Search Results (54)

Understanding spatiotemporal mismatches between urban expansion and population dynamics is essential for guiding sustainable development in rapidly urbanizing regions. Using multi-source nighttime light (NTL) images and global settlement layers, this study investigates the settlement growth pattern and potential spatiotemporal mismatch with population distribution in Guangdong, China, from 1995 to 2019 at a 5-year interval. Specifically, population spatialization in urban and rural areas is separately mapped by adopting a population-based thresholding method, achieving strong agreement with the census record. Our analysis reveals distinct expansion patterns and mismatch conditions across Guangdong’s Core, Belt, and District subzones. The Core and District subzones primarily experienced infilling and edge-expansion urban growth, while the Belt subzone exhibited more dispersed spatial patterns. Notably, only 5 of 21 prefectures exhibited faster population growth than urban expansion, likely due to sustained migration driven by economic opportunities and advanced urbanization. Quantitatively, both urban expansion and population growth followed a Core, Belt, District order. Spatially, population-dominated areas were primarily clustered within 10 km of urban centers, while the District subzone extensively displayed overfilled settlements, indicating low-efficient land use. Temporally, urban growth relative to population in the Core subzone turned from slower pre-2000 to faster post-2000, followed by gradual deceleration, while the Belt subzone maintained balanced growth throughout the study period. The District subzone sustained faster urban growth from 2000 to 2019. Findings of the study provide an important reference for scientific urban planning and sustainable regional development, not only in Guangzhou but other rapidly urbanizing regions globally. Full article

Driven by global carbon neutrality goals, biochar has gained significant attention due to its stable carbon sequestration capabilities and environmental benefits. This research employs bibliometric tools such as VOSviewer 1.6.16, Citespace 6.2 R6, and Scimago Graphica to systematically analyze 2076 publications from the Web of Science Core Collection between 2007 and 2024, aiming to clarify the evolutionary trajectory, research hotspots, and international collaboration patterns of biochar carbon sequestration research while identifying future knowledge gaps for innovation. Research results reveal a three-stage developmental characteristic: 2007–2014 was a slow accumulation period for fundamental mechanism exploration, 2015–2020 was an accelerated expansion period driven by policies like the Paris Agreement, and 2021 to the present marks an exponential growth phase of interdisciplinary integration due to global carbon market consolidation. China and the United States are core producing countries, though inter-institutional deep collaboration remains insufficient. Research hotspots have progressively shifted from early biochar preparation and carbon stability to multiple waste materials (such as rice straw and urban carbon sequestration waste) and co-pyrolysis technologies (significantly emerging since 2022), with machine learning applications in process optimization becoming a nascent direction. The study recommends increasing cross-disciplinary research funding, establishing biochar raw material pollution standards, and promoting coordinated policies that combine biochar carbon sequestration with agricultural efficiency to support global carbon reduction objectives. Notably, the research’s reliance on the Web of Science Core Collection may limit coverage of non-English literature and regional studies. By quantitatively analyzing technological evolution and collaboration networks, this study provides a data-driven framework for optimizing biochar carbon sequestration strategies, helping bridge the gap between laboratory potential and actual climate emission reduction, and offering focused action pathways for policymakers and researchers. Full article

This study employs a dual methodological approach, integrating Google Earth Engine (GEE) and unsupervised classification (UNSUP) to analyze urban expansion patterns in Chiang Mai province using nighttime light imagery. The research utilizes Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) satellite data from 2014 to 2023 to assess urban growth dynamics. The primary objectives are to (1) evaluate the performance of GEE and UNSUP in nighttime light data processing, (2) validate urban area classification accuracy using multiple assessment metrics, and (3) examine the relationship between nighttime light intensity and electricity consumption through Pearson’s correlation analysis, thereby establishing urban growth patterns. The methodological framework incorporates a dual-threshold classification mechanism in GEE and K-means clustering in traditional geospatial software. Accuracy assessment is conducted using 256 stratified random sampling points, complemented by land use and land cover (LULC) data for ground truth validation. The results indicate that GEE consistently outperforms UNSUP, achieving overall accuracy values between 0.80 and 0.82, compared to 0.73 and 0.76 for UNSUP. The Kappa coefficient for GEE ranges from 0.60 to 0.65, whereas UNSUP demonstrates lower agreement with ground truth data (0.44–0.52). Furthermore, both approaches reveal a significant correlation between electricity consumption and nighttime light intensity, with R² = 0.9744 for GEE and R² = 0.9759 for UNSUP, confirming the efficacy of nocturnal illumination data in urban expansion monitoring. The findings indicate that urban areas in Chiang Mai have expanded by approximately 70% over the study period. This research contributes to the field by demonstrating the effectiveness of integrated geospatial methodologies in urban development analysis. The findings offer urban planners and policymakers critical insights for sustainable urban growth management and decision-making. Full article

