Search Results (407)

Over the past 30 years, the City of Portland, Oregon, USA, has emerged as a national leader in green stormwater infrastructure (GSI). The initial impetus for implementing sustainable stormwater infrastructure in Portland stemmed from concerns about flooding and water quality in the city’s two major rivers, the Columbia and the Willamette. Heavy rainfall often led to combined sewer overflows, significantly polluting these waterways. A partial solution was the construction of “The Big Pipe” project, a large-scale stormwater containment system designed to filter and regulate overflow. However, Portland has taken a more comprehensive and long-term approach by integrating sustainable stormwater management into urban planning. Over the past three decades, the city has successfully implemented GSI to mitigate these challenges. Low-impact development strategies, such as bioswales, green streets, and permeable surfaces, have been widely adopted in streetscapes, pathways, and parking areas, enhancing both environmental resilience and urban livability. This perspective highlights the history of the implementation of Portland’s GSI programs, current design and performance standards, and challenges and lessons learned throughout Portland’s recent history. Innovative approaches to managing runoff have not only improved stormwater control but also enhanced green spaces and contributed to the city’s overall climate resilience while addressing economic well-being and social equity. Portland’s success is a result of strong policy support, effective integration of green and gray infrastructure, and active community involvement. As climate change intensifies, cities need holistic, adaptive, and community-centered approaches to urban stormwater management. Portland’s experience offers valuable insights for cities seeking to expand their GSI amid growing concerns about climate resilience, equity, and aging infrastructure. Full article

Public open spaces have recently attracted significant attention in the national development programs aimed at improving urban livability and quality of life in Saudi Arabia. While many studies have examined the design quality of public open spaces in the country, a contextualized evaluation index that takes into account users’ preferences and the nation’s social context is still lacking. This gap calls for additional field studies to better understand users’ needs and their interactions with the current urban design practices of public open spaces. This study provides deeper insights into the design quality of public open spaces in Saudi Arabia. The study first identified 16 attributes of design quality of public open spaces, and then assessed a case study, Alrabie Park in Al-Khobar city, based on field observation and a survey of users’ satisfaction levels in relation to these quality attributes The findings revealed that the average of users’ satisfaction was 3.76 out of 5.0, indicating a neutral to satisfied response. Key strengths were noted in accessibility and users’ comfort, while areas needing improvement included environmental quality and amenities and services. The study recommends the development of a national evaluation index for public open spaces to create inclusive, safe, and vibrant environments that reflect Saudi Arabia’s urban and socio-cultural context. It also emphasizes the importance of community engagement in this regard to ensure that the design of public spaces aligns well with the users’ needs and helps to create sustainable urban spaces in the city. Full article

Urban environments are increasingly challenged by rapid urbanisation and climate change, demanding strategic responses that are both adaptable and sensitive to local context. Typological classification offers a structured approach to understanding diverse urban contexts, enabling targeted interventions that support climate neutrality and livability. While global pressures are shared, their impacts differ widely across cities, highlighting the need for context-aware urban analytics to guide effective transformation. This paper presents a methodological perspective on a computational framework and workflow based on open source data, designed to support the classification and optimisation of urban environments across different urban contexts; it explores the framework’s potential and limitations, grounded in a review of relevant literature and available datasets. We propose a workflow encompassing four main steps: (1) classifying urban environments based on quantifiable characteristics, (2) identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) differentiated by urban typology, (3) proposing interventions to optimise urban environments according to underlying typological classification, and (4) validating the proposed solutions in simulated environments. The framework prioritises open data sources provided by public authorities as well as open science and citizen science initiatives. A more streamlined integration of data is proposed, facilitating both the classification and assessment of urban environments aligned with their primary typological designation. Full article

