Search

In insects, different pigments, such as melanins and pterins, are involved in thermoregulation. The degree of melanisation often varies along geographical gradients, according to the so-called thermal melanism hypothesis, i.e. darker forms are found in colder places because they can warm up more quickly. Similarly, pterins work as heat sinks and thus are expected to be more abundant in colder sites. Cities, which are warmer than surrounding areas (Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect), might also be expected to influence pigmentation, although studies are lacking. Here, we sampled workers of the social paper wasp Polistes dominula (Christ, 1791) (Vespidae) across an urbanisation gradient in an Italian metropolis and used iNaturalist pictures of this species across Italy to study pigmentation patterns at both urban and larger geographical scales. We found a lower yellow intensity of abdominal spots at warmer locations. Scanning Electron Microscopy strongly suggested that yellow colouration is due xanthopterin, known to be the heat sink molecule in other social vespids. Thus, wasps from warmer (i.e., urban) environments are likely to have fewer xanthopterin granules, in line with the lack of need for heat storage due to the local thermal gradient (UHI effect). At the country level, we found that wasps at higher latitudes had smaller yellow spots on the thorax and only two spots instead of four at higher altitudes, in full accordance with the thermal melanism hypothesis. In conclusion, climatic conditions seem to affect insect colour patterns both along urban and wider geographical gradients, although colour changes may affect different body parts and pigments likely according to different needs. • In urban hotter sites, workers show lower intensity of yellow pigmentation (xanthopterin). • Along an urbanisation gradient, there was weak consistence with the thermal melanism hypothesis. • Along the same gradient, there was a likely lack of need for heat storage due to the urban heat island effect. • At country level, latitudinal variations in yellow spots were in accordance with the thermal melanism hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Travelers often change their behavior in reaction to adverse weather conditions. This paper seeks to conduct an empirical evaluation of both ordered and unordered discrete outcome frameworks for examining the adaptive behavior decisions of intercity travelers and investigate the varying effects of explanatory factors on different alternatives of adaptive behavior during adverse weather. The data from 754 respondents in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, China are collected by a two-phase survey instrument. To capture the unobserved heterogeneity more effectively, this paper develops three advanced models to investigate the variations in intercity travel behavior during adverse weather. Four alternative adaptive behaviors are determined as outcome variables: maintaining original travel plans, changing only the intercity mode, changing the departure date, and canceling the trip, while potential influencing factors including adverse weather conditions, trip-related characteristics, individual attributes and urban agglomeration attributes are statistically assessed. The results indicate that the unordered models consistently outperform their ordered counterparts, and the incorporation of multilayer heterogeneity enhances the model fit. Furthermore, significant factors and their coefficient values vary across the different adaptive behavior alternatives. Intercity travelers demonstrate a higher probability of changing departure dates or canceling trips during snowy and windy days compared to rainy and foggy days. Trains exhibit higher flexibility and reliability during adverse weather, and access attributes significantly affect intercity travel adaptive behavior. Additionally, the analysis of individual and urban agglomeration attributes uncovers variations in adaptive behavior among individuals and cities. These findings provide profound insights into the complexities and variations of intercity travel behavior during adverse weather, and propose practical strategies to mitigate the detrimental impacts of adverse weather on intercity travelers. • Adaptive behavior of intercity travelers during adverse weather is investigated. • Unordered framework outperforms ordered counterparts in adaptive behavior study. • Multilayer unobserved heterogeneity in the adaptive behavior is accounted for. • The varying effects of explanatory factors on different adaptive alternatives are examined. • Practical strategies are proposed to mitigate negative impacts of adverse weather. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Field experiment in mandatory recycling scheme tests effectiveness of door stepping. • Majority of households in mandatory recycling schemes separates waste correctly. • Minority of households is responsible for most miss sorting. • Door stepping does not influence behavior of households in mandatory schemes. • Door stepping can improve recycling behavior in voluntary recycling schemes. Household organic waste has great potential for closing nutrient cycles in agriculture. This requires proper waste separation by households. Personal communication at the doorstep potentially improves household waste separation behaviour but it is expensive and findings from existing research are mixed. Based on results of previous studies and from a quasi-experiment with non-equivalent groups design in two German municipalities, this paper argues that efficiency of personal communication depends on its context. It can positively influence behaviour when recycling is voluntary and participation rates are low. However, it has no significant effects if recycling is mandatory. One explanation could be different perceptions of recycling in mandatory and voluntary schemes. In voluntary schemes door stepping can activate the intrinsic motivation of households. In mandatory schemes, all households need to participate irrespective of intrinsic motivation. This research shows that this creates a situation in which a small share of households is responsible for almost all contamination. This can be overcome by considering extrinsic factors that affect recycling behaviour. The paper recommends further research to understand which combination of incentives, sanctions and information is efficient in affecting behaviour change in mandatory recycling schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a trending mobility choice, e-scooters have become popular in many cities. A number of authorities have initiated shared e-scooter trial schemes to assess the feasibility of the vehicles prior to enacting official legalisation. This paper aims to provide an evidence review of shared e-scooters and investigate how existing evidence may inform long-term policies. This carries significant relevance for jurisdictions that are in a conflicting position with e-scooters, such as New South Wales (NSW), Australia whose context motivates this study. The evidence review focuses on three themes derived from experience with shared e-scooters within the broader micromobility landscape, namely: safety; where shared e-scooters fit into the modal landscape; and the environmental impacts. Findings confirm that ensuring the safety of shared e-scooters requires complex solutions, which may include a clear regulatory framework for e-scooters, safety education and skill training, innovative data collection and analysis methods, and an approach to safety management that is user-based, location-based, and time-based. In terms of modal fit policymakers should encourage first and last-mile combinations with public transport, with consideration of user characteristics; while climate impact is strongly correlated to the mode replaced by e-scooter trips. The paper provides insights for policymakers on the regulation and positioning of shared e-scooters. • Many jurisdictions are struggling to determine policies for e-scooters. • Existing e-scooter evidence sheds light on possible long-term policies. • Safety management should consider different users, locations, and times. • First and last-mile combinations with public transport should be encouraged. • Climate impact is strongly correlated to the mode replaced by e-scooter trips. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We study the specific impact of the digital economy on the upgrading of urban residents' consumption structure and its mechanism of action. • We analyze the heterogeneity at the level of city development. • The development of the digital economy is conducive to promoting the upgrading of urban residents' consumption structure. • Disposable income and industrial structure upgrading are important internal mechanisms. • Compared to first-tier and second-tier cities, the digital economy has contributed more to upgrading residents' consumption structure in third-tier cities. Based on the panel data of Chinese cities from 2011 to 2020, this paper studies the impact of the digital economy on urban residents' upgrading of their consumption structure. The digital economy promotes the upgrading of urban residents' consumption structure. Moreover, the digital economy has a more significant effect on promoting the upgrading of residents' consumption structure in third-tier cities. The mediation effect proves that increasing disposable income and upgrading the industrial structure are crucial mechanisms. Based on pertinent findings and the development levels of various cities, this paper proposes policies to strengthen the digital infrastructure, improve residents' income, optimize industrial structure, and establish differentiated measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization and the release of carbon emission are two significant features of contemporary economic and social progress in China. However, there are few studies that consider how urbanization policy goals affect carbon emission. This paper aims to study the nonlinear effects of urbanization policy goals on carbon emission in 13 cities of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. In this paper, a multi-dimensional spatial disturbance grey model is proposed. Based on matrix perturbation theory, this paper explores the spatial perturbation bounds of the novel model and verifies that the spatial property of the model is consistent with the viewpoint of the First Law of Geography. Then, the novel model is used to predict the urban carbon emission under different urbanization policy goal scenarios. The results showed that the novel model has spatial regional correlation in spatial region prediction. With the development of urbanization level, carbon emissions show a downward trend in more than 50% of cities from 2022 to 2025. In addition, the improvement of urbanization policy goals will promote the carbon peak time of most cities. The carbon emission intensity will exhibit an inverted U-shaped trend distribution in