Editorial: Anthropogenic trace gases and their linkages to meteorology and climate change
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2024.1379626
Frontiers in Sustainable Cities aims to develop a multi-disciplinary academic approach to life in contemporary and future urban environments. The journal publishes rigorously peer-reviewed, cutting-edge research on a broad range of topics, from engineering and urban studies to social sciences, with a focus on achieving sustainable living processes within future urban landscapes (in line with SDGs).
Editorial: Anthropogenic trace gases and their linkages to meteorology and climate change
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2024.1379626
Reducing the “digital divide” to reap the “digital dividend”: spatial differences and convergence of the digital economy in cities of China
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2024.1283604
Bridging the “digital divide” to benefit from the “digital dividend” reflects the inclusive development of the digital economy, which affects the sustainable development of the overall economy and society. Based on the different spatial perspectives of certain regions, city clusters, and cities, this study presents the “digital divide” and “digital dividend” for the development of China’s digital economy. A combined entropy method was used to measure the development of the digital economy in cities of China from 2011 to 2019. The Dagum Gini coefficient and its decomposition were used to explore the spatial differences of the digital economy and their sources, while the coefficient of variation and the spatial panel model were used to examine the convergence of the digital economy. Our (...)
The impact of the climate crisis on gender inequality. Looking to the frontlines in search of priorities for policy
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2024.1304535
The climate crisis disproportionately impacts women and girls all over the world. To understand what the priorities in terms of policy are, an examination is conducted on the impacts taking place in South Asia (focusing on the countries of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan), an area of the globe that is highly vulnerable to climate change and is characterized by having strong patriarchal values. Gender stereotypes and roles in the region heighten women and girls’ vulnerability to climate impacts, both in general and in situations of crisis resulting from extreme weather events. Deepening the understanding of the climate crisis’ impact on gender in South Asia, a region at the frontline of these effects, can assist in reaching a baseline understanding of the challenge from a global (...)
Editorial: Relational approaches to urban sustainability governance
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2024.1387149
The feminist perspective as a counterpoint in the architecture of Anna Bofill (1977–1996)
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2024.1348827
The vast and plural production of the woman architect, musician, activist, occasional educator and tireless researcher Anna Bofill Levi (Barcelona, 1944) is characterized by certain features that make its author a unique personality, although one hardly known and recognized in the Spanish and international circles that are the custodians of prestige in architecture. She has achieved most public recognition as a composer, the field in which she has been most productive over time and developed the furthest. Her music is characterized by the number of references, especially contemporary, she includes, the wide diversity of countries where it has been performed, and the range of people to whom she has dedicated her works, all these aspects testifying to her cosmopolitan and libertarian (...)
Flood risk reduction and resilient city growth in sub-Saharan Africa: searching for coherence in Accra’s urban planning
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2024.1118896
Urban resilience experts have highlighted that frequent extreme weather events are a result of rapid, unplanned development and climate change. To ensure coherent urban planning, effective land governance has been a priority since the introduction of the national urban policy in 2012. However, despite implementing this policy for over a decade, poor land governance continues to negatively impact city development, yet this subject has received limited academic attention. Our study focuses on Santa Maria, a community historically neglected by planning officials and currently facing unregulated urbanization and increasing flood risks. We used qualitative research methods, including key informant interviews and document reviews, to unpack land ownership and management complexities. These (...)
Trees and sidewalks: toward an infrastructure protection approach
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2024.1336472
IntroductionNature-based solutions are increasingly recognized as vital components of urban resilience strategies, particularly within the framework of green infrastructure. This study aims to propose an approach that fosters symbiosis between green and gray infrastructure to address the challenges posed by climate change in urban environments.MethodsWe conducted a comprehensive review of guidelines and scientific literature to inform the selection of species and the design of root containers for urban tree planting. Additionally, we performed a multicriteria analysis and assessed water comfort to guide decision-making regarding species selection in specific city areas.ResultsThe methodology was applied to a case study in Bogotá, yielding insights applicable to any city with basic (...)
Editorial: Reviews in cities in the Global South: 2022
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2024.1356965
How do governance visions, institutions and practices enable urban sustainability transformations? A study of Battambang and Sihanoukville, Cambodia
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2024.1342524
Whilst research has highlighted the challenges of rapid urbanization in Cambodia, few studies have focused on increased interest within Cambodia on how reforming urban governance can support urban sustainability transformations. Addressing this research gap, this study explores how urban governance might enable sustainability transformations in two second-tier cities—Battambang and Sihanoukville—in Cambodia, based on the analysis of open-ended interviews with fifty-five representatives involved in the development and implementation of urban sustainability plans and policies for these cities. The findings identify how urban governance visions, institutions and practices can be strengthened to enable sustainability transformations within these cities. The study highlights that alignment (...)
