-developed areas. All three types of villages show a certain degree of proximity to water systems. This study provides a macro-scale analytical perspective for understanding the spatial distribution of traditional villages in the context of clan culture. The findings may offer a theoretical reference for the protection and renewal of traditional villages and contribute to their integrated conservation and living inheritance. Full article

Against the backdrop of the environmental crisis, access to water has become a critical challenge at both global and local scales. In Slovenia, dispersed settlement patterns mean that a significant share of the population relies on small-scale, self-managed, or insufficiently monitored water supply systems. This paper presents an exploratory practice-based case study and develops a design framework that integrates natural processes, vernacular knowledge, and new technology for water-related challenges in unmonitored catchment areas. The framework is articulated through the development of a site-responsive prototype for the Lipnik Spring in Triglav National Park, where elevated E. coli levels have been detected. The fabricated component is a 3D-printed ceramic gyroid filtration module, while the proposed system-level concept integrates an Archimedes’ screw mechanism to investigate how the kinetic energy of flowing water could support operation without external electricity. The study documents how ecological processes, local material knowledge, and digital fabrication were combined within a sustainability-oriented design process. Contextual iterations in Georgia and France apply the framework’s decision-making logic to different environmental conditions and locally available materials. The paper contributes to design practice research and sustainability-oriented prototype development by articulating a structured approach to designing context-specific water-access concepts with low operational energy demand for remote settings. Full article

The long-term transformation of mono-industrial cities has become a critical issue in sustainable urban development, particularly where urban growth was initially shaped by state-led industrialization and strategic security concerns. This paper examines China’s Third Front Construction, a large-scale Cold War programme that relocated industrial and defence facilities to inland regions, through a paired comparison of Yuan’an and Xiaogan in Hubei Province. Focusing on Base 066 as a city-forming enterprise, the study combines archival research, local gazetteers, factory records, field investigation, historical satellite imagery, and urban morphological analysis to examine how policy shifts reshaped urban form, industrial layout, infrastructure, and public facilities. The findings show that Yuan’an developed as a dispersed, mountain-based industrial enclave structured by concealment, air defence requirements, and work unit organization, whereas Xiaogan evolved into a more compact and integrated urban industrial district after the relocation of Base 066. This transformation changed not only production space but also urban–rural relations, residential organization, and public service provision. The study demonstrates that Third Front cities should be understood as policy-produced urban systems whose later decline or integration reflects the changing relationship between security, industry, and urban sustainability. It further suggests that industrial heritage, adaptive reuse, and intercity memory networks can support the regeneration of former mono-industrial settlements. Full article

In recent decades, residential mobility has emerged as a fundamental interpretative key lens for understanding contemporary urban transformations, particularly in polycentric and fragmented urban contexts. Movements between different residential settings reflect economic, social and cultural changes, impacting the organisation of urban spaces, the demand for services and mobility systems. In territories characterised by dispersed settlement patterns and strong functional polarisation, these dynamics tend to promote the intensive use of private means, with consequent negative impacts on environmental sustainability, social equity and economic efficiency. In response to these critical issues, there is growing interest in sustainable mobility models based on proximity and on the integration between daily travel, access to services and the quality of public space. Within this perspective, greenways are configured as hybrid infrastructures, capable of reorganising mobility while contributing to the regeneration of urban spaces. In the Caserta area, in the Campania region, the disused route of the former Alifana railway represents a topic of great interest, both for research and planning. Its potential strategic conversion into a greenway opens a broader perspective than that so far considered at the regional level, which has mainly focused on the infrastructure dimension. The paper analyses the strengths and weaknesses of an approach limited to infrastructural mobility, proposing a comparative evaluation of project scenarios—including the non-intervention hypothesis—both through the application of the MACBETH approach and preliminary parametric estimation of construction costs, in order to emphasise the importance of integrating social and environmental benefits, as well as quality of life, into decision-making processes. Full article

Namibia’s rural communities continue to experience limited and unreliable electricity access despite the potential of the country’s exceptional solar, wind, and biomass renewable energy resources. Conventional grid extension remains financially and technically impractical for dispersed off-grid settlements, underscoring the need for cost-effective, renewable-based alternatives. This paper presents a resource-driven design and multi-objective optimization framework for Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems (HRESs) tailored to Namibia’s off-grid communities. The proposed model integrates solar PV, wind turbines, biomass generators, and hydrogen-based fuel cells with a hybridized energy storage consisting of batteries, supercapacitors, and hydrogen tanks. Using the Non-dominated sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II), the system simultaneously minimizes Total Life Cycle Cost (TLCC), Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE), Loss of Power Supply Probability (LPSP), carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, and Wasted Renewable Energy (WRE). The framework is applied to three rural villages, Oluundje, Ombudiya, and Onguati, using high-resolution, site-specific renewable resource datasets and community-level load forecasts. The results demonstrate that resource-aligned configurations substantially improve system reliability (up to 99.28%), reduce LCOE (0.0023–0.0811 USD/kWh), and optimize dispatch behaviour across seasonal variations. Storage hybridization further enhances stability by balancing transient and long-duration deficits. Compared to existing diesel mini-grids, the optimized HRESs achieve markedly superior techno-economic and environmental performance. The proposed framework offers a scalable, adaptable, and policy-ready tool for accelerating sustainable rural electrification in Namibia. Full article