This paper provides climate feedback trends, quantifies the feedback-doubling (FD) period, considers urbanization influences, and provides related equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) estimates using data from 1880 to 2024. Data modeling is accomplished by focusing on statistically significant stable normalized correlated rates (NCRs, i.e., normalized related slopes). Estimates indicate that the global warming NCR is increasing by a factor of 1.65 to 2.33 times faster than the energy consumption NCR, from 1975 to 2024. The reason is feedback amplification. This is supported by the fact that the NCR for forcing and energy consumption shows approximate equivalency in the period studied. Results provide feedback yearly trend estimates at the 95% confidence level that key results will fall within the IPCC AR6 likely range. The projected 2017–2024 feedback amplification estimates, using the EC approach, range from 2.0 to 2.16, respectively. A feedback amplification of 2.0 (approximately equal to −2.74 Wm⁻² K⁻¹) doubles the forcing, indicating that in 2024, more than half of global warming (53.7%) is likely due to feedback. Relative to the feedback-doubling (FD) threshold (i.e., the point where feedback exceeds forcing), the FD overage is 3.7% in 2024. This is the amount of feedback exceeding the FD threshold found to have a surprisingly aggressive 3.1% to 3.9% estimated overage growth rate per decade. We now ask, shouldn’t we try to mitigate feedback as well as GHG forcing, and if forcing could be removed, how would global warming fully “self-mitigate”? Additionally, CO₂ yearly increases are complex, with poor reduction progress. Therefore, this study’s risk assessment urgently recommends supplementary “mild” annual solar geoengineering as a minimum requirement, to reduce the dominant aggressive feedback. SG reduces the primary solar warming source creating 62% higher mitigation efficiency than CDR. Urgency is enhanced since solar geoengineering must be timely and can take years to develop. This study also estimates that 75% to 90.5% (83% average) of the feedback problem is due to water vapor feedback (WVF). High WVF also plagues many cities needing local SG. Trend analysis indicates that by 2047, the earliest we may reach 10 billion people, feedback amplification could reach a value of 2.4 to 2.8. Furthermore, by 2082, the year estimated for 2× CO₂, at the current rate, feedback amplification could range from 2.88 to 3.71. This yields an ECS range from 2.4 °C to 3.07 °C, in reasonable agreement with the reported estimated range in AR6. An overview of recent urbanization forcing attribution indicates the ECS value may be lower by 10.7% if this forcing is considered. For numerous reasons, the lack of albedo urbanization Earth brightening requirements in the Paris Agreement, is unsettling and urgently needed. In addition, a model assesses effective forced feedback (EFF) temperature characteristics of up to 1.9 °C, providing interesting feedback insights that may relate to high GW land and pipeline temperature estimates. Lastly in addition to urbanization, solar geoengineering in the Arctic and Antarctic is advised. Worldwide efforts in GHG mitigation, with no significant work in SG, appears highly misdirected. Full article

Urban growth agreements are key tools for achieving the goal of zero growth in passenger road traffic volumes in Norwegian metropolitan areas. Agreements are negotiated in multi-level and cross-sectoral processes where local politicians meet strong expectations and incentives to alter their land use policies and stop sprawl. This paper analyses the effectiveness of the policy instrument in influencing local land use policy, whereby key issues were raised in the negotiations concerning land use, local politicians’ reflections on changing their policies and why they were reluctant to stop sprawl. This research was designed as a comparative case study with three negotiation processes as cases. Data were collected through document studies and interviews with 36 professionals and politicians. Key issues in the negotiations over land use regarded principles of authority in land use planning and decision-making and substantial disagreements concerning land use policies. Local politicians saw sprawl as necessary for attaining local objectives. Conflicting framings of the policy issue, namely ‘stopping sprawl to achieve zero traffic growth’ and ‘continuing sprawl to attain local objectives’, explained the policy controversy that made discourse difficult. The resulting agreements did not directly influence local land use policies but might have an effect in the longer term. Full article