Environmental worldviews and attitudes of public-sector urban planners in shaping sustainable urban development: the case of South Africa
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2024.1342894
Public-sector urban planners are essential role-players in the development of sustainable cities. However, there is relatively little understanding of their perceptions of sustainability generally and how or where they obtain information and knowledge around urban sustainability, especially in the Global South. This study, therefore, adopted a mixed-methods approach, employing both an online survey (34 valid respondents) and eight in-depth interviews (together spanning 31 different municipalities), to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and worldviews (based on the New Ecological Paradigm scale) of public-sector planners in South Africa. Generally, the planners held ecocentric worldviews and acknowledged the importance of sustainable urban development and the need to understand urban (...)
Transport-related social exclusion and mobility in developing countries: the South African case
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2024.1199055
IntroductionTransport-related social exclusion has been studied in many countries, and from many different perspectives. In Africa, however, there is little recent research into the phenomenon, even though African cities tend to have poor transport services, urban sprawl is extensive usually resulting in long travel times and high travel costs, and certain areas experience high levels of crime. By implication, there are several factors that impact the ability of people to access economic and societal opportunities, however these are not well documented. Building on previous work from several authors, this research sought to describe transport-related social exclusion in a large metropolitan area in an emerging economy.MethodsUsing a qualitative methodology, 60 interviews were (...)
Revolutionizing mobility: a comprehensive review of electric vehicles charging stations in India
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2024.1346731
An Electric Vehicle (EV) charger or Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) is a piece of equipment that supplies electrical power for charging plug–in electric vehicles. Although batteries can only be charged with Direct Current (DC) power, most electric vehicles have an onboard Alternative Current AC—to—DC converter and most fully electric cars can accept both AC and DC power. The adoption of EVs can bring about significant relief in noise pollution and also environmental pollution if the required electricity is generated using renewable sources. DC charging stations of various levels are commonly equipped with multiple ports of various levels to be able to charge a wide variety of EVs. EVSEs are found at various facilities such as street–side or retail shopping centers, government (...)
Expectations of i-Tree Eco as a tool for urban tree management in Nordic cities
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2023.1325039
While urban forests are recognized as imperative toward climate adaptation in cities and provide health and recreational benefits to citizens, municipal tree officers often struggle to find successful governance arrangements and budget support toward long-lasting investment and implementation in new planting schemes and protection of existing trees. Since its release in 2006, i-Tree Eco has helped urban tree officers worldwide to find tangible leverage in the means of quantitative mapping, numeric measures, and economic values of ecosystem services. This may in turn help ease gridlocks and potentially support constructive dialogues across sectors, with decision-makers and public engagement. With the release of i-Tree Eco v. 6 in Europe 2018, 13 Nordic cities were engaged in a larger (...)
Editorial: Environmental data, governance and the sustainable city
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2023.1355645
Editorial: Urban hierarchies in an economic transition to sustainable cities
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2024.1356617
A triple whammy: how urban heat, housing unaffordability and disadvantage affect urban spatial resilience
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2024.1244187
Climate change generates multiple negative impacts for cities, such as the urban heat island effect. Social stresses, including social disadvantage and housing unaffordability, compound the poor living conditions of urban residents and make our cities less resilient. This paper considers a climate event (urban heat) and social stresses (housing affordability and urban disadvantage) to explore urban resilience in Sydney. We draw on a framework for building urban climate resilience, incorporating facets of urban resilience, social stresses that amplify crises, and solutions that strengthen individuals and communities with coping abilities to withstand climate events. The study diverges from aggregate city-level analyses that hide small-area differences in climate impacts and (...)
Tripartite relationship of urban planning, city growth, and health for sustainable development in Akure, Nigeria
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2023.1301397
We live in an urban planet. As the world continues to urbanize, urban development that support the health and wellbeing of city dwellers is far more important than ever before to achieve sustainable development targets. This study explores the complex relationship among urban planning, city growth, and health as critical drivers of sustainable development in the rapidly growing nodal city of Akure, Nigeria. The study provides a four-decade spatio-temporal model of urban Land Use Land Cover (LULC) changes in Akure between the years 1984 and 2023 from acquired Landsat satellite imageries. The result shows more than 20% net change increase in developed LULC classes between the study years. A strong positive correlation exists between the years covered in the analyses and urban (...)
Navigating the impact of climate change in India: a perspective on climate action (SDG13) and sustainable cities and communities (SDG11)
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2023.1308684
Climate change is a global concern of the current century. Its rapid escalation and ever-increasing intensity have been felt worldwide, leading to dramatic impacts globally. The aftermath of climate change in India has brought about a profound transformation in India’s environmental, socio-economic, and urban landscapes. In 2019, India ranked seventh, among the most affected countries by extreme weather events caused due to changing climate. This impact was evident in terms of both, the human toll with 2,267 lives lost, and the economic damage, which accounted for 66,182 million US$ Purchasing power parities (PPPs). Over the recent years, India has experienced a significant increase in the number and frequency of extreme weather events, causing vulnerable communities. The country (...)
