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The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the mobility of individuals everywhere. This has been especially true in China, where many restrictions, including lockdowns, have been widely applied. This paper discusses the impact of the pandemic on walkability, an important factor in promoting urban neighborhoods, in the main urban area of Xi'an, China, one of China's four great ancient capitals. Based on the street view data obtained before and after the pandemic, the paper quantitatively compares changes in specific components of selected streetscapes through a deep learning (DL) street view analysis. The aim is to identify the impact of the pandemic on walkability and determine the elements that influence increased walkability in Xi'an's historical area, using a walkability evaluation model based on a regression analysis involving three factors (streetscape components, walkability check scores, and street connectivity of space syntax for every image). Although Xi'an's urban structure did not change significantly, the pandemic has clearly impacted street vitality, especially in terms of reducing pedestrian flow and commercial value. Based on study results, the street environment has great room for improvement, especially in the city's historical blocks, by reconsidering safety measures to pedestrians and the important role of atmospheric aspects on the streets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The purpose of this paper is to study how the Delta variant spread in a China city, and to what extent the non-pharmaceutical prevention measures of local government be effective by reviewing the contact network of COVID-19 cases in Xi'an, China. Methods: We organize the case reports of the Shaanxi Health Commission into a database by text coding and convert them into a network matrix. Then we construct a dynamic contact network for the corresponding analysis and calculate network indicators. we analyze the cases' dynamic contact network structure and intervals between diagnosis time and isolation time by using data visualization, network analysis method, and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression. Results: The contact network for this outbreak in Xi'an is very sparse, with a density of less than 0.0001. The contact network is a scale-free network. The average degree centrality is 0.741 and the average PageRank score is 0.0005. The network generated from a single source of infection contains 1371 components. We construct three variables of intervals and analyze the trend of intervals during the outbreak. The mean interval (interval 1) between case diagnosis time and isolation time is − 3.9 days. The mean of the interval (interval 2) between the infector's diagnosis time and the infectee's diagnosis time is 4.2 days. The mean of the interval (interval 3) between infector isolation time and infectee isolation time is 2.9 days. Among the three intervals, only interval 1 has a significant positive correlation with degree centrality. Conclusions: By integrating COVID-19 case reports of a Chinese city, we construct a contact network to analyze the dispersion of the outbreak. The network is a scale-free network with multiple hidden pathways that are not detected. The intervals of patients in this outbreak decreased compared to the beginning of the outbreak in 2020. City lockdown has a significant effect on the intervals that can affect patients' network centrality. Our study highlights the value of case report text. By linking different reports, we can quickly analyze the spread of the epidemic in an urban area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the primary aims of China's territory spatial planning is to control the urban sprawl of local municipals and prevent regional competition and the negative consequences on the environment—which emphasizes the top-down spatial regulation. Indeed, the traditional cellular automaton (CA) model still has limitations when applied to the whole administration area since it may ignore the differences among cities and towns. Thus, this paper proposed a CM-CA (clustering, multi-level logit regression, integrated with cellular automaton) framework to simulate urban growth boundaries for cities and towns simultaneously. The significant novelty of this framework is to integrate several urban growth modes for all cities and towns. We applied our approach to the city of Xi'an, China, and the results showed satisfactory simulation accuracy of a CM-CA model for multiple cities and towns, and the clusters' effects contributed 74% of the land change variance. Our study provides technical support for urban growth boundary delineation in China's spatial planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The map of radiative cooling potential shows that the radiative cooling power can reach up to 100 W/m2 for its application in different climatic zones. However, the effect of building deployment on the city-scale application of radiative cooling is generally ignored in majority of existing studies, which overestimates the cooling benefit. This paper investigates the cooling benefit of implementing radiative cooling on a city-scale by considering building deployment. To determine the effect of building deployment on the radiative cooling potential, the city of Xi'an in China is modeled using COMSOL and verified with real weather data. Then, the thermal response of buildings with radiative cooling envelopes is discussed in detail. Finally, carbon emission reduction is derived at the city-scale by applying radiative cooling considering building deployment. The results show that the estimated radiative cooling power is approximately decreased by 14.7% for the ideal broadband surface and 47.1% for the ideal selective surface on the selected day by considering building deployment on a city-scale. Furthermore, carbon emission reductions of 0.52 gCO 2 /(m2⋅h) and 0.16 gCO 2 /(m2⋅h) can be achieved from the roof and walls on the selected day by applying radiative cooling material on both the roof and walls. This study can provide guiding significance for the large-scale application of radiative cooling in cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Spatial distribution prediction of pollutants based on machine learning. • A new approach to planning urban ventilation corridors. • Cleanliness assessment of the air at the compensation spaces should be made mandatory. • Urban ventilation corridors worsen air quality in the central city. Urban ventilation corridors are effective in improving urban air quality and alleviating heat island problems, and are widely used in cities around the world. This paper studies typical smog-polluted cities in China to examine whether urban ventilation corridors will worsen air pollution in cities and then proposes countermeasures. First, this paper identifies compensation spaces outside the central urban area of Xi'an and then analyses the prevailing wind direction in these compensation spaces. Based on these findings, this paper identifies potential cold air passages and assesses the air cleanliness in these compensation spaces according to the spatial distributions of PM 2.5 and PM 10. The study finds that four compensation spaces are found outside the central urban area of Xi'an and seven potential cold air passages, including six expressways and one railway, and the PM 10 and PM 2.5 concentrations in three of the four compensation spaces are higher than those in the central urban area. From the beginning (located in the compensation space) to the end (located in the action space) of the cold air passages P1 and P2, PM 2.5 decreased by 11.88% and 11.82%, and PM 10 decreased by 9.40% and 9.76%. This study discovers that if the urban compensation spaces are located in areas with high concentrations of pollutants, the polluted cold air will be introduced to the central urban area along the cold air passages due to the prevailing wind. Unlike previous studies which concluded that urban ventilation corridors improve air quality in central urban areas, this study demonstrates that urban ventilation corridors are at risk of exacerbating air pollution in central urban areas. Therefore, when planning urban ventilation corridors, a city should make an assessment of the air cleanliness of the compensation spaces mandatory to avoid worsening air pollution in the central urban area and creating an unsustainable climate environment due to the planning of urban ventilation corridors, which may further lead to economic losses and threats to public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Eco-environment assessment of 3 756 urban residential quarters in Xi'an, China. • Factors affecting the ecological environment of residential quarters have been detected. • Specific reference construction values for the eco-environment of residential quarters have been proposed. Residential quarters are a critical component of urban areas, which significantly affects people's health and quality of life. In recent decades, the high-density and crowded residential quarters have become the mainstream organizational model of construction in China, because of the rapid and massive urbanization in many cities. This results in the contradiction between the eco-environment needs and the accommodation needs. Therefore, a systematic evaluation of the eco-environment in residential quarters is urgently needed to address the drawbacks of current residential quarters' planning and design. This paper aims to explore ways to improve the eco-environment with residential quarters from the perspective of China. We first used the Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI) to evaluate the eco-environmental quality of 3, 756 residential quarters in the main urban areas of Xi 'an, China. Then, we quantitatively analyzed the landscape patterns of the impervious surfaces in these residential quarters. Finally, we characterized the impacts of residential quarters layout on the ecological environment by using the vegetation coverage (FVC), the normalized difference bare soil index (NDBSI), building density (BD), the residential density (RD), and the population density (PD) as main factors. The results are as follows: (1) Only 20.5 % of residential quarters with good eco-environments were distributed between the Second and Third Ring Road, indicating the need for improvement in creating livable eco-environments. (2) The shape of the impervious surface of excellent ecological quarters is complex and broken, the average patch area is smaller, and the degree of aggregation and combination of patches is lower compared to residential quarters with poor ecological quality. Therefore, it is recommended to reduce the connectivity of the impervious surface to improve the eco-environment of residential quarters. (3) Among the factors affecting RSEI of residential quarters, FVC, and NDBSI contribute more than other factors. For the construction of excellent eco-environments in residential quarters, we suggest that vegetation coverage should be no less than 0.4, the impervious surface coverage should be no more than 0.53, the building density should be between 0.28 ∼ 0.35, residential density should be no more than 0.22, and the population density of residential quarter should be under 0.29. Overall, for open and low-density residential quarters, the living environment can be improved by enriching vegetation and reducing impervious surfaces, while compact, high-density residential quarters can create a livable eco-environment by optimizing the impervious surface landscape patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The failure mode of metro tunnel crossing the edge of land subsidence area is revealed. • The influence of land subsidence on the structural mechanical response are studied. • The damage position and affected range of metro tunnel under the influence of land subsidence are discovered. • The countermeasures are discussed according to different affected positions. Land subsidence is a prominent engineering geological problem faced by many cities in the world and poses a serious threat to urban infrastructures. Xi'an is one of the cities in China that has suffered the most serious land subsidence disasters and has thus faced the challenges in its ongoing metro construction. To solve this problem, in this paper we carried out a model test