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As the global community strives to address the pressing challenges of environmental degradation and social inequality, the role of architecture in promoting sustainable development has gained unprecedented significance. This paper explores the intrinsic connection between architecture and sustainable development, focusing on Egypt as a case study. The research follows theoretical and practical application methodology, where case studies and solutions are applied. Egypt, with its rich historical heritage and rapidly urbanizing cities, presents a unique context to investigate how the built environment can contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined by the United Nations. This study adopts a multidisciplinary approach, integrating architectural analysis, urban planning principles, environmental science, and social studies to examine the various ways in which architecture influences and interacts with sustainability goals. Case Studies include two locations in Egypt as future concepts to solve problems: Downtown Cairo and Nubia-Aswan, where ideas were introduced towards a better quality of life. The findings of this research underscore the importance of collaboration between various stakeholders, such as government bodies, non-governmental organizations, architects, and the public, to create a holistic approach to sustainable architectural design and urban planning towards resilient communities. The paper also emphasizes the need for education and awareness campaigns to foster a culture of sustainability within the architectural and construction sectors. Proposed projects were introduced in the International Union of Architects (UIA) World Congress of Architects in Copenhagen 2023 and published in UIA Guidebook 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, there has been an increasing effort to promote energy efficiency, using renewable energies and electric mobility to achieve a more sustainable future and even carbon neutrality by 2050. This paper aims to understand if combining these technologies leads to a win–win solution. For that, the system's characteristics that will be used for the simulation were defined as a residential community consumption scenario with and without electric vehicles charging overnight. The simulation was completed in software, and eight scenarios were tested: high population density/low population density with/without electric mobility and hourly tariff/simple tariff. After these scenarios had been tested, the conclusion was that the low population density and hourly tariff without and with electric mobility were the best two cases economically (in terms of levelized cost of energy, net present costs, and savings) and environmentally, and the worst was high population density with hourly tariff and electric mobility. Other scenarios were then tested, including changes in the load curve, namely a commercial load curve, and changes in the load curve of electric vehicle chargers, mainly daytime charging. The conclusion was that even though the initial hypothesis did not lead to a win–win solution, with changes in the hypothesis, the integration of electric mobility in energy communities might lead to that. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporations develop, own, operate, and direct a majority of all assets in the built environment (BE), and the development and operation of these assets is a significant component of global sustainability. In recent years corporate sustainability action for large companies has trended toward becoming embedded within corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) programs. However, ESG strategies and their impacts are only beginning to be understood by large corporations, with little definition for how to apply, measure, and assess the effectiveness of ESG practices. Every industry sector has some connection to the BE, and construction engineering, and management (CEM) professionals contribute to all phases of the BE life cycle, including development, design, construction, and operations. As such, CEM professionals are vital in developing and implementing sustainability practices specifically for corporations with large footprints in the BE. The purpose of this research was to assess the extent to which the BE is impacted by corporate sustainability practice through ESG programs. The research utilized a grounded theory approach to explore sustainability practices directly associated with the BE from companies within all 11 Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) sectors. It presents a representative model that encapsulates current organizational ESG strategy, through the development of ESG action categories. A total of 24 different ESG action categories are presented and defined. The research further identifies those ESG actions commonly applied by large corporations and how these actions differ by GICS sector. This research indicates that over half of corporate ESG actions are related to the BE. Ultimately, this paper demonstrates the necessary role that CEM professionals should play in influencing sustainability practice through ESG strategy and action within the BE. Practical Applications: ESG is a rising topic in corporate sustainability and is becoming increasingly tied to financial instruments such as sustainable investment indexes or green bonds. The rise of ESG presents both a challenge and an opportunity for CEM professionals. Large entities are expected to publish ESG reports sharing their sustainability progress, including entities in which CEM professionals are key figures, such as power utilities. The advent of ESG reporting presents a challenge to CEM professionals because they need to learn to navigate ESG reporting or risk losing access to valuable funding opportunities when subject to ESG measurement and evaluation. It also presents an opportunity for CEM professionals because they are uniquely qualified to lead ESG efforts as BE experts. ESG and the BE are strongly related, with most ESG work being environmental in nature. CEM professionals have been actively involved in improving the sustainability of BE assets as they relate to the environment for many years. To leverage this experience, CEM professionals need to take an active part in recommending improvements to corporate ESG strategy. Corporations themselves must also actively seek to engage CEM professionals in their ESG decision making processes and advisory boards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) significantly impacts human health, well-being, and productivity. However, a comprehensive and in-depth review of the combined effects of IAQ and other multi-domain factors on human productivity is lacking. There has not been any prior review that encapsulates the impact of multi-domain factors on productivity and physiological responses of occupants. To address this gap, this review paper investigates and highlights the impact of IAQ and multi-domain factors (thermal, visual, and acoustic) on human productivity and occupant well-being in the built environment. The review explores various research methods, including evaluation of human productivity and creativity, data collection, and physiological signal analysis. We also examined the interactions between IAQ and multi-domain factors, as well as strategies for optimizing productivity through integrated building design and smart systems. The key findings from this review reveal that IAQ significantly impacts human productivity and occupant well-being, with interactions between IAQ and other IEQ factors further impacting these effects. Despite advances in the field, there are several limitations and gaps in the current research methods and study designs, including small sample sizes, limited and insufficient experimental design and control, reliance on laboratory or