space. The research results are conducive to providing scientific guidance for the formulation of new-type urbanization policies and helping to achieve the dual carbon goals. • A multi-dimensional spatial disturbance grey model is proposed. • The novel grey model is consistent with the viewpoint of the First Law of Geography. • The spatial distribution of carbon intensity showed an inverted U-shaped pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On-demand transit (ODT) has been widely piloted in recent years by many transit agencies in response to changing travel behaviour and preferences among people. Some agencies have adopted ODT to replace underperforming bus routes, as part of a continuous service planning process while others incorporated it within network re-design. All these trends highlight the critical need for transit agencies to have guidance for incorporating ODT into transit network planning both at the strategic, tactical, and service planning levels. Thus, the purpose of this research is to provide a discussion of the key guiding principles to facilitate the development of transit networks with integrated on-demand and scheduled services. To achieve this goal, a thorough review of the states of practice and research was conducted. Findings from the practice review were also reinforced through ODT practitioners' engagement in Canada. This paper provides discussions on the service goals and objectives of an integrated network design and highlights the key planning requirements for developing integrated networks. At the service planning level, the paper provides a discussion on service goals, service design parameters, and scenario development of ODT service. • On-demand transit (ODT) have grown in many cities around the globe, mostly as pilot projects. • Review of the literature and practice shows that planning for ODT is based on best practices , without "built" guidelines. • Principles of planning are discussed within two applications, the network design level, and the service planning level. • Opportunities of integration and mode selection criteria are defined to integrated ODT with existing bus network. • Simulation and analytical tools are useful to complement the principles of planning in the decision-making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid advancement of 3D sensors, there is an increasing demand for 3D scene understanding and an increasing number of 3D deep learning algorithms have been proposed. However, a large-scale and richly annotated 3D point cloud dataset is critical to understanding complicated road and urban scenes. Motivated by the need to bridge the gap between the rising demand for 3D urban scene understanding and limited LiDAR point cloud datasets, this paper proposes a richly annotated WHU-Urban3D dataset and an effective method for semantic instance segmentation. WHU-Urban3D stands out from existing datasets due to its distinctive features: (1) extensive coverage of both Airborne Laser Scanning and Mobile Laser Scanning point clouds, along with panoramic images; (2) containing large-scale road and urban scenes in different cities (over 3. 2 × 1 0 6 m 2 area), with richly point-wise semantic instance labels (over 200 million points); (3) inclusion of particular attributes (e.g., reflected intensity, number of returns) in addition to 3D coordinates. This paper also provides the performance of several representative baseline methods and outlines potential future works and challenges for fully exploiting this dataset. The WHU-Urban3D dataset is publicly accessible at https://whu3d.com/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Introduced SWM 4.0 by considering Industry 4.0 technologies in waste management. • Reviewed I4.0 role in waste types, processes, and strategies of waste management. • Developed SWM 4.0 framework through smart factories, cities, businesses, and people. Smart Waste Management (SWM) discusses the waste management process for different types of waste while introducing an intelligent approach to controlling the amount of waste. This paper introduces SWM4.0, which applies Industry4.0 (I4.0) technologies in various related events. First, the paper presents a systematic literature review on the role of I4.0 technologies in SWM activities regarding waste types, waste management processes, and 5R strategies. Then, existing solutions supporting SWM4.0 are extracted to develop a framework for exploring the use of I4.0 technologies. This framework includes sharing the four main pillars that contribute to the success of SWM4.0, namely smart people, smart cities, smart enterprises, and smart factories. Furthermore, this review suggests the possibility of unifying and extending existing solutions and identifying the necessary links and interfaces for researchers. For managerial implications, the framework identifies future strategies to fulfill specific SWM tasks and to foster new technological solutions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of the technical cooperation mode in the field of hydrogen energy is of great importance in guiding technological innovation. Based on the social network analysis (SNA) and spatial network method, this paper constructs the technical cooperation graph of China's industry-university-research (IUR) tripartites in the field of hydrogen technology. Based on the performed graphs, it shows the game and evolution of hydrogen technology innovation in three stages, respectively 2000–2010, 2011–2015 and 2016–2019. Meanwhile, this paper calculates the changes of network indicators and found that: (1) the network density showed a downward trend, from the initial 0.062 to 0.003. (2) The degree centrality of the network decreased from 14.7% to 5.7%. (3) The average path length and clustering coefficient indicate that the internal connections within the network were relatively close from 2000 to 2010, and had small-world characteristics. From 2016 to 2019, although the clustering coefficient increased, the average path length also increased significantly, indicating that the internal connections of the network did not become closer. From the network characteristics, the collaborative innovation network of China's hydrogen energy industry continues to expand in scale and scope, and the cooperation relationship is stable. However, it shows the characteristics of low network density and loose cooperation relationship, gradually developing into a scale-free network. Developed provinces and cities in North and East China occupy core positions in the industry-university-research network, while other regions are gradually expanding their cooperation efficiency; however, the overall cooperation frequency is relatively low in Northeast China, and most provinces and cities in South and Northwest China are in edge positions with poor collaboration capabilities. • Network analysis sheds light on China's hydrogen energy tech cooperation via patent. • Collaborative innovation in hydrogen technology evolves through three stages. • Tight internal connections with small-world properties seen in network (2000–2010). • Network's internal connections didn't become closer (2016–2019). • Network transforms from a stable and expanding structure into a scale-free network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is no secret that decision-making around mass transit infrastructure can be highly political. Transport policy research, however, has tended to view political dynamics mainly as barriers. There is a need to better understand how and under what conditions political interests and institutions can enable mass transit projects, especially in cities which are not yet locked into car-centric transport systems. This paper addresses this gap with new inductive evidence from 32 expert interviews on the politics of bus rapid transit (BRT) in low- and middle-income countries. It develops two novel analytical frameworks, one on the politics of system adoption and another on the politics of system durability. The first framework highlights how BRT proposals often pitch broad but shallow political support against narrow yet deep political opposition. This renders them inherently contentious. Proposals move forward when their implementation generates political benefits for powerful decisionmakers. The second framework challenges the conventional view that BRT systems prove durable when their operations perform well. Instead, it posits that systems endure when their operations mitigate or adapt to adverse political feedback. The paper offers a novel holistic perspective on how to understand the politics of BRT, and presents a critical intervention in the BRT literature which has tended to focus on isolated political dynamics, such as the need for a local champion or resistance from paratransit operators. • Political analysis can strengthen policymaking for mass transit development. • BRT proposals often pitch broad, shallow support against narrow, deep opposition. • Proposals move forwards when they generate political benefits for decisionmakers. • BRT operations, in turn, often suffer from adverse political feedback. • BRT systems prove durable when operations mitigate or adapt to political feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A decision-making system of sponge facility allocation optimization is established; • The runoff coefficient grading of each sub-catchment area is analyzed; • The regression relationships between LID facilities and the control effects are built; • The layout of LID facilities is optimized and gray facilities are connected reasonably. In order to effectively cope with the destruction of natural hydrological cycle mechanism, frequent urban flood, serious water pollution and other problems, which are caused by the rapid urbanization process, the 'sponge city' concept has been widely used in China. This paper mainly focuses on how to rationally arrange the sponge grey and green facilities in built-up urban areas. With background analysis as the premise, model construction as the platform and swarm intelligence optimization as the method, the optimal proportion of sponge green facilities is determined. Furthermore, gray facilities are strengthened for the problem area, and the optimal allocation scenario of sponge facilities with the combination of gray and green is obtained through continuous circulation. The final results show that the optimal layout proportion of rain garden, sunken green space, permeable pavement and green roof are 3.88%, 7.95%, 2.01% and 0.99% respectively, which can meet the 80% runoff control rate and 40% pollution load control rate in the standard. Based on the simulation results of 50a rainfall, regulation and storage facilities are arranged near the severely overloaded node and the diameter of the overloaded pipes are increased. It can be proved that runoff and pollution can be effectively controlled and urban flood can be alleviated with grey facilities by model. The research results of this paper are expected to provide the overall idea and method of