Urban green spaces (UGSs) and forests play a vital role in shaping sustainable and livable cities, offering not only ecological benefits but also spaces that are essential for human well-being, social interactions, and everyday life. Understanding the landscape features that resonate most with public preferences is essential for enhancing the appeal, accessibility, and functionality of these environments. However, traditional approaches—such as surveys or single-data analyses—often lack the nuance needed to capture the complex and multisensory nature of human responses to green spaces. This study explores a cross-modal methodology that integrates natural language processing (NLP) and deep learning techniques to analyze text and image data collected from public reviews of 19 urban parks in Nanjing. By capturing both subjective emotional expressions and objective visual impressions, this study reveals a consistent public preference for natural landscapes, particularly those featuring evergreen trees, shrubs, and floral elements. Text-based data reflect users’ lived experiences and nuanced perceptions, while image data offers insights into visual appeal and spatial composition. By bridging human-centered insights with data-driven analysis, this research provides a robust framework for evaluating landscape preferences. It also underscores the importance of designing green spaces that are not only ecologically sound but also emotionally resonant and socially inclusive. The findings offer valuable guidance for the planning, design, and adaptive management of urban green infrastructure in ways that support healthier, more responsive, and smarter urban environments. Full article

This paper examines how artificial intelligence (AI) can be strategically deployed to enhance urban planning and environmental livability in Riyadh by generating data-driven, people-centric design interventions. Unlike previous studies that concentrate primarily on visualization, this research proposes an integrative appraisal framework that combines AI-generated design with site-specific environmental data and native vegetation typologies. This study was conducted across key jurisdictional areas including the Northern Ring Road, King Abdullah Road, Al Rabwa, Al-Malaz, Al-Suwaidi, Al-Batha, and King Fahd Road. Using AI tools, urban scenarios were developed to incorporate expanded pedestrian pathways (up to 3.5 m), dedicated bicycle lanes (up to 3.0 m), and ecologically adaptive green buffer zones featuring native drought-resistant species such as Date Palm, Acacia, and Sidr. The quantitative analysis of post-intervention outcomes revealed surface temperature reductions of 3.2–4.5 °C and significant improvements in urban esthetics, walkability, and perceived safety—measured on a five-point Likert scale with 80–100% increases in user satisfaction. Species selection was validated for ecological adaptability, minimal maintenance needs, and compatibility with Riyadh’s sandy soils. This study directly supports the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 by demonstrating how emerging technologies like AI can drive smart, sustainable urban transformation. It aligns with Vision 2030’s urban development goals under the Quality-of-Life Program and environmental sustainability pillar, promoting healthier, more connected cities with elevated livability standards. The research not only delivers practical design recommendations for planners seeking to embed sustainability and digital innovation in Saudi urbanism but also addresses real-world constraints such as budgetary limitations and infrastructure integration. Full article

The efficient management of urban parking systems has emerged as a pivotal issue in today’s smart cities, where increasing vehicle populations strain limited parking infrastructure and challenge sustainable urban mobility. Aligned with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the strategic goals of smart city planning, this study presents a sustainability-driven, multiagent simulation-based framework to model, analyze, and optimize smart parking dynamics in congested urban settings. The system architecture integrates ground-level IoT sensors installed in parking spaces, enabling real-time occupancy detection and communication with a centralized system using low-power wide-area communication protocols (LPWAN). This study introduces an intelligent parking guidance mechanism that dynamically directs drivers to the nearest available slots based on location, historical traffic flow, and predicted availability. To manage real-time data flow, the framework incorporates message queuing telemetry transport (MQTT) protocols and edge processing units for low-latency updates. A predictive algorithm, combining spatial data, usage patterns, and time-series forecasting, supports decision-making for future slot allocation and dynamic pricing policies. Field simulations, calibrated with sensor data in a representative high-density urban district, assess system performance under peak and off-peak conditions. A comparative evaluation against traditional first-come-first-served and static parking systems highlights significant gains: average parking search time is reduced by 42%, vehicular congestion near parking zones declines by 35%, and emissions from circling vehicles drop by 27%. The system also improves user satisfaction by enabling mobile app-based reservation and payment options. These findings contribute to broader sustainability goals by supporting efficient land use, reducing environmental impacts, and enhancing urban livability—key dimensions emphasized in sustainable smart city strategies. The proposed framework offers a scalable, interdisciplinary solution for urban planners and policymakers striving to design inclusive, resilient, and environmentally responsible urban mobility systems. Full article