and numerical simulation of metro tunnel that crosses a land subsidence area and analyzed the mechanical response of the tunnel and the deformation and failure characteristics of the lining. The results show that the tunnel exhibits downward flexural deformation in the middle, slight warpage on both ends in the longitudinal direction, and local torsion in the horizontal direction in the presence of land subsidence, the maximum deformation of the ground surface is about 80% of the tunnel deformation. Furthermore, the vault and inverted arch are in opposite tension–compression states, and the lining stress decreases inside the subsidence area but increases outside it. When the actual subsidence reaches 225 cm, the metro tunnel crossing the edge of the land subsidence area has failed. We find that the deformation and failure of metro tunnel crossing land subsidence area is a combination mode of flexural tension–compression and local torsion, which affects 2.5 times the length of the intersection between the tunnel and the subsidence area. Also, some countermeasures and suggestions are proposed to deal with the adverse impacts of land subsidence on metro tunnels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban fugitive dust is a significant contributor to atmospheric PM2.5 and a potential risk to humans. In 2019, both road dust and construction dust were collected from four cities, including Xi'an, Xianyang, Baoji, and Tongchuan, in Guanzhong Plain, China. Elements, water-soluble ions, and carbonaceous fractions were determined to establish the chemical source profile. High enrichment degrees of Se, Sc, Cl, and Zn in both road dust and construction dust indicated that the industrial system and energy consumption influenced Guanzhong Plain strongly. According to the coefficient of divergence, the two datasets within Xianyang and Tongchuan were similar. Combined with the chemical profile, road dust was affected by more stationary emission sources than construction dust in Xi'an, while biomass burning and vehicle exhaust contributed more to road dust than construction dust in Baoji. Moreover, the health risk of heavy metal was assessed, and corresponding influencing factors were identified. Road dust in all cities showed a non-negligible non-carcinogenic risk for children. Ingestion and inhalation were the main exposure pathways to which As and Co contributed the most, respectively. The land-use regression model revealed that the first-class road in a 100 m radius impacted all high-risk level metals, and the commercial building material and enterprises weakly influenced Co and Pb, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reduce the vulnerability of urban areas facing high temperatures, it is useful to develop methods to obtain the urban heat island (UHI) intensity. However, it is hard to equip all cities with extensive measurement networks and alternative UHI diagnostic methods are needed. Accordingly, in this paper we evaluate and revise the diagnostic equation designed by Theeuwes et al. (2017) and analyze its application for Xi'an (China), based on long-term summer meteorology data. The evaluation of the default diagnostic equation shows that limited accuracy for Xi'an is caused by the sum of morphological parameters being used outside the original range of calibration. Subsequently, we propose an extended equation, which adds the building fraction to express the morphology of additional spatial categories. This new equation is calibrated against a 3-year dataset and independently validated with data from another year. In addition, a class prediction with three spatial categories is proposed, and verified by independent data of 20 stations in Xi'an in 2018, which enables this formula to be applied in more cities. Altogether, the extended diagnostic equation is an effective method to evaluate the daily maximum UHI intensity (UHI max) on neighborhood-scale, which can be generalized for a whole city area and presents internal intensity differences with multi-points. Image 1 • A diagnostic equation for the maximum urban heat island is applied in Xi'an (China). • Building fraction is added to the diagnostic equation to represent morphology. • Sky-view factor and vegetation fraction are used for spatial categorization. • The extended equation is an effective method for UHI max evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The increases of commuting CO 2 emissions are several times larger than the urban size, population, and economics' developments. • Metro services reducing commuting CO 2 emissions near the metro stations is not statistically significant, possibly because the proportions of car users near the metro stations are similar to the two cities' average levels, which is caused by their higher household income and the longer travel time using the metro. • In Beijing, there are the smallest commuting CO 2 emissions in the outer suburbs due to job-housing balances, short distance and large percentage of non-motorized mode uses while the largest commuting CO 2 emissions in the inner sprawl suburbs due to car trips with long distance. Abstract To understand the changing relationships between commuting CO 2 emissions (CCE), travel behavior and urban forms, this paper provides a comparative study between the typical Chinese cities of Beijing (more developed) and Xi'an (rapidly developing). Further, the effects of metro services on reducing CCE were explored, and comparative analysis on CCE between the inner sprawling suburbs and outer suburbs was conducted. It was found that: (i) the increases in CCE are several times larger than the increases in urban size, population, and economic developments; (ii) metro services reducing CCE near metro stations is not statistically significant, maybe because the proportions of car users near the metro stations are similar to the two cities' average levels, which is caused by their higher household income and the longer travel time using the metro; (iii) in Beijing, there are smallest CCE in the outer suburbs due to job-housing balances, short distance and large percentage of non-motorized mode uses while largest CCE in the inner sprawl suburbs due to car trips with long distance. These