layout optimization of grey-green facilities for sponge city construction in built-up urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a spatial equilibrium model for a competitive two-city system consisting of a high-income and a low-income city. Using this model, we investigate the effects of intracity and intercity commuting subsidies on such urban performances as spatial structures, residents' utility, and social welfare of cities and the system. The three unilateral subsidy scenarios and two subsidy competition scenarios are investigated individually. Results show that intercity commuting subsidy gives residents incentives to reside in the low-income city and intercity commuting to the high-income city, while intracity commuting subsidies lead to the inflow of population. Subsidy competitions increase residents' utility and mitigate the impacts of unilateral subsidies on the social welfare of the system. A numerical example and case study based on city pairs of Jing-Jin-Ji Urban Agglomeration in China are conducted to examine the proposed model. • Establish a spatial equilibrium model in a competitive two-city system. • Investigate the effects of unilateral intracity and intercity commuting subsidies on urban performances. • Explore the subsidy competitions between cities and compare results with unilateral subsidies scenarios. • Provide a case study based on Jing-Jin-Ji Urban Agglomeration in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Airborne hyperspectral images can be used to map the land cover in large urban areas, thanks to their very high spatial and spectral resolutions on a wide spectral domain. While the spectral dimension of hyperspectral images is highly informative of the chemical composition of the land surface, the use of state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms to map the land cover has been dramatically limited by the availability of training data. To cope with the scarcity of annotations, semi-supervised and self-supervised techniques have lately raised a lot of interest in the community. Yet, the publicly available hyperspectral data sets commonly used to benchmark machine learning models are not totally suited to evaluate their generalization performances due to one or several of the following properties: a limited geographical coverage (which does not reflect the spectral diversity in metropolitan areas), a small number of land cover classes and a lack of appropriate standard train/test splits for semi-supervised and self-supervised learning. Therefore, we release in this paper the Toulouse Hyperspectral Data Set that stands out from other data sets in the above-mentioned respects in order to meet key issues in spectral representation learning and classification over large-scale hyperspectral images with very few labeled pixels. Besides, we discuss and experiment self-supervised techniques for spectral representation learning, including the Masked Autoencoder (He et al., 2022), and establish a baseline for pixel-wise classification achieving 85% overall accuracy and 77% F1 score. The Toulouse Hyperspectral Data Set and our code are publicly available at www.toulouse-hyperspectral-data-set.com and www.github.com/Romain3Ch216/tlse-experiments/ , respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Broadband infrastructure significantly boosts urban innovation. • Internet penetration rate and information technology (IT) industry are the two impact channels. • The influence of broadband infrastructure on urban innovation has significant heterogeneity. • Broadband infrastructure has a stronger effect on radical innovation than on incremental innovation. • The impact of broadband infrastructure on urban innovation has spatial spillover effect. Broadband infrastructure plays a key role in supporting innovation. This paper takes the "Broadband China" demonstration policy as a quasi-natural experiment, adopts the data of 284 cities and multi-phase Difference-in-Differences (DID) approach to explore the impact of broadband infrastructure on urban innovation. We find that broadband infrastructure significantly boosts urban innovation, the increase of internet penetration rate and the development of information technology industry are the two influence channels. Heterogeneity tests show that the boosting effect of broadband infrastructure on innovation are stronger in eastern cities, large cities, key cities and cities with better educational resources. We also find that broadband infrastructure plays a stronger role in promoting radical innovation than incremental innovation, and the "Broadband China" demonstration policy produces a positive spillover effect on nearby cities' innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A distribution dynamics approach is employed to examine the converge of TFEE across Chinese PAA level cities. • The findings show a clear convergence in TFEE. • Convergence comes more from efficiency drops in high TFEE cities than from efficiency gains in low TFEE cities. • The environmental protection polices in key cities improved energy efficiency. • Large-sized cities show better performance in energy efficiency than small- and medium-sized cities. Improving energy efficiency is considered the most direct route to reducing carbon emissions on a massive scale. To examine the long-run trend of China's energy efficiency, this paper employs a distribution dynamics approach to analyze the convergence of total-factor energy efficiency (TFEE) across 286 Chinese cities between 2002 and 2014. The result suggests the existence of convergence, which comes more from the efficiency declines in the high TFEE cities rather than the efficiency gains in the low TFEE cities. Despite the fact that a few cities have performed well in energy efficiency, the majority of cities have converged to a low-efficiency point. Further analyses show that the inefficiency was attributed to inefficient energy use in small- and medium-sized cities. Our analysis provides strong scientific support for China's ongoing energy conservation and environmental protection policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of significant environmental changes, the urgency of adopting green innovation has become increasingly apparent as a central mechanism for adjusting industrial structures in China. This transition serves not only as a crucial way to address pressing environmental challenges, but also as a fundamental strategy to improve the ecological efficiency of urban areas. Existing research mainly keeps a close eye on the unidirectional relationship between variables such as technological innovation and environmental protection. There is less relevant literature that has researched the cointegration relationship among green innovation, industrial structure, and eco-efficiency of cities. The essential role of green innovation and industrial structure in reaching a higher eco-efficiency of city are discussed in this research and the relationship among these three variables are analyzed by the evidence from cities in China from 2011 to 2019. The fact that the variables are cointegrated in the long run is evidenced by the results for the full sample. The sub-sample results report that in the eastern region, green innovation, industrial structure upgrading, and industrial structure rationalization could improve urban eco-efficiency. However, in Midwest regions where economic development is relatively backward, green innovation's effect on urban eco-efficiency is not in a significant positive way. The results obtained in this paper have implications for different cities in China to formulate corresponding policies on green innovation, industrial structure, and urban eco-efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to improve carbon emission efficiency (CEE) to achieve sustainable economic development has triggered contemplation among society and policy-makers. Previous studies have confirmed that e-commerce development can reduce local carbon emissions, but the impact of e-commerce development on CEE is unclear. This paper investigates the impact of e-commerce development on CEE and its spatial spillover effect using Chinese city-level panel data, taking the National E-commerce Demonstration City (NEDC) policy as a quasi-natural experiment. Results show that the NEDC policy significantly improves local CEE by promoting industrial structure upgrading, green technology innovation, and improving energy efficiency. The influence is more pronounced in regions with inadequate information infrastructure, unfavorable business environment, and limited marketization. However, the NEDC policy has a negative spatial spillover effect, reducing surrounding cities' CEE. The findings unveil the complicated impact of e-commerce development on CEE and offer policy implications for improving inter-regional carbon reduction synergy and low-carbon economic transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments have implemented many regulations to solve traffic congestion and pollutant emissions. Traffic restriction (TR) policy is the most common and widely used traffic regulation. However, it is difficult to alleviate traffic pollution through TR policies. Only a few studies focus on TR policies in multiple cities. In this paper, we classify traffic restrictions by geographical factors and evaluate the impact of different policies based on PSM-DID first. Then, we classify the mixed restrictions and test their effects on air pollution. The results show that TR policy improves air quality regardless of the season. Moreover, the effect of TR policy is not affected by the superposition of the type of traffic restriction. For cities implementing the same TR policy, geographic factors can lead to different outcomes. This finding provides a reference for governments in reducing air pollution. • Traffic restrictions significantly affected air quality in different regions of China. • Cities implemented traffic restrictions have improved air quality in adjacent cities. • Effect of traffic restrictions does not depend on the number of mixed restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessments of the bike-sharing industry traditionally focus on its effects on other markets, municipalities, or general well-being. This paper deviates from this on how the market is organised. Using information on the aggregate number of firms in cities and greater cities across Europe, we found non-proportional changes in market size with respect to changes in market structure. This is crucial information inferring changes in profits, costs, or degree of product differentiation. To distinguish between these three sources, we utilised additional firm-level data on capacity and type of service provided. Our results suggest that the non-proportional increase in market size after an entry is most likely associated with increased intensity of competition and new forms of offered services, i.e. product differentiation. We did not find evidence that newcomers have been entering with