Linpan in Chengdu Plain, a distinctive form of dispersed rural settlement on the Chengdu Plain, is composed primarily of traditional rural dwellings embedded within woodlands environments. These settlements play multifunctional roles related to agricultural production, daily life, ecological sustainability, and the preservation of folk culture, thereby holding significant ecological and cultural value. In recent decades, rapid urbanization has profoundly impacted the spatial patterns, ecological environments, and livelihood systems of Linpan in western Sichuan, posing severe challenges to their preservation and development. To investigate the extent and nature of these changes, this study examines the spatiotemporal evolution of Linpan in Chengdu over five time periods from 1980 to 2020, employing both macro- and micro-scale analyses. Settlement types were classified based on their transformation trajectories, and representative cases were selected to identify and interpret the key driving forces behind these changes. The results indicate that: (1) at the macro level, Linpans have undergone a clear transition from small-scale, widely distributed, and irregularly shaped patterns to more centralized, aggregated, and standardized spatial configurations, particularly in the peri-urban areas of Chengdu; (2) at the micro level, the internal composition of Linpan has changed substantially, with a marked decline in woodlands coverage. The original integration of buildings and trees has shifted towards a spatial arrangement characterized by peripheral and fragmented vegetation; (3) Changes in production methods have prompted the spatial restructuring of Linpan settlements, transitioning from uniformly dispersed arrangements to clustered formations along road-adjacent resource points. Concurrent population and housing migration has reduced the total number of Linpan, while individual settlements have increased in size and density. Additionally, planning and construction policies have guided the morphological transformation of Linpan from organically evolved forms to geometrically regular configurations. Full article

Urban sprawl in Iran has previously been examined through spatial measurement, driver classification, and multi-criteria weighting approaches. However, less attention has been given to the hierarchical structure through which governance, market, infrastructure, demographic, and regulatory conditions reinforce one another over time. This study develops a structural interpretation of urban sprawl in Iran’s major metropolitan regions by integrating expert refinement of key drivers with Interpretive Structural Modeling and MICMAC analysis. Rather than ranking drivers by relative importance, the analysis identifies their causal positioning within the wider sprawl system. The findings show that institutional fragmentation, weak enforcement capacity, and limited metropolitan coordination occupy the deepest structural levels, shaping downstream outcomes such as speculative land development, infrastructure-led peripheral expansion, housing pressure, and the growth of outlying settlements. The study contributes to urban-sprawl scholarship by reframing Iranian metropolitan expansion as a governance-embedded spatial process and by identifying leverage points for coordinated intervention. Policy responses should therefore prioritize institutional alignment, enforceable growth-management mechanisms, and infrastructure investment that supports compact rather than dispersed metropolitan development. Full article

SDG Indicator 11.3.1, defined as the ratio of land consumption rate (LCR) to population growth rate (PGR), is widely used to assess the efficiency of urban land use. However, its applicability becomes increasingly uncertain in regions characterized by population decline, dispersed settlement structures, and mixed urban–rural land systems. This study examines the applicability and interpretive limitations of SDG Indicator 11.3.1 in Yunlin and Chiayi, two non-metropolitan agricultural prefectures in Taiwan, over 2010–2025. Using county-level population data, GHSL-based built-up area estimates, and supplementary land-use and household statistics, it calculates LCR, PGR, and LCRPGR. The results are then interpreted with supplementary indicators, including per capita built-up area (PBUA), absolute built-up area change (∆Urb), and population density within built-up areas (DBU). The results show that both prefectures experienced continued built-up expansion despite population decline, resulting in negative LCRPGR values at the prefecture level and predominantly negative values at the county level. When interpreted together with rising PBUA and declining DBU, these results indicate a process of land dilution associated with diseconomies of density and shrinkage-related sprawl, rather than compact or efficient spatial adjustment. The findings suggest that negative LCRPGR values in shrinking regions should not be interpreted as evidence of efficient land use. Instead, SDG Indicator 11.3.1 should be treated as a diagnostic starting point whose interpretation requires supplementary indicators and territorial context. By focusing on non-metropolitan agricultural prefectures, this study extends the discussion of SDG Indicator 11.3.1 beyond rapidly growing metropolitan areas and demonstrates the need for a more context-sensitive framework for evaluating land-use efficiency in low-growth and shrinking regions. Full article