Urban forests are very important for the environment and for people, especially in semi-arid cities where there is not much greenery. This makes heat stress worse and makes the city less livable. This paper presents a comprehensive geospatial methodology for selecting afforestation sites in the expanding semi-arid urban area of Şanlıurfa, Turkey, characterized by minimal forest cover, rapid urbanization, and extreme weather conditions. We identified nine ecological and infrastructure criteria using high-resolution Sentinel-2 images and features from the terrain. These criteria include slope, aspect, topography, land surface temperature (LST), solar radiation, flow accumulation, land cover, and proximity to roads and homes. After being normalized to make sure they were ecologically relevant and consistent, all of the datasets were put together into a GIS-based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) tool. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was then used to weight the criteria. A deep learning-based semantic segmentation model was used to create a thorough classification of land cover, primarily to exclude unsuitable areas such as dense urban fabric and water bodies. The final afforestation suitability map showed that 151.33 km² was very suitable and 192.06 km² was suitable, mostly in the northeastern and southeastern urban fringes. This was because the terrain and subclimatic conditions were good. The proposed methodology illustrates that urban green infrastructure planning can be effectively directed within climate adaptation frameworks through the integration of remote sensing and spatial decision-support tools, especially in ecologically sensitive and rapidly urbanizing areas. Full article

Talent significantly influences urban technological innovation and sustainable economic development. Enhancing urban talent competitiveness (UTC) necessitates a systemic perspective on upgrading and optimizing the combination of both tangible and intangible resources, such as economic vitality, livability, and social harmony, which is a typical configurational issue. This paper utilizes empirical data from 96 Chinese cities and applies an innovative grey quantitative comparative analysis (GQCA) method to investigate the impact and mechanisms of different urban talent ecology (UTE) on talent competitiveness. The findings reveal that there are no bottleneck factors constraining UTC within the sample, interactions, and couplings among six urban talent elements that generated 30 distinct UTEs. By calculating the possibility of each UTE achieving talent competitiveness, it was found that 16 UTEs, characterized by vibrant business-led development, comprehensive development and integrated leadership, regional development leadership, and economy-led international innovation, lead to high UTC. Conversely, 14 UTEs result in low UTC. These findings were further validated through fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) for robustness testing. Finally, the study offers policy recommendations for urban talent strategies from both short-term and long-term perspectives. Full article

Urban thermal environment challenges in China have made outdoor thermal comfort a key factor in evaluating spatial quality and livability. Building layout not only affects internal performance but also shapes the microclimate of surrounding outdoor spaces. The climatic characteristics of temperate monsoon climate regions significantly impact residents’ outdoor activities. Most existing studies focus solely on either the external thermal environment or the buildings themselves in isolation. This study focuses on Beijing, a representative city in the temperate monsoon climate zone, and explores block-scale spatial optimization using computational typology. The objective is to balance architectural performance with outdoor thermal comfort in both winter and summer. Optimization targets include the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), winter sunshine duration, and summer solar radiation. Results show winter UTCI can be optimized to −6.13 °C to −1.18 °C and summer UTCI to 28.19 °C to 29.17 °C, with greater optimization potential in winter (23.5% higher). Synergistic relationships are observed between winter comfort and sunshine duration (coefficient: 0.777) and between summer comfort and solar radiation (coefficient: 0.947). However, trade-offs exist between seasonal comfort indicators, with strong conflicts between winter and summer objectives. Two distinct form types—“low-south-high-north enclosed” for winter and “high-rise point-type low-density” for summer—are identified as effective for seasonal adaptation. The study proposes an integrated method combining data-driven generation, multi-objective optimization, and clustering-based decision-making. This approach moves beyond traditional empirical design, offering a quantitative and adaptable strategy for climate-responsive urban block planning and supporting low-carbon urban transformation. Full article