substantially larger capacities per capita compared to incumbents. From a policy perspective, entry into the bike-sharing industry has benefited consumers through market expansion and caused a potential decrease in profits. • A non-proportional market size increase after the entry of the second and third firms. • No association for entry barriers; no entries with larger capacity. • Increases likely associated with differentiation: entrants likely dockless or e-bikes. • Entry and competition benefited consumers through market expansion and may decrease profits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking a mixed method and comparative case study approach, this paper has analyzed the formulation process of mobility policy strategies and plans and their implementation in four Asian cities. The key findings are: (1) there was some evidence on leadership shown by mayors, governors, public transport administrators and police in all four cities; (2) limited stakeholder engagement in the whole process of policy formation to implementation and some forms of donor influence were observed in three capital cities that resulted in follow-up projects or studies; and (3) the implementation of policies and plans faced many challenges relating to leadership, resources, prioritization, and coordination among various organizations. There was much focus on the formulation of mobility policies and plans and the users could not feel a meaningful improvement to urban mobility services despite the implementation of large urban mobility projects. A comprehensive evaluation framework is proposed and used to evaluate the whole process of improving urban mobility from policy formulation to implementation. There seems to be much preference for large urban transit projects vis-à-vis infrastructure for active mobility and low-cost solutions. The research also indicates the need for meaningful public engagement so that the mobility plans take a citizen-centric approach that reflects the needs of the urban residents, rather than taking a modernistic approach with solutions more suitable for middle-income groups. Delays in the implementation of major projects also suggest that more realistic planning, scheduling, and improvement in project management and coordination is necessary. • Reviews and assesses the whole process of mobility polices and plans in Asian cities. • There was some evidence of leadership shown by mayors, governors, public transport administrators and police. • Limited stakeholder engagement in the process of policy formation to implementation and some donor influence observed. • There was much focus on the formulation of mobility polices and plans and without much improvement to mobility services. • A comprehensive evaluation framework is proposed to evaluate mobility polices and plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to study whether politicians manipulate tax policy to extract private rents. We focus on the local personal income tax in the setting of Italian cities, which is a progressive instrument that allows mayors to set different rates to distinct wage groups. We exploit discontinuities in mayors' salaries, that are based on population thresholds, to study whether mayors apply lower rates to their own tax bracket, thereby distorting tax policy. The main results document large rent-seeking activity in tax policy. First, we show that when mayors's salary is exogenously located in the following tax bracket it receives a significantly lower tax rate than the previous one, compared to the control group. Second, we show that this rent-seeking activity is highly detrimental for the public treasury, with a considerable reduction in fiscal revenues. And finally, we document that the individual gain for rent-seeker politicians is rather limited and that there is no evidence of voters' punishment in the next elections. These results suggest that when tax policy is prone to be manipulated politicians do not hesitate to engage in rent-seeking activities even in case of little returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freedom of Information (FOI) is considered a crown jewel of reforms fostering public administration transparency and accountability. However, FOI's symbolic power alone cannot overcome the organizational barriers and obstacles to its effective implementation. This paper presents the results of a field experiment performed in Italy, a late FOI adopter, where an FOI request was sent to the 307 municipalities with more than 30k inhabitants. The experimental design exploits marginal wording variation in the requests to test whether municipalities discriminate between ordinary citizens and high-profile requesters. The experimental evidence suggests that most Italian municipalities reply to FOI requests. The results show two opposite types of discretionary bias: Northern municipalities tend to favor high-profile requesters, whereas Southern municipalities tend to respond to them with a higher degree of attrition. The study investigates the determinants of this difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Research progress of observation-based ozone formation sensitivity is reviewed. • Threshold values for Photochemical Indicator methods need to be localized. • Reaction mechanisms and monitoring capability need to be improved for OBM. • Ozone formation sensitivity in China presents the gradual shifting tendency. • Dynamic regulation capability for ozone pollution control needs to be built. Observation-based method for O 3 formation sensitivity research is an important tool to analyze the causes of ground-level O 3 pollution, which has broad application potentials in determining the O 3 pollution formation mechanism and developing prevention and control strategies. This paper outlined the development history of research on O 3 formation sensitivity based on observational methods, described the principle and applicability of the methodology, summarized the relative application results in China and provided recommendations on the prevention and control of O 3 pollution in China based on relevant study results, and finally pointed out the shortcomings and future development prospects in this field in China. The overview study showed that the O 3 formation sensitivity in some urban areas in China in recent years presented a gradual shifting tendency from the VOC-limited regime to the transition regime or the NO x -limited regime due to the implementation of the O 3 precursors emission reduction policies; O 3 pollution control strategies and precursor control countermeasures should be formulated based on local conditions and the dynamic control capability of O 3 pollution control measures should be improved. There are still some current deficiencies in the study field in China. Therefore, it is recommended that a stereoscopic monitoring network for atmospheric photochemical components should be further constructed and improved; the atmospheric chemical mechanisms should be vigorously developed, and standardized methods for determining the O 3 formation sensitivity should be established in China in the near future. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work addresses the challenges of implementing shared e-scooter services (SSS) in urban areas. Despite their potential for sustainable mobility, issues like road safety and street cluttering persist. Policy regulation is crucial, and recent efforts have focused on free-floating e-scooter parking legislation. To assist decision-making, this paper proposes an agent-based framework to design SSS parking supply and evaluate its impact. The methodology is applied in Lyon, France, where the SSS is gaining more and more territory. The main outcomes show parking regulation can introduce conflicting objectives, with a reduction of SSS use due to an increase in the access and egress walking distance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Receivers and intermediary establishments typical to urban areas have unique freight behaviour and are understudied, particularly in developing countries. This paper uses establishment-based freight survey data to examine their freight generation patterns in the Chennai metropolitan area, India. Three sets of Simple Linear Regression (SLR) models, three single predictor proportional odds logit models, one multiple linear regression model, and one multiple predictor proportional odds logit model with business size (employment, area, and operational age) and indicators of establishment category as regressors are developed each for both freight production and freight attraction. Partial proportional odds logit models are developed in a few cases to overcome the limitations of proportional odds logit models. The best SLR model varied with the establishment category for freight production and attraction. The establishment area model is the best among single predictor proportional odds logit models. The multiple predictor proportional odds logit models marginally improved the fit over single predictor models. The proportional odds logit model results show that the establishment category has a greater impact on freight generation levels than business size variables. Since earlier studies rarely focused on receivers and intermediary establishments, policymakers may benefit from the developed models and study insights while estimating freight demand and developing freight policies. • Receivers and intermediary establishments' freight generation is studied. • Partial Proportional Odds (PO) logit models are developed for freight attraction. • Area model is the best single predictor PO logit model for freight generation. • Establishment type affects freight generation more than business size variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building footprint information is crucial for comprehending global urban development processes. Deep learning algorithms have shown significant potential in building extraction from high spatial resolution imagery. However, the requirement for large-scale annotated data has been a limitation for applying deep learning methods to city-level or national-level building mapping. The dynamic change and distinct landscape variation of cities in different geographic locations further emphasizes the need for automatic building footprint extraction. In this paper, we propose a Self-supervised Knowledge Transfer (SKTrans) framework for extracting building footprints from unlabeled remote sensing images over large areas. To address building tone differences cross regions and time periods, a tone shift mechanism is introduced to reduce the contrast, brightness, and saturation differences between buildings. Furthermore, considering building style diversity across different cities, a knowledge integration module is proposed to develop a comprehensive depiction including tonal differences, multi-scale variance, structural attributes and semantic confusion between roads and buildings. The effectiveness of SKTrans is demonstrated on three public datasets of