Riverine coastal megacities, particularly in semi-arid South Asian regions, face escalating environmental challenges due to rapid urbanization and climate change. While previous studies have examined urban growth patterns or environmental impacts independently, there remains a critical gap in understanding the integrated impacts of land use/land cover (LULC) changes on both ecosystem vulnerability and sustainable development achievements. This study addresses this gap through an innovative integration of multitemporal Landsat imagery (5, 7, and 8), SRTM-DEM, historical land use maps, and population data using the MOLUSCE plugin with cellular automata–artificial neural networks (CA-ANN) modelling to monitor LULC changes over three decades (1990–2020) and project future changes for 2025, 2030, and 2035, supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Karachi, southern Pakistan, one of the world’s most populous megacities. The framework integrates LULC analysis with SDG metrics, achieving an overall accuracy greater than 97%, with user and producer accuracies above 77% and a Kappa coefficient approaching 1, demonstrating a high level of agreement. Results revealed significant urban expansion from 13.4% to 23.7% of the total area between 1990 and 2020, with concurrent reductions in vegetation cover, water bodies, and wetlands. Erosion along the riverbank has caused the Malir River’s area to decrease from 17.19 to 5.07 km² by 2020, highlighting a key factor contributing to urban flooding during the monsoon season. Flood risk projections indicate that urbanized areas will be most affected, with 66.65% potentially inundated by 2035. This study’s innovative contribution lies in quantifying SDG achievements, showing varied progress: 26% for SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), 18% for SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), 13% for SDG 13 (Climate Action), and 16% for SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). However, declining vegetation cover and water bodies pose challenges for SDG 15 (Life on Land) and SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), with 16% and 11%, respectively. This integrated approach provides valuable insights for urban planners, offering a novel framework for adaptive urban planning strategies and advancing sustainable practices in similar stressed megacity regions. Full article

China has implemented a “dual-carbon” policy in response to the Paris Agreement’s global climate change objectives. Hohhot, Baotou, and Ordos (HBO-UA) is a resource-based urban agglomeration that is noteworthy for having significant heavy industry in China. Based on the extended STRIPAT model, which broadens the study indicators into six aspects—population, economics, technology, urbanization, industrial energy, and industrial structure—this paper develops a research framework of “Driving–Predicting–Simulating” for carbon emissions. According to the “one formula for one city” principle, driver models were constructed for Hohhot, Baotou, and Ordos, respectively. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) Population and urbanization are the dominant factors of carbon emissions in HBO-UA, following the economy and industrial energy. (2) Carbon emissions are multifactor-driven in Hohhot, double-factor-driven in Baotou, and single-factor-driven in Ordos. (3) Hohhot can achieve its carbon emissions peak under more efficient and lower policy costs, while Ordo is under great pressure to reduce carbon emissions. (4) We suggest multiple strategies to accomplish the “dual-carbon” goals for resource-based urban agglomeration with industrial clusters. These strategies include fostering diversified consumption by continuously enhancing urban functions, directing the transformation of the industrial structure, and fostering the growth of emerging industries. Full article

This study examines Finland’s increasing investment in solar energy as part of its broader strategy to transition to renewable energy sources. Despite its northern location and limited sunlight during winter months, Finland has effectively harnessed solar power, especially during its long summer days. We conducted a PESTLE analysis, highlighting political commitment to climate agreements, economic benefits of solar energy, public support for clean energy, technological advancements, regulatory support, and environmental benefits. In addition, we applied the autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) to study the impact of GDP per capita, urbanization (URB), foreign direct investments (FDI), and the share of primary energy consumption from solar (SOL) on ${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_2$ emissions for Finland during 1990–2022. The long-term findings show that SOL, URB, and FDI negatively impact ${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_2$ emissions, while GDP positively impacts ${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_2$ emissions. Solar energy deployment reflects the effectiveness of solar energy as a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels. Urbanization also shows a negative impact on ${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_2$ emissions due to better infrastructure and more efficient energy use in urban areas. FDI suggests that investments are oriented towards sustainable technologies. Industrial activity associated with economic expansion may indicate the positive effect of GDP in ${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_2$ emissions. Although economic growth has typically resulted in increased emissions, strategic investments in renewable energy and sustainable urban development can greatly reduce this effect. Policy initiatives in Finland should concentrate on promoting green investments and enhancing urban planning with a focus on environmental sustainability. Full article