Biodiversity and quality of urban green landscape affect mental restorativeness of residents in Multan, Pakistan
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2023.1286125
IntroductionThe influence of urban green spaces on public health is receiving unprecedented attention. Managing urban greenspaces sustainably requires an understanding of the mechanisms behind the positive effects of urban biodiversity on the wellbeing of residents. Urban parks could improve mental restoration of park users. The restoration potential may be influenced by the biophysical characteristics of the park.MethodsThis study aimed to understand two aspects of urban parks in Multan, Pakistan: (a) How does the perception of biodiversity and the quality of urban parks relate to mental restorativeness of park visitors? (b) What are the determinants of respondents’ willingness to pay for the conservation and management of park biodiversity and quality in urban parks? Data were (...)
Allocation of national renewable expansion and sectoral demand reduction targets to municipal level
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2023.1294361
Despite the ubiquitous term “climate neutral cities”, there is a distinct lack of quantifiable and meaningful municipal decarbonization goals in terms of the targeted energy balance and composition that collectively connect to national scenarios. In this paper we present a simple but useful allocation approach to derive municipal targets for energy demand reduction and renewable expansion based on national energy transition strategies in combination with local potential estimators. The allocation uses local and regional potential estimates for demand reduction and the expansion of renewables and differentiates resulting municipal needs of action accordingly. The resulting targets are visualized and opened as a decision support system (DSS) on a web-platform to facilitate the discussion (...)
Solving the mysteries of Lahore smog: the fifth season in the country
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2023.1314426
South Asian smog is an annually recurring air pollution event that is characterized by high concentrations of air pollutants, low visibility, and severe socio-economic disruptions. It is most frequently observed across the north-western parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). Since 2016, it has become so frequent and pervasive that they are colloquially referred to as “the fifth season” in the region. During this season populations residing in this area including cities such as Lahore, Amritsar, Faisalabad, Multan, Delhi etc. are exposed to hazardous levels of air pollution. This study attempts to understand the reasons for the recent increase in the intensity and frequency of intense air pollution episodes by utilizing ground-based and satellite observations. Time-series analysis, (...)
Assessing the “virality” of a road safety communication campaign intended to change behavior: a case study in Spain
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2023.1295516
IntroductionThe relationships between above-the-line (ATL) and below-the-line (BTL) communication and advertising strategies have been studied in many fields and procedures. Likewise, the interrelationships between both communicative typologies, when they exist, either strategically induced or spontaneously, are also known concerning their reinforcing effects. However, in the social communication field, specifically road safety communication, these interrelationships have been little studied, and few case studies have been done, particularly of those that have stood out as particularly significant.MethodsThus, this paper investigates the implementation process of an ATL awareness campaign of the Spanish Traffic Authority (DGT-General Directorate of Traffic) through the analysis of key (...)
Land acquisition policy and practice for cooperative housing scheme in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia: toward affordable housing solutions
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2023.1234620
Bahir Dar, a city in Ethiopia, is grappling with the challenges of rapid urbanization, which has made affordable housing a critical issue for its growing population. This study specifically focuses on the urban land acquisition process for cooperative housing schemes, which serve as an essential component of Bahir Dar’s affordable housing program. This atudy aimed to examine the current practices, identify the challenges faced by housing cooperatives during land acquisition and construction, and propose strategies for improvement. The primary data for this research were collected through interviews with key informants from the Bahir Dar City administration’s land management, cooperative organizer office, housing development and management office, and housing cooperative committees. (...)
The presence of polluting sites in urban contexts: an analysis of the effects on the dynamics of the residential real estate market
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2023.1314967
IntroductionThe industrial activity constitutes one of the most driving sectors of a nation, as it is often considered at the center of public debate as the fulcrum of development policies. However, considering the climate impacts generated, many industries have necessarily changed, relocated, and/or interrupted their production. Due to the connection of industrial sites with the socio-economic, environmental, and health systems of cities, the real estate market dynamics can be differently affected by the presence of polluting industrial sites. With reference to the Italian context, the goal of the research is to, firstly, verify whether there is a functional relationship between the presence of polluting industrial sites and the residential real estate market dynamics, for then (...)
The factors that influence the growth and performance of micro and small-scale enterprises in Dessie Town administration
▻https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2023.1296605
IntroductionThe growth or performance of Micro and Small-Scale Enterprises (MSSEs) is widely recognized for their important contributions to economic developments in developing countries. Small and Medium-sized businesses (MMEs) in most developing nations encounter obstacles throughout and after the start-up process. This research aims to explore the determinants of the growth of MSSEs with a special emphasis on five work sectors: manufacturing, trade, construction, service, and urban agriculture in Dessie Town, Ethiopia.MethodsThe primary data was collected using a self-questionnaire from a sample of 218 managers/owners of MSE operators. Both descriptive and inferential analysis were used to analyze the collected data. Descriptive narrations were used to analyze qualitative data as a (...)