WHU, Massachusetts, and Inria. To further evaluate the feasibility of large-scale mapping for automatic building footprint, global generalization experiments cross regions and time periods, which is based on imagery from five countries of different continents were implemented. The comprehensive results demonstrate that SKTrans surpasses existing state-of-the-art methods, supporting the time-series city-level building mapping without labeled dataset. Additionally, the architectural landscape pattern changes can be quantitatively analyzed based on the generalization results to facilitate sustainable urban development. Overall, SKTrans provides a new insight to meet the needs of high-precision label-free building mapping and update from large-scale multi-style remote sensing images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Robust infrastructure is essential to enhance urban productivity and support urban development. • Transportation infrastructure enhances urban productivity by promoting economic agglomeration. • Information infrastructure promotes urban productivity through labor mobility and agglomeration effects. • The promotion effect on urban productivity in eastern regions and megacities is more obvious. • Transportation and information infrastructure have positive spatial spillover effects on urban productivity. Improving total factor productivity is an important driving force for achieving high-quality economic development. Based on the panel data of 256 cities in China from 2009 to 2019, this paper investigates the effect of transportation and information infrastructure on urban productivity. The results show that transportation and information infrastructure promote urban productivity, and the effect in eastern regions and megacities is more obvious. The mechanism analysis shows that transportation infrastructure enhances urban productivity by promoting economic agglomeration, and information infrastructure enhances urban productivity by promoting labor mobility, economic agglomeration, financial agglomeration and industrial agglomeration. The spatial spillover effect shows positive spatial autocorrelation of urban productivity. Transportation and information infrastructure have significant positive spatial spillover effects on urban productivity. China should continue to promote the construction of transportation infrastructure, strengthen investment in information infrastructure, and promote the joint construction, sharing, coordination and integration of transportation and information infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The travelling salesman problem (TSP) and its variants have been studied extensively due to its wide range of real-world applications, yet there are challenges in providing efficient algorithms to deal with some of its variants. The multiple travelling salesman problem (MTSP), is the generalization of TSP, which aims to determine m − routes for ' m ' salesmen to cover a set of n − cities exactly once where each route starts and ends at a depot such that the total distance is least. In this, the number of cities in each route of the optimal solution may be distributed disproportionately. This paper presents, a bi-objective MTSP (BMTSP) with the load balancing constraint, where the first objective is to minimize the total travel distance and the second objective minimizes the total time. A metaheuristic based genetic algorithm with tournament selection (GATS) is designed by integrating with mixed strategies, such as flip, swap and scramble in mutation operation to obtain efficient Pareto solution for BMTSP. The computational experiments are carried out on different data sets, which are derived from the TSPLIB. The performance of GATS is compared with different genetic approaches and simulation results show that the proposed GATS obtained improved solutions on some of the benchmark instances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the background, setup, and results of a stated choice experiment investigating the influence of three different intersection based innovations on cyclists' route choice decisions. Next to commonly used route attributes, the following three intersection based innovations were investigated: 'Flo', a bicycle speed advice tool; 'Schwung', a bicycle - traffic light communication tool; and 'BikeScout', an intersection flashing system. The generated stated choice experiment was included in an online questionnaire that was filled out by 608 respondents who evaluated in total 3648 choice tasks. The evaluations were analyzed using a Multinomial Mixed Logit model. The model estimation results show that the commonly used route attributes (travel time, type of bicycle path facility, pavement quality level, motorized traffic speed, bicycle crowdedness, and number of traffic light intersections) have the highest influence on cyclists' route choice decisions. The impact of intersection based innovations on cyclists' route choice decisions is limited. • Most of the respondents indicated that they are not familiar with the included innovations (BikeScout and Flo/Schwung). • Most respondents indicated that they understand the meaning/working of the presented innovations after looking at movie. • Commonly used route attributes have the highest influence on cyclists' route choice decisions. • Impact of intersection related innovations on cyclists' route choice decisions is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Newly constructed areas (NCA) are continuously emerging with the development of urbanization, which, however, triggered a series of ecological and environmental issues. Therefore, monitoring NCA is of great significance for sustainable urbanization. Extraction of NCA from remote sensing images involves semantic segmentation of constructed areas and change detection. However, the acquisition of samples for training change detection models is time-consuming. In this study, we proposed a multi-task learning framework including unsupervised change detection and supervised semantic segmentation for NCA extraction. The main contributions of this study are: (1) A deep multivariate alternation detection (DMAD) algorithm was proposed for unsupervised change detection of hyperspectral images. By introducing the optimization objective of Multivariate Alternation Detection (MAD) in the loss functions, the features of changed areas can be extracted more effectively; (2) A multi-task learning framework was proposed for the joint training of DMAD change detection and supervised semantic segmentation, where the two modules were mutually optimized via semantic masks and consistency loss. Based on Orbita Hyperspectral Satellites (OHS) images, we conducted experiments in two cities (Qinzhou and Wuzhou) of Guangxi province. The experimental results indicated that the proposed method can achieve the F1-score better than existing unsupervised change detection methods (e.g., DCCA and DSFA) by an average of 15%, and the OA better than existing semantic segmentation methods (e.g., U-Net and FreeNet) by an average of 1%. The F1-score and Kappa for NCA extraction reached above 0.80 for both study areas. The implementation of this paper will be made available at https://github.com/tulilin/Multitask_NCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

City modeling and generation have attracted an increased interest in various applications, including gaming, urban planning, and autonomous driving. Unlike previous works focused on the generation of single objects or indoor scenes, the huge volumes of spatial data in cities pose a challenge to the generative models. Furthermore, few publicly available 3D real-world city datasets also hinder the development of methods for city generation. In this paper, we first collect over 3,000,000 geo-referenced objects for the cities of New York, Zurich, Tokyo, Berlin, Boston, and several other large cities. Based on this dataset, we propose AETree, a tree-structured auto-encoder neural network, for city generation. Specifically, we first propose a novel Spatial-Geometric Distance (SGD) metric to measure the similarity between building layouts and then construct a binary tree over the raw geometric data of the building based on the SGD metric. Next, we present a tree-structured network whose encoder learns to extract and merge spatial information from the bottom-up iteratively. The resulting global representation is reversely decoded for reconstruction or generation. To address the issue of long-dependency as the level of the tree increases, a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) Cell is employed as a basic network element of the proposed AETree. Moreover, we introduce a novel metric, Overlapping Area Ratio (OAR), to quantitatively evaluate the generation results. Experiments on the collected dataset demonstrate that the proposed model outperforms baseline models, such as LayoutTransformer and LayoutVAE, in terms of key metrics. Specifically, the proposed model achieves a Jensen–Shannon Divergence (JSD) of 0.0033, compared to 0.0041 and 0.0061 for LayoutTransformer and LayoutVAE, respectively. Similarly, for the Overall Accuracy Rate (OAR), the proposed model scores 1.66, significantly better than 28.24 and 19.01 for the baseline models Furthermore, the latent features learned by AETree can serve downstream urban planning applications. Project webpage is available at https://ai4ce.github.io/RealCity3D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cyclists' reactions to weather. • During COVID-19, cyclists in transit-oriented cities reacted stronger to weather. • In student cities, the weather elasticity did not change during pandemic. • Results of 2.2 million hourly bicycle count observations from 69 counting stations. Cycling can only unfold its full potential for environmental sustainability, livable cities, and health if people cycle under most seasonal and weather conditions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people preferred cycling over public transit, in order to avoid infection. This change may also have affected the weather–cycling association: the pandemic mainly attracted new, fair-weather cyclists; and it may have encouraged cyclists to continue cycling, even under less favorable conditions. In this paper, we explore how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the association between weather and cycling. We analyze data from bicycle counting stations in Germany, combined with city- and hour-specific weather information and a continuous measure of pandemic intensity. The data set contains more than 2.2 million hourly bicycle count observations from 69 counting stations, covering the years 2017–2021. Results from the most transit-oriented cities in the sample, Berlin and Munich suggest that the cycling volume was more dependent on weather conditions at times of high pandemic intensity. This suggests that the pandemic put new people in the saddle, but these additional cyclists were largely fair-weather cyclists who only cycled when the weather