The challenges resulting from rapid economic growth, urbanization, and increased motorization in developing nations necessitate a comprehensive and sustainable approach to urban public transport planning. While sustainable urban public transport (SUPT) planning offers a solution, the complexity of choosing suitable policy measure options remains a challenge. This study first introduces a decision support framework (DSF) that integrates the sustainable urban public transport manual (SUPTM) adopted for generating the potential SUPT policy measure options, the KonSULT knowledge base applied for providing the performance scores of each measure option for all determined criteria, and the HMADM (including FAHP, FSM, and TOPSIS) technique to create, rank, and select SUPT policy measure options tailored to medium-sized urban areas in developing nations. A case study of Khon Kaen City, Thailand, illustrates the practical application of the framework, resulting in a set of 31 (91.2%) out of the total of 34 ranked policy measure options. Comparing these prioritizations with the city’s existing plan reveals a substantial agreement, which suggests the potential applicability of the DSF. Overall, the DSF marks a significant advancement in SUPT planning, which is crucial for shaping efficient, equitable, and environmentally conscious urban mobility in developing countries, which are undergoing transformative change. Full article

This study examines the complex relation among environmental taxes, productive capacities, urbanization, and their collective effects on environmental quality in Africa, drawing on two decades of data from twenty African countries. It situates the study within the broader discourse on sustainable development and economic growth, emphasizing the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework to examine the relationship between economic development, characterized by urban expansion and increased productive capacities, and the adoption of environmental taxes amidst the continent’s diverse economic and environmental environments. Using advanced econometric techniques, including the Cross-Section Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) model and the Dynamic Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (DCCEMG) estimator, the study addresses data challenges such as cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity. The results provide important insights into the dynamics of environmental quality in relation to economic and urban growth and the role of environmental taxation. The study proposes tailored policy strategies aimed at strengthening sustainable development initiatives in line with international agreements such as the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. These strategies advocate for a nuanced application of environmental taxes and the promotion of productive capacities to enhance environmental sustainability across the African continent. Full article

The China–Europe Railway Express (CRE) plays a crucial role in promoting local economic development and bolstering regional connectivity. Quantitative assessments of urban changes along the CRE are essential for understanding its influence on the local eco-environment and the economy, which is a cornerstone for fostering sustainable growth. Urban boundaries are vital indicators of city development; however, accurately extracting these boundaries over multiple years at a large scale and fine granularity remains challenging. On the basis of a global impervious surface area (GISA2) dataset from 2010 to 2019, this study extracted fine-scaled city boundaries annually for European countries and analyzed the spatiotemporal patterns of urbanization in areas along and not along the express during the past decade. The generated enhanced urban boundaries (EUBs) show strong agreement with the Landsat time-series data and align well with existing global urban time-series products (GUB, GAUD, and NTL). From 2010 to 2019, urban areas and clusters expanded across the entire region, with notable disparities observed between areas along the express (noted as ON-CRE) and those not along (noted as OFF-CRE). ON-CRE cities experienced more substantial urban growth near the express, resulting in new mega urban agglomerations and expansion in small and moderate cities. In contrast, most OFF-CRE cities exhibited stable development with limited urban sprawl. Dynamic proportions of the impervious surface area (ISA) within the EUB indicated more compact impervious areas within ON-CRE boundaries compared to OFF-CRE. This study contributes to understanding urban expansions driven by the long-term CRE operations. The EUB dataset developed herein provides a valuable resource for future investigations into the impacts of urbanization on biotic stress and urban health in European countries, thus supporting the achievement of sustainable development goals. Full article

The rapid growth of urban cities and industries has resulted in huge amounts of potentially harmful waste being released into the atmosphere. One form of hazard is noise/sound. Noise cannot be controlled in automobile industries and urban areas, which include traffic, railway stations, and markets. But it can be converted into a useful form through advanced material usage. One of the materials is piezoelectric material. Strain can be produced through vibration caused by sound, which, in turn, produces electrical energy. Hence, the objective of this research was to harvest electrical energy from hazardous sounds released from industries. Electrical energy was generated through systematic experiments using piezoelectric sensors. The experimental results revealed that the magnitude of 90 dB sound produced up to 2 volts through a single piezoelectric sensor. We can generate more energy by increasing the number of sensors as this material is cost effective. The numerical model was also effectively replicated and good agreement was obtained between the experimental and numerical frequency sound curves. Full article