Rural territories characterised by dispersed settlement systems face mounting challenges related to demographic decline, economic fragility, ecological degradation, and the erosion of local knowledge systems. In this context, rural self-sufficiency has re-emerged as a strategic objective; yet it remains inadequately operationalised within spatial planning and territorial assessment practices. This paper proposes a bioregional framework for operationalising rural self-sufficiency in dispersed territories, integrating ecological, morphological, socio-productive, cultural, and governance dimensions across multiple spatial scales. The framework is structured around a tiered system of 108 indicators, hierarchised into priority, secondary, and aspirational levels, combined with a multi-scalar territorial reading articulated through five nested frames—ranging from municipal systems to local productive units. Rather than constituting a mere checklist for immediate quantitative evaluation, the indicator system functions as a structured diagnostic universe, enabling progressive operationalisation based on data availability and governance capacity. To bridge the gap between diagnosis and action, the framework introduces 34 strategic drivers and 28 spatial artefacts, conceived as reversible and context-sensitive interventions. The framework is demonstrated through the case of Arbo (Galicia, Spain), illustrating its capacity to structure territorial diagnosis and articulate coherent pathways from analytical interpretation to strategic spatial intervention. The proposed approach contributes a replicable methodological tool for bioregional and rural planning in dispersed settlement systems. The study contributes to advancing bioregional planning by demonstrating how extensive indicator universes can be rendered operational through selective tiering and multi-scalar deployment. Full article

Electrification is vital for economic growth, poverty reduction, and improved quality of life. Over 80% of Afghanistan’s rural population lacks electricity. Despite increasing interest in decentralized energy systems, there remains a lack of site-specific studies that jointly assess the technical, economic, and policy feasibility of decentralized solar PV for rural electrification in Afghanistan. This study addresses that gap through a mixed-method case study of Syahgel, Ghazni, combining a household survey of 30 households, PVsyst-based system sizing, economic evaluation, and policy analysis. The study compares multi-tier Solar Home Systems (SHSs) with a community microgrid under local demand and affordability conditions. The results show that SHSs, with entry-level costs starting from USD 95, are more suitable for small, dispersed settlements, while microgrids remain relevant for larger or more concentrated communities. Financing mechanisms, including subsidies and interest-free loans, can improve affordability by up to 75%, while electrification can reduce annual fuelwood expenditure by approximately USD 51.5 per household and generate broader health, educational, and livelihood benefits. The findings highlight the need for integrated policy reform, targeted financial support, and context-sensitive system design to support sustainable and inclusive rural electrification in Afghanistan. Full article

The increasing exposure of dispersed rural settlements to natural and infrastructural risks highlights the need for structured and reproducible territorial information layers capable of supporting future decision-making processes. To this end, a rigorous characterization of settlement nodes and their structural attributes is essential. This article represents a first exploratory application of the proposed methodology and constitutes an initial phase of its implementation. The objective is not to provide a definitive or exhaustive model, but rather to test the underlying theoretical framework through a preliminary experimentation aimed at verifying its internal coherence, replicability, and operational potential. In this initial stage, the methodology is applied to demonstrate concretely what types of information can be systematically collected and how an urban center can be characterized in terms of accessibility and its role within the broader territorial system. The methodology is applied to the municipality of Amatrice as a case study representative of highly fragmented inner-area settlements. This first implementation highlights the potential of the approach, allows for the identification of possible methodological criticalities, and lays the groundwork for more advanced and structured future developments. The contribution therefore constitutes a foundational analytical layer aimed at organizing territorial information in a structured form and providing a coherent basis for future analyses and territorial and emergency management strategies. Full article

Settlements and settlement systems are key arenas of human–environment interaction, and reconstructing their spatial patterns is essential for understanding historical socio-environmental dynamics. Using the Complete Map of the Great Qing Empire (1905), this study employs digital extraction and spatial-statistical analysis to examine the nationwide settlement system of late Qing China. The results reveal that: (1) The system features dispersed high-level settlements and highly clustered low-level ones; provincial and prefectural cities follow administrative divisions, while counties, towns, and villages display strong spatial self-organization. (2) Mid-to high-level systems exhibit hierarchical fractures, whereas low-level settlements conform to Zipf’s law, highlighting the regularity and universality of grassroots networks. (3) Road accessibility, slope, and elevation significantly influence settlement hierarchy, whereas river proximity plays a limited role—indicating greater dependence on transportation and terrain adaptability. Overall, the study elucidates the spatial structure and formative mechanisms of the Qing settlement system and provides empirical insights into the evolution of surface patterns and regional resilience since the modern era. Full article