was sufficiently nice. For policy, this could set two targets. First, encourage the new pandemic-cyclists to stay on the bike and, second, support them in transitioning into year-round cyclists eventually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Southeastern Turkey perished by the M w 7.8, Kahramanmaras earthquake on February 6, 2023, at 01:17 UT (04:17 LT). The Kahramanmaras-centered event, hit by the break of the East Anatolian Fault Line, is felt in Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, and Cyprus on the border of Turkey. Together with Syria, it causes loss of lives and severe damage in 10 cities. This work is dedicated to the people of the region. The study discusses the causality of anomalies by conducting ionospheric anomaly research via the interpolated TEC map obtained from the CODE according to the coordinates of the epicenter of the earthquake (latitude, longitude). The TEC amplitudes are observed by evolving the time-domain TEC map into the frequency-domain with the Fourier transform. The peaks of the amplitudes allow preliminary information for the anomaly days. For the anomaly, the TEC (TECU) boundaries are drawn by the statistical specification. The TEC map outside these boundaries is marked as an anomaly. The causality of abnormalities is tried to be read through the triad of the geomagnetic storm(s) , solar activity , and the earthquake effect. One can find seven anomaly days in the paper. January 30, February 2, 3, 11, 15, 16, and 21 are the anomaly days. The essay probably detects the anomaly before 3 days related to the Southeastern earthquake. • Reads the causality of the earthquake in southeast Turkey (Mw 7.8), through the ionosphere-earth crust relationship. • Notices potential anomalies by presenting the time-domain TEC atlas in the frequency domain with Fourier spectral analysis. • Considering all possible TEC anomaly essentials detect the precursors of the earthquake 3 days before the event day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobility as a service (MaaS) is an emerging framework that integrates multiple transport services into a single and intuitive platform. This paper contrasts the urban passenger transport markets in developed versus developing economies to understand the challenges of integrating mobility services using the MaaS framework, with a focus on decarbonization and sustainability as societal goals. In addition, we conducted a Life Cycle Assessment of carbon emissions and energy requirements of travel alternatives in the city of Santiago, Chile, to shed light on the effects of multimodality as an environmental tool. A summary of findings follows. Data sharing and open data are new in developing countries, and thus more investment in data infrastructure is required so that MaaS can leverage digital technology and network optimization. If the scalability of MaaS is an open question in developed countries, it is more so in developing countries, owning to institutional and financial constraints that are present in the latter. The lack of public subsidies to support formal public transport is a key limitation for the implementation of MaaS schemes and multimodal frameworks in the developing world. Regarding formality, in countries with an informal public transport sector, a potential implementation of MaaS will be spatially constrained to those locations where public transport operates formally and frequently (BRT and rail lines), limiting its spatial coverage and posing social equity issues. In countries with scarce or no public funds available for the transport sector, MaaS could be used as a catalyst for a broad environmental and equity-seeking transport pricing reform which requires a direct involvement of public sector in both regulation and financial backing. We conclude that the formalization and general improvement of the public transport sector, the regulation of shared-mobility platforms including the formalization of the work of drivers, and the setting of proper pricing and subsidization instruments in the direction of internalizing the social costs of motorized traffic, are all prerequisites for any MaaS system that aims to improve economic efficiency, social equity, and sustainability. • Assess MaaS as a framework for decarbonization in developing world. • Discuss governance and equity issues in implementing MaaS. • Identify carbon policy for different cities to achieve sustainability. • Conduct a life cycle assessment to inform carbon strategies. • Scalability is a key challenge in both developing and developed worlds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The swift urbanization and ensuing challenges in global cities require a transition towards "intelligent" urban management. This change is motivated by the necessity to enrich the quality of life, tackling crucial issues such as transportation. How can municipal authorities effectively utilize smart city principles and technologies to enhance efficiency and sustainability in urban living? This query plays a vital role in steering urban policies and city governance towards a more sustainable and intelligent future. The paper suggests a survey-based research perspective unprecedented on "disruptive" transportation, offering a longitudinal examination (2010–2023) of cross-national comparison (ITA-UK) using a relatively large sample (No. 450 total) and divided into No.150 –UK 2023, No.150 –ITA 2023, and No. 150 Italy 2010 respectively. The sample base considers the two Capitals (London and Rome) for diversity, population size, and ongoing projects related to "smart" urban developed. Intending to offer a valuable analytical tool for policymakers, scholars, managers, and professionals, the paper primarily explores the evolutionary progression of sustainability concepts inherent in the smart city paradigm and their fusion with transportation; after the cross-national comparison is essential for highlighting mindset disparities that influence future planning endeavors for future urban transportation sector. The key findings revolve around cultural, ideological, ownership disparities and individualistic tendencies that contribute to a resistance to change. The empirical analysis demonstrates an advancement for Italy compared to previous years, but still cautious particularly concerning the adoption of shared mobility alternatives, which also presents a viable solution for increasing the adoption of electric vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Granada Basin (Spain) is a Neogene sedimentary depression with irregular geomorphology and deep depocenters. It is located in the most seismically hazardous part of the Iberian Peninsula with an historically experienced extremely destructive earthquakes, followed by periods of low to moderate seismicity. In 1980s the Chevron Oil Company collected a set of 30 deep seismic reflection sections in this Basin of which only the results on paper are kept. Due to the fact that many of these seismic profiles are currently located in urban areas and the economic cost of carrying out a similar exploration, it was decided to recover these old data and apply a post-stack treatment to improve their quality. The purpose of this study is to show the applied reprocessing flow and, with the new sections, to present a spatial model of the basin. The first stage of recovery and enhacement of seismic sections has consisted in three phases: first, high-resolution scanning of paper copies to TIFF images followed by the transformation of TIFF images to SEG-Y format; second, poststack processing workflow to increasing resolution and lateral coherence of these seismic lines; and third, it has been used a machine learning algorithm, among others, increasing the spatial resolution, signal-to-noise ratio, and coherence of the seismic signals. In addition, basement horizons, as well as three sedimentary sequences, were identified in all seismic sections and interpolated to create a three-dimensional basement model composed by normal faults, horst and grabens related to the seismotectonic behavior of the basin. As an overall assessment, this work is an example of the usefulness of 'recycling' legacy seismic data, which nowadays are usually in archived boxes, but at the time required a great economic and acquisition effort. [Display omitted] • Reprocessing of old seismic sections using Machine Learning within the workflow processing. • Updating basement model from reprocessing legacy seismic sections. • The velocity model has been updated to show changes in depocenters depth, such as Cubillas, 300 m deeper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Editorial summarizes the papers published in the Special Issue on "People-Environment-Infrastructure Relationship in Future Cities", highlighting the importance of people-environment-infrastructure interactions in future cities. While the topics are wide-ranging, a common theme of all papers is the need for future cities to embrace changes. These changes may come from climatic change, urban decays, human disruptions, technological advancements, human behavioral changes, and rising expectations. All these changes have implications on urban infrastructure, including green infrastructure, blue infrastructure, and grey infrastructure. The ultimate aim is to enhance urban sustainability and resilience. Worldwide, there is an urgent need for municipal governments, industry and individuals to be aware of the changing people-environment-infrastructure interactions. In particular, it is important to consider people's needs and the local contexts when planning future cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a study of the behaviour of already debt-ridden local governments in response to the Made in China 2025 policy, this paper explores whether local governments prioritized State interests over local interests, when their financial involvement was required. Deploying a panel data analysis for more than 280 prefectural-level cities, this paper finds that, despite having been subject to an "Administrative Subcontract" arrangement under which the Central Government appoints top local officials, local economic/debt interests were prioritized over national policy implementation under fiscal decentralization. Instead of promoting infrastructure development, the Made in China 2025 policy provided an opportunity for local governments to raise capital via Local Government Financing Vehicles (LGFV) primarily for debt refinancing, despite the State's numerous attempts to control the growth of local government/LGFV debt. Some policy implications concerning i) the effectiveness of national policy implementation on local levels under "Administrative Subcontract" and ii) the debt situations of prefectural-level Chinese cities and their effects on China's economy in general are then discussed. • National policy required local government investment under fiscal decentralization. • Local leadership faced with dilemma between career prospects and mounting debt. • Prefectural-level cities prioritized