The Barbanza Peninsula (Galicia, NW Spain) is located on the west coast of Galicia. It is a narrow tongue of terrain with an area of 416 km² and a high altitudinal gradient, with the top having a maximum height of more than 600 m at a distance of less than 5 Km from the sea. As a result of this, there is a significant rainfall gradient (from 900 to more than 3300 mm per year). In the peninsula, there are valuable historical buildings built with granite rock that show variable decay patterns. In this work, we have considered 14 of them, located in several parts of the peninsula, and we have studied their deterioration patterns. Some of them are close to the sea, with sea salt being a possible cause of decay, while for those located far from the sea, the high humidity and rainfall can be the most important cause of decay. A macroscopic study was carried out to determine the deterioration patterns. We have also analyzed the possible role of salts in the decay by using X-ray fluorescence as a screening technique to assess the presence of salts and the possible correlation of salts with the distance to the sea and using scanning electron microscopy to directly identify salts in some of the buildings. The most frequently reported decay is due to lichen growth (biological colonization). Depending on the proximity to the coast, the study area was divided into two zones: zone 1, closer to the sea (<1 km), with an important influence of sea salts and wind, and zone 2, further from the sea, with higher altitudes (center of the peninsula) and important rainfall, humidity, and therefore, biological colonization of stone surfaces. Crusts (to a lesser degree, because it is a mainly rural area) are more frequent in zone 1, but the state of conservation of stone in zone 1 is better than that in zone 2, possibly due to the concentration of urban centers in this zone and more interventions for cleaning stone surfaces. Finally, although we did not observe clear patterns in the appearance of salts in the buildings in agreement with the distance to the sea, we observed different patterns of salts in two of the buildings, one in each zone, which clearly show that, to some extent, salts are involved in decay. Full article

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially CO₂, represent a global concern. Among those responsible for CO₂ emissions, buildings stand out due to the consumption of energy from fossil fuels. In this sense, initiatives for the decarbonization of buildings and construction tends to contribute to the achievement of the target defined in the Paris Agreement of limiting the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as well as in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). This article aimed to identify renewable energy generation technologies that can be applied in urban vertical constructions, contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions in the atmosphere. To this end, the following methodology was adopted: a survey of the Conferences of the Parties on climate change; identification of European Union Legislative Directives for the decarbonization of buildings; and a literature review to identify research that deals with renewable energy generation technologies that can be adopted in buildings. The results indicated that there seems to be a correlation between the growth in the number of articles that deal with the topic of decarbonizing buildings and the increase in world concerns about global warming. A hybrid microgrid proposal, combining different sources of renewable energy such as solar photovoltaic, wind, biomass, micro-hydroelectric, and others for vertical buildings with more than five floors, is presented as viable to achieve zero emissions in these buildings, contributing to future research, that can carry out quantitative analyses and feasibility studies, as well as for experiments and applications in existing buildings and the projects of new vertical constructions. Full article

The urgency of addressing climate change is increasingly evident through the rise in devastating natural disasters and significant shifts in global temperatures. With the urbanization of rural landscapes to accommodate population growth, the built environment has emerged as a major contributor to climate change, accounting for approximately 40% of natural resource consumption and carbon emissions. In pursuit of tackling climate challenges, countries have united under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to develop strategies for climate action and adaptation, through the Conference of the Parties (COP). The UAE has been an active member of the COP and has been at the forefront of implementing decarbonization strategies. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the decarbonization recommendations presented during COP26 and COP27, specifically focusing on the built environment sector. The primary objective is to highlight how recommendations were effectively incorporated into the UAE’s built environment sector, employing a case study approach further highlighting the specific implementation strategies adopted in the G+2 SEE Institute building while demonstrating how COP26, COP27, and the UAE’s National Climate Change Plan 2017–2050 recommendations were translated into practical measures. The study places particular emphasis on the areas of energy, water and waste management, investigating how these strategies were integrated to promote decarbonization efforts. By examining the G+2 SEE Institute building case, this research attempts to provide valuable insights on aligning built environment practices with climate change mitigation objectives. The planning of the building structure employed a systems thinking approach, while assessments were conducted to identify materials and designs that would enable the building to achieve net-zero status. Real-time data analysis was employed for comprehensive analysis. The findings of this study will contribute to the body of knowledge on sustainable construction practices and serve as a guide for stakeholders, including developers, policymakers, and practitioners, in adopting effective strategies in reducing carbon emissions and fostering environmental sustainability in line with the Paris Agreement. Full article