findings indicate that to cope with the rapidly increasing CCE, more attention should be paid to developing strong industry and real-estate simultaneously; the improvement in the feeder bus and public bicycle systems should also be reinforced to reduce the total travel time of metro users; and satellite cities with job-housing balance are greatly needed. The implications will benefit efforts to reduce CCE and mitigate global climate change, and they also provide empirical evidence and reference values for other global cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of urban air quality in China has become increasingly significant due to industrialization and rapid urbanization. Although PM2.5 is the major air pollutant in most cities of northern China and has a direct negative impact on human health, there is a problem of under-representativeness at Chinese monitoring stations. In some cities, due to the relatively fewer national control stations and the fact that the stations are located closer to pollution sources, under the current assessment system, the monitoring data are not sufficient for the fairness of air quality assessment in different cities. In this article, the multispectral data of Landsat 8 data, air quality data, and meteorological data from ground monitoring stations have been integrated together and imported to different PM2.5-estimation models established based on the multi-layer back propagation neural network (MLBPN), support vector regression (SVR), and random forest (RF), respectively. According to the evaluation indices of R2, RMSE, and ME, the estimation model based on the MLBPN revealed the best PM2.5 estimation results and was therefore employed for the regional representativeness analysis in the study area of Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. The annual average PM2.5 concentration in the study area is depicted after error correction using Kriging interpolation, which can be further used to evaluate and analyze the representativeness of monitoring stations in Xi'an. By calculating the difference between the actual station annual average and the annual average of estimated PM2.5 concentration in the whole region, it can be found that the regional annual average value of PM2.5 in Xi'an is overestimated. To sum up, this article proposes a feasible method for the spatial positioning of the air quality monitoring stations to be established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization has profound impacts on economic development and environmental quality. Some of the serious consequences of urbanization are the changes in the thermal environment, which directly affect the greater environment and quality of life. Although many studies have been performed on urban heat islands, few have specifically examined the thermal evolution of rapidly expanding ancient cities and the impacts of urbanization on the thermal environments of important heritage sites. In this study, we analyzed the temporal and spatial patterns of the thermal environment quantified as the surface urban heat island (SUHI) and land surface temperature (LST) values from 2000 to 2018 in Xi'an, an ancient city with rich cultural heritage in China. Specifically, we analyzed the temporal evolution of the thermal environments of the functional zones and heritage sites and explore their coupling relationships with the overall temperature of the study area using a statistical analysis approach. Furthermore, we revealed time-sensitive changes in temperature regimes using the newly proposed double temperature curve approach (DTCA). The results showed that the heat island phenomenon has been intensifying in Xi'an, as evidenced by the summer daytime mean SUHI values being greater than 7 °C continuously since 2010 and the increased frequency of high-intensity SUHI effects. Extreme heat conditions were more frequent in the old urban area (built-up and in existence before 2000) than in the new urban area, while SUHI values in the new area deteriorated more rapidly. The changes in temperature in the functional zones were strongly synchronized with the overall temperature changes in Xi'an, and the temperature differences increased linearly with the overall temperature. The LST values in the four major historical heritage sites investigated in this study were 2–8 °C higher than the background temperature and were decoupled from background temperature changes. From the DTCA, we found the time periods of the thermal environment regime changes for each functional zone or heritage site, which were largely the result of policy guidance. Regional synchronization, site decoupling, and regime shifts in LST suggest opportunities for regional planning and urban landscape optimization to reduce adverse effects of urbanization on the urban environment, particularly in cities with rich historical heritage sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric bikes play an important role in the urban transportation system in China. Yellow-light running behavior of riders is one of the most critical factors for e-bike riders involved in traffic crashes at intersection. The main purpose of this study is to explore how a variety of factors affect e-bike riders' yellow-light running behaviors at intersection by a field observation conducted in Xi'an, China. Based on 396 e-bike riders who faced yellow-light samples, two analytical methods, the principle component analysis logistics model and a base logistics model, were employed to evaluate the impacts of contributing factors on e-bike riders' yellow-light running behavior. The modeling results showed that seven variables significantly affect the e-bike riders' yellow-light running behavior, which were the approaching speed of e-bike, the distance to stop line, riders' age and gender attributes, type of e-bike, and the characteristics of intersection including the width of intersection and the existence of physical barriers. This study can provide valuable insights into understanding e-bike riders' yellow-light running behavior and may also help decision makers propose countermeasures to reduce e-bike rider-related crashes at intersection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]