local interests over State interests. • The Made in China 2025 policy triggered further accumulation of local debt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial reform serves as a crucial measure for implementing structural reforms in the supply side of finance, with the aim of improving the financial system and financial services. Undoubtedly, it can enhance the competitiveness and sustainable development capabilities of cities. However, little is known about whether and how the financial reform pilots (FRPs) implemented in China since 2012 have affected urban resilience. Therefore, this paper treats FRPs as a quasi-natural experiment and uses the DID model to investigate the impact of financial reforms on urban resilience. Subsequently, heterogeneity effects, transmission mechanisms, spatial spillover effects and superimposed policy effects are also further discussed. Empirical results demonstrate that: (1) FRPs can enhance urban resilience and this fact has been confirmed by various robustness tests. (2) Regarding sub-resilience, FRPs can substantially improve economic, social, and infrastructure resilience without any obvious effect on ecological resilience. (3) Technological innovation and industrial agglomeration are vital channels through which FRPs affect urban resilience; and the resilience-enhancing effects of FRPs are more prominent in core cities, cities with advanced development of internet finance, and higher levels of marketization. (4) FRPs exhibit positive spatial spillover effects and enhance the resilience of surrounding cities. Meanwhile, FRPs and broadband China pilots (BCPs) have a positive cumulative effect on improving urban resilience. Overall, this paper illuminates the importance of financial reform in fostering urban resilience, and provides valuable recommendations for financial reform and the development of resilient cities. • FRPs can significantly enhance urban resilience. • FRPs have differential impacts on sub-resilience. • Technological innovation and industrial agglomeration are vital impact channels. • The effectiveness of FRP policies is related to urban characteristics. • FRPs exhibit positive spatial spillover effects and superimposed effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the response of Athens, Greece, to the Covid-19 pandemic in relation to its un(der)documented immigrant populations. It argues that both the national and local levels of governance exhibited a "paradigmatic pragmatism" in their approach to the crisis. The study employs an interpretivist lens and utilises qualitative in-depth interviews and document reviews. By examining Athens as a case study, the paper highlights the significance of the urban scale in migration policies, emphasising the role of governance models, past migration experiences, and civil society. The development of a parallel vaccination program for un(der)documented immigrants is examined as a notable example of the pragmatism of both governance levels and local citizenship practice. The study aims to contribute to the understanding of local-level immigrant policies and the role of cities in the context of citizenship politics. By drawing lessons from major crises like the pandemic, it aims to inform the development of more inclusive migrant policies and effective governance structures while promoting new perspectives on membership, such as local citizenship. • Analysing Athens' pandemic response for local-level immigrant policy insights. • The vaccination program for the un(der)documented as an exemplification of local citizenship • Athens' case reveals the significance of the urban scale in migration policies. • Governance models, local experiences and civil society shaped Athens' response. • Both national and local levels showcased a 'paradigmatic pragmatist' attitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extent and mechanisms of the influence of cultural factors on China's population flow have yet to be fully revealed compared to the influence of other factors, such as the level of socioeconomic development. From a network perspective, this paper examines the influence of cultural ties represented by dialect similarity on the tie formation and strength of China's population flow networks. The results are as follows: during the Spring Festival travel rush, dialect similarity increases the probability of tie formation but doesn't influence the strength of ties in China's population flow networks in 2019; however, dialect similarity hinders the tie formation and the increase in the flow intensity in the change of China's population flow networks from 2019 to 2022. During the daily period, more similar dialects between the two cities increase the likelihood of forming network ties and exhibiting stronger levels of population flow in 2019; dialect similarity significantly facilitates tie formation, but it does not affect the flow intensity in the change of China's population flow networks from 2019 to 2022. The results reveal the different influencing effects of dialect similarity in different periods, which is important for revealing the influence mechanism of cultural ties on population flow. • This paper examines the influence of cultural ties on the population flow networks in China in 2019–2022. • The dialect similarity represents the cultural ties. • Binary and valued exponential random graph model (ERGM) and stochastic actor-oriented model (SAOM) are applied. • Cultural ties have different influences on the population flow networks and their changes during different periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of intensifying floods exacerbated by climate change, especially in coastal cities, there is a pressing global demand for effective flood risk governance and adaptation strategies. Such strategies are often informed by indigenous knowledge, aiming for a life in harmony with water and utilising amphibious living concepts to minimise flood impacts, preserving homes and livelihoods. In Indonesia, however, like in many nations in the majority world, these strategies tend to compete with and indeed to be dominated by imported technocratic, top-down, and inflexible planning approaches oriented on principles of the kind of 'classical planning' that had its hey-day in the Western world in the early decades following World War II. Like many nations in the majority world, Indonesia has long imported and continues to apply Western technocratic, top-down, and inflexible classical planning approaches. This paper criticises existing practices for failing to yield contextual development strategies that address site-specific urban issues and fall short of meeting the needs of the majority of the population. We explore the extent to which informal settlements, or kampungs of North Jakarta, can incorporate principles of flood adaptation incorporating local, livelihood, and indigenous knowledge. Fishers for instance reclaim land using shell mounds and construct stilt houses, ensuring coastal floods do not enter their homes and that water does not stagnate but can instead quickly drain due to the permeable land surface. Often, however, planning authorities in Jakarta have classified such flood-adapted built environments as illegal slums necessitating removal instead of adopting and encouraging the further development of site-specific settlement strategies generated by the community. This paper then argues that authorities in Jakarta, and potentially in other cities within the majority world, should consider adopting planning approaches that are more adaptive, flexible, and collaborative to pave the way for inclusive development founded on the experience and the aspirations of the community, including those who are marginalized. • Jakarta's susceptibility to flooding is inluenced by its natural water-abundant environment, rapid urbanisation, and legacy of colonial planning that encourages flood control over traditional architecture, leading to the eviction of kampung communities under stringent planning laws. These communities have historically adapted to flood conditions through indigeneous knowledge and practices, yet such adaptability is threatened by top-down planning that disregards local expertise and community collaboration. This research contributes to the discourse on spatial planning and flood management by advocating for adaptation strategies that respect local knowledge, aligning with current debates on decolonisation and spatial planning, and providing a methodological basis to understand the inadequacies of existing policies in addressing urban flooding in the majority world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent discussions within urban planning support nature as a potent ally to facing climate change in cities. Among all, nature-based solutions (NbS) and their upscaling have been proposed to address climate change challenges in the urban environment. Different visions on how NbS uscapling is advanced in the urban context, by whom, and for what purpose have generated conflicting imaginaries by which the city of the future could look like. Yet, this plurality has generated confusion and controversies on the 'right way' to perform NbS upscaling. Stemming from urban sustainability transition and governance research, the paper proposes a working definition of upscaling NbS based on three analytical dimensions: discourses, practices, and relations. The combination of the three dimensions suggests a new understanding of the complex phenomenon of NbS upscaling that implies the effort of different actors to frame a winning picture of NbS to be normalised as an implementable solution in the pursuit of a selected nature-based future imaginary. The paper argues for an alternative perspective on human–nature relationship that puts at the centre nature and considers tradition and locality for NbS upscaling for a greener and more just future in cities. • NbS upscaling can be seen as a pathway to pursuing a specific urban future of human–nature relationships. • Literature on urban sustainability transition and urban governance offers insights on how to study NbS upscaling in cities. • Future studies allow us to conceptualize NbS upscaling as a process of 'futuring' to enact socio-natural imaginaries. • Discourses, practices, and relations make up for different conflicting socio-natural imaginaries of the urban future. • NbS upscaling is not about the invention of new technology but rather the rediscovery and use of traditional solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization, characterized by a high concentration of population in cities, presents significant societal challenges. High population density, inadequate living conditions, and mental health problems underscore the need for innovative concepts to mitigate or reverse urbanization's effects. This paper proposes Dynamic Living Space (DLS), a transformative concept aimed at decentralizing urban populations by extending city-like benefits to non-urban settlements. In the DLS, urban benefits are extended