Urban color represents the visual skin of a city, embodying regional culture, historical memory, and the contemporary spirit. However, while the existing studies focus on pedestrian-level facade colors, the “fifth facade” from a bird’s-eye view has been largely overlooked. Moreover, color distortions in traditional remote sensing imagery hinder precise analysis. This study targeted 56 Chinese coastal cities, decoding the spatiotemporal patterns of their fifth facade color (FFC). Through developing an innovative natural color optimization algorithm, the oversaturation and color bias of Sentinel-2 imageries were addressed. Several color indicators, including dominant colors, hue–saturation–value, color richness, and color harmony, were developed to analyze the spatial variations of FFC. Results revealed that FFC in Chinese coastal cities is dominated by gray, black, and brown, reflecting the commonality of cement jungles. Among them, northern warm grays exude solidity, as in Weifang, while southern cool grays convey modern elegance, as in Shenzhen. Blue PVC rooftops (e.g., Tianjin) and red-brick villages (e.g., Quanzhou) serve as symbols of industrial function and cultural heritage. Economically advanced cities (e.g., Shanghai) lead in color richness, linking vitality to visual diversity, while high-harmony cities (e.g., Lianyungang) foster livability through coordinated colors. The study also warns of color pollution risks. Cities like Qingdao exposed planning imbalances through color clashes. This research pioneers a systematic and large-scale decoding of urban fifth facade color from a remote sensing perspective, quantitatively revealing the dilemma of “identical cities” in modernization development. The findings inject color rationality into urban planning and create readable and warm city images. Full article

Urban expansion has led to two significant environmental challenges: the reduction in green spaces and the rise in urban temperatures, decreasing city livability. Green roofs have emerged as a sustainable solution to mitigate these issues, offering ecological and economic benefits while improving building energy efficiency. Some species of the genus Sedum, particularly Sedum sediforme and Sedum album, are ideal for such green infrastructure due to their non-aggressive and superficial root system, high drought tolerance, low nutrient needs, pest and disease resistance, and metabolic adaptability during dry periods. This study aims to optimize the large-scale production of two native ecotypes of S. sediforme and S. album from the Valencian Community through an efficient propagation system that enables uniform plant production in limited space. For this purpose, we have developed micropropagation systems that allow a rapid multiplication of these two species. A direct morphogenesis system was established using axenic plant shoots, and a protocol for adventitious organogenesis from leaves was also developed. These methods significantly enhance propagation speed, spatial efficiency, and plant uniformity. Notably, the metabolic plasticity of S. sediforme and S. album reduces abiotic stress during acclimatization, promoting efficient ex vitro establishment and functional integration into extensive green roof ecosystems. Full article

Against the backdrop of increasing urban population and continuous expansion of urban scales, achieving “people-centered” urban sustainable development, namely building livable and sustainable cities, faces formidable challenges. Under the shared global vision of achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), existing research has rarely explored the alignment between the construction of livable cities and the SDGs. This study constructs a scientific and universally applicable evaluation system for urban livability to clarify that building livable cities is a crucial pathway to promoting urban sustainable development. This study integrates the core principles of the three pillars of the United Nations’ sustainable development, the five-dimensional classification logic of the Global Urban Monitoring Framework, and the performance evaluation key points of ISO/TC 268 standards for SC1 “smart community infrastructure” to construct a six-dimensional livable city evaluation system covering society, economy, culture, environment, governance, and infrastructure. Starting from theoretical research on the connotation of livable cities and their alignment with the SDGs, and based on the research team’s evaluation experience and assessment paradigm of SDGs progress at the urban level, this study uses the “Indicator Library for Cities’ Sustainable Development (ILCSD)” as a technical tool to explore the technical methods for establishing an evaluation index system for livable cities. Meanwhile, combining qualitative research and statistical analysis with China’s development strategic needs, it selects 24 sample cities to analyze the level differences among different types of cities under the proposed index system and to identify the key factors and mechanisms influencing the sustainable development of livable cities. Through theoretical research and empirical analysis, this study has derived a set of evaluation indicators for livable cities oriented towards the SDGs, offering urban management stakeholders a reasonable and comprehensive universal evaluation technical tool to enhance urban livability and promote the implementation of the SDGs. Full article