to sparsely populated or potentially uninhabitable regions, such as forests, mountains, and undersea areas. We created a normative scenario for the DLS by utilizing a multifaceted methodological approach, including expert interviews, group discussion, illustrated visualizing, and an international workshop. This research also outlines a roadmap for realizing the DLS by 2050 and discusses ethical, legal, and social issues and their solutions. By decentralizing urban benefits, the DLS concept could reduce the drawbacks of urban concentration, reduce infrastructure maintenance costs, and diversify areas of innovation. • This paper proposes "Dynamic Living Space (DLS)," a concept of society and lifestyle providing urban benefits anywhere. • A normative scenario of DLS was derived using a multifaceted approach. • Urban functions were categorized into 14 drivers of change and six flexibilities based on people's and society's needs. • The social image and lifestyle of the future vision were visualized as illustrations. • Population concentration issues in urban areas, like disaster risks and mental health problems, can be mitigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformative adaptation (TA) places emphasis on changing the underlying causes of climate risk. Little is known about how TA can be achieved in practice in southern African cities. This paper reports on a set of criteria, derived from the literature and transdisciplinary engagements, for taking TA from theory into practice. These are: fundamental/sustainable changes in thinking and doing; inclusivity; challenging power asymmetries; demonstrability; responsive and flexible; and holistic, complex systems thinking. These criteria were explored through five water-related projects in Durban (South Africa) and Harare (Zimbabwe), which were identified by actors as having transformative potential to reduce urban climate risks. The study suggests that trade-offs might need to be made between several of these criteria, with strong synergies between others. Challenging power asymmetries is important in southern African cities where adaptation should change the structures of society that give rise to highly differential climate vulnerabilities. Challenging power structures largely requires true inclusivity and an equal stake in shaping decisions as opposed to tokenistic participation. While TA is needed in southern African cities, the complexity of these contexts and the scale of TA ambition introduces practical challenges when compared with incremental adaptation, i.e. small changes to existing practices to reduce climate impacts within the current development paradigm. Given such practical limitations, the paper concludes that TA in southern African cities might pragmatically be attempted as part of a process of ongoing learning to identify opportunities for gradual restructuring and expanding, in scale and ambition towards transformation. • Incremental adaptation achieves demonstrable results quickly. • Transformative adaptation needs to expand activities gradually in scope and scale. • Trade-offs exist at points along the incremental-transformative continuum. • Greater inclusivity in transformative adaptation introduces governance challenges. • Going beyond incremental adaptation requires challenging power asymmetries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper takes Beijing as a case to study regional economic resilience. • We systematically explore the effects of COVID-19 on industrial dynamics. • Individual-owned firms located in high-risk regions are more vulnerable. • The epidemic shock leads to cascading effects among the local industrial network. The COVID-19 epidemic has altered the economic geographies of cities. However, the academic focus on urban industries and their structural dynamics is far from enough. In this paper, we integrate literature from economic geography, business studies and network sciences, and design an adaptation framework to theorize urban economic resilience. Taking the COVID-19 outbreak in Xinfadi, Beijing during the summer of 2020 as a case study, we use Logit regressions and DID estimations to identify the impacts of the epidemic on local industrial dynamics. Our results support that the COVID-19 outbreak significantly increases the number of business exits. The negative impacts are concentrated in high-risk regions, pointing to specific industries and individual-owned firms. Furthermore, we use a machine learning method to visualize the dynamics of industry networks in a small-scale urban area, and then simulate the transmission paths of industry-failure. In doing so, we contribute to current economic resilience literature that firm-level adaptation and industrial dynamics complement regional adaptation theory, while the cascading effects in the industry network underpin the micro foundations of resilience formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This empirical study investigated WFH's impact on air quality and mechanisms. • WFH reduced the intra-city travel intensity (ITI) by 65.0 % and the AQI by 26.3 %. • ITI completely mediated WFH's impact on air pollutants NO 2 and PM 10 emissions. • WFH has the potential to become a sustainable urban development strategy. Working from home (WFH) arrangements are already acknowledged as a sustainable measure for alleviating urban congestion and air quality issues, but fewer large-scale empirical studies investigating the benefits and mechanisms of WFH on air pollution (AP). The exogenous shock of the epidemic provides unique conditions that enable us to conduct empirical studies on the positive impacts of working from home. Building upon this background, this paper designs a series of empirical models to investigate the benefits of WFH on AP and the mediating effect of intra-city travel intensity (ITI) concerning the WFH-AP relationship to depict the mechanism of the impact of WFH on AP. This paper collected panel data on ITI and AP from January 1 to March 15, 2020, in 19 cities in China for regression analyses. The findings indicate that WFH reduces ITI by 65.0 %, while an increase in ITI leads to higher AP emissions, particularly of NO 2. WFH positively impacts urban air quality, resulting in a 26.3 % decrease in the Air Quality Index (AQI) and reductions of 17.2 %, 4.1 %, 32.7 %, 18.8 %, and 13.6 % for the five air pollution categories (CO, NO 2 , PM 2.5 , PM 10 , SO 2) respectively. Intermediate analyses demonstrated that ITI partially mediated the decrease in AQI, PM 2.5 , and CO, while PM 10 and NO 2 showed complete mediation. However, ITI had a weak mediating effect on SO 2 emissions. The contribution of this study is that it provides supporting evidence that working from home positively impacts urban air quality and commuting. Additionally, it offers urban administrators a fact-based approach to traffic management and environmental protection, pointing to important directions for future urban sustainability strategy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast to previous studies by using provincial data, this paper employs city-level data from 260 prefecture-level cities in China between 2011 and 2020 to explore the underlying mechanism of how digital inclusive finance promotes the realisation of common prosperity in China. In addition, this paper incorporates financial deepening theory, financial exclusion theory, long tail theory, digital divide theory and technology driven theory to examine the proposed research questions. Through system-GMM and IV estimation, the results show that common prosperity is composed of development, sharing and sustainability. The high level of the weight of the first-level indicators for development and sharing reflects the importance of "prosperity" and "sharing" in common prosperity. Digital inclusive finance plays a significant role in promoting the development of urban common prosperity, with a more pronounced effect in the Eastern cities when compared to the Central and Western cities. In addition, digital inclusive finance is found to promote urban common prosperity by overcoming the digital divide and by improving the activity of urban innovation and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the degree of marketisation is suggested to exert a positive role in regulating the impact of digital inclusive finance on common prosperity. • Common prosperity is composed of development, sharing and sustainability. • Digital inclusive finance plays a significant role in promoting the development of urban common prosperity. • Digital inclusive finance is found to facilitate regional entrepreneurial vitality and, consequently promote urban common prosperity by overcoming the digital divide and by improving the activity of urban innovation and entrepreneurship. • The degree of marketisation is suggested to exert a positive role in regulating the impact of digital inclusive finance on common prosperity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban morphology and spatial forms shape a city's character and user behavior, often embracing a particular type of people and unwelcoming other kinds of gender. City design policies and legislation have favored men since its beginning, affecting overall urban planning and design. While the world is delving into new techniques and methods to empower women, constraints in public space activities remain prevalent. This paper explores the scope of urban design strategies to catalyze women's social and physical inclusion in these spaces. It presents a systematic approach to identifying women's social roles during the use of public spaces and introduces the 'GenUrban: Shaping Cities for All Genders' framework to guide researchers and designers alike promote inclusive urban design and planning. The investigation, in the central area of Hong Kong, focuses on the cultural landscape created by the women-centric 'Foreign Domestic Helpers' community. A desktop literature review, direct observation of public spaces, and in-depth interviews with a focus group of women in the city's heart established and mapped the marginalized users' collective viewpoint and their appropriation of space. The framework can be used by professionals to transform urban spaces through a gender lens to improve the overall quality of public spaces and make them more inclusive and accessible. The paper generates gender-sensitive urban design principles that can be translated for planners to use for various user groups and contexts. When women become key drivers in activating public space, they are given back their right to the city. • Women's traveling patterns are frequent due to their caregiving responsibilities. • The unique cultural landscape of a city creates gender-centered activities. • Integrating gender-specific features ensures urban spaces cater to women's needs. • Reliable public transport is vital for women's mobility and engagement in city life. • A city catering to women tends to accommodate those they care for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]