With the goal of sustainable urbanization, eco-cities have garnered significant global attention in recent decades. Unlike eco-city renovation or renewal, the construction of a new eco-city represents a comprehensive urbanization process that integrates environmental sustainability with livability. To evaluate the outcomes of new eco-city construction in China, this study employs a dual approach combining objective achievements and residents’ subjective satisfaction to systematically examine the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City. The analysis encompasses five dimensions: environmental amenity, life safety, residential functionality, traffic capability, and economic well-being, with the relative weights of specific indicators determined through the entropy method, expert scoring, and analytic hierarchy process. The findings reveal that based on objective indicators, the eco-city’s overall performance nearly doubled during its first phase of development, with life safety showing the most notable improvements. However, subjective assessments revealed that overall resident satisfaction remained below 70%, with residential functionality receiving the highest rating. The annual progress of the eco-city did not consistently align with residents’ needs, and no clear correlation was found between the eco-city’s current state and public sentiment. For sustainable development, the eco-city must address its shortcomings and better cater to residents’ demands across various dimensions through targeted and effective strategies. Full article

Rapid urbanization in Karachi, Pakistan, has resulted in increased impervious surfaces, leading to significant challenges, such as frequent flooding, urban heat islands, and loss of vegetation. These issues pose challenges to urban resilience, livability, and sustainability, which further demand solutions that incorporate urban greening and effective water management. This research uses remote sensing technologies and Geographic Information Systems (GISs), to analyze current surface treatments and their relationship to Karachi’s blue-green infrastructure. By following this approach, we evaluate flood risk and identify key flood-conditioning factors, including elevation, slope, rainfall distribution, drainage density, and land use/land cover changes. By utilizing the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), we develop a flood risk assessment framework and a comprehensive flood risk map. Additionally, this research proposes an innovative Sponge City (SC) framework that integrates nature-based solutions (NBS) into urban planning, especially advocating for the establishment of green infrastructure, such as green roofs, rain gardens, and vegetated parks, to enhance water retention and drainage capacity. The findings highlight the urgent need for targeted policies and stakeholder engagement strategies to implement sustainable urban greening practices that address flooding and enhance the livability of Karachi. This work not only advances the theoretical understanding of Sponge Cities but also provides practical insights for policymakers, urban planners, and local communities facing similar sustainability challenges. Full article

Urban green areas, while providing numerous benefits, can also produce negative impacts, often referred to as “ecosystem disservices”. While fallen fruits, leaves, and branches may pose tripping hazards, falling trees present a more significant threat to the safety of citizens and buildings. A study was conducted to identify the factors that most influence tree falls, aiming to enhance monitoring and maintenance in high-risk areas and develop preventive felling plans. The analysis was carried out in the city of Venice (Italy) using data from 2019 to 2022. Key variables included daily rainfall and cumulative rainfall over the four days preceding tree falls, minimum temperature, average wind speed and direction, and maximum gust speed on the day of the event and two days prior, as well as detailed information on the affected trees from the municipal GreenSpaces application database (R3GIS). The distribution of fallen trees was assessed in relation to these parameters, and a spatial autocorrelation analysis was performed. The results revealed that tree falls were more frequent during the summer season, coinciding with more intense weather events, especially those characterized by gusts of strong wind (>15 m/s). Street trees and trees in groups, particularly those in parks and densely populated urban areas, were most affected. Tree falls during a single event often occurred in clusters within a radius of approximately 1.5 km. Species analysis indicated that maintaining a diverse mix of tree species could reduce the number of fallen trees, as different species exhibit varying levels of resistance to wind pressure and adaptability to urban conditions. Addressing these findings can help to create more sustainable and livable urban environments, maximizing the benefits of green spaces while mitigating their ecosystem disservices. Full article