simulated environments, lack of follow-up and long-term data, and lack of robust performance metrics. The review proposes future research directions, including specific applications, and follow-up work to address these limitations and further advance the understanding of IAQ and multi-domain factors in the built environment. The implications of this review for policy and practice include the need for holistic and integrated approaches to IAQ and IEQ management, with a focus on creating healthy and productive indoor environments. This review emphasizes the importance of considering the complex interplay between IAQ and multi-domain factors, as well as the potentials of adopting smart control systems and sustainable design strategies to optimize productivity and occupant well-being in the built environment. By addressing these critical issues, we can enhance the overall quality of life for building occupants and contribute to a more sustainable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing the need for curbing private motorization and car dependency while reducing inequalities associated with transport requires an in-depth understanding of the individual and collective practices, attitudes, and experiences of urban accessibility and mobility of populations across diverse socio-economic backgrounds. This paper builds on qualitative research methods and a framework of transitions to sustainable mobility to examine the links between travel needs, preferences, attitudes, and structural factors such as urban form, poverty, and informality at different scales. It proposes qualitative methods and evidence for accessibility-centred analysis to enrich policy and practice in cities across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), using Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, as a case study. While the volume of literature on urban mobility, accessibility, and land-use in SSA is increasing, scholarship on cities in Western Africa remains limited. The study examines four neighborhoods with different levels of access and motorization. It interrogates participants' perceived accessibility, how they shape differentiated everyday mobility and land-use practices at the individual and collective level, and its implications for urban accessibility and sustainable mobility in the medium to long-term future. We found that perceived accessibility influences everyday mobility and land-use practices and the attitudes of individuals in diverse communities toward sustainable mobility by driving them to trade off immediate needs with long-term risks and exposures, imaginaries of motorized futures, as well as collectively transform the functional and physical configurations of the built environment to address their most critical needs in the absence of suitable top-down transport and land-use interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a well-known issue that the 2050 target of carbon emissions neutrality will be reached only with the co-operation of all the interested sectors, and the construction sector could be one of the main contributors to this change. With the built environment globally responsible for about 40% of annual global energy-related CO2 emissions, the construction sector offers an important opportunity to drive transformative change and presents the most challenging mitigation potential among all industrial sectors, which also brings opportunities for adopting sustainability practices and increasing resilience. This paper presents a systematic literature review of those two pivotal concepts to reach the decarbonization goal: sustainability and resilience. Starting from an extensive literature review (2536 scientific documents) based on the PRISMA statement, the definitions and assessment methodologies of those concepts for the construction sector have been studied. The methodological approach followed for their analysis has been conducted on a first selection of 42 documents, further reduced to 12 by using clear inclusion criteria to identify the integrated assessment procedures. The main goal of this study is to clarify the correlation between sustainability and resilience concepts for constructions and their integrated assessment, in line with the latest regulations and market needs. The results show that, currently, sustainability and resilience are mainly evaluated in a distinct way to obtain building energy performance certificates, as well as to quantify the building market value and its complementary contribution to the 'energy efficiency first' principle and energy-saving targets towards the emergent issue of climate change. Few works focus on the integrated assessment of both concepts considering the construction industries' point of view about materials and/or systems for buildings. The novelty of this study is the critical review of the current sustainability and resilience integrated assessment methods used for the construction value chain, declined for four main target groups. Researchers, policymakers, industries, and professionals could gain dedicated insights and practical suggestions to put in practice the elements of circular economy, ecological innovation, and cleaner production, which are essential in order to drive the decarbonization of the built environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Threats to the health of our environment are numerous. Much research in science and engineering is devoted to documenting, understanding, and attempting to mitigate the harm itself. The root challenge for sustainability, however, is human behavior. As such, changes to human behaviors and the internal processes that drive them are also essential. Critical to understanding sustainability‐related behaviors is the individual's conceptualization of the natural world and its components and processes. The papers in this topiCS issue address these conceptualizations by drawing from anthropological, linguistic, educational, philosophical, and social cognitive perspectives as well as traditional psychological approaches to the study of concepts and their development in children. They engage with many domains bearing on environmental sustainability including climate change, biodiversity, land and water conservation, resource use, and design of the built environment. They coalesce around four broad themes: (a) What people know (or believe) about nature broadly and about specific aspects of nature, and how they acquire and use this knowledge; (b) how knowledge is expressed and shared via language; (c) how knowledge and beliefs interact with affective, social, and motivational influences to yield attitudes and behaviors; and (d) how members of different cultures and speakers of different languages differ in these ways. The papers also point to lessons for advancing sustainability via public policy and public messaging, education, conservation and nature management, and design of the built environment. The root challenge for environmental sustainability is human behavior. Critical to understanding sustainability‐related behaviors is the individual's conceptualization of the natural world and its components and processes. The papers in this issue address these conceptualizations by drawing from anthropological, linguistic, educational, philosophical, and social cognitive perspectives as well as traditional psychological approaches to the study of concepts and their development in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we argue that the theory of cultural niche construction provides a cogent and fruitful framework for studying and managing human−environment relationships, including our conceptualizations of them. We first review the development of the ideas of niche construction from evolutionary to social contexts. We then discuss how various human cognitive and affective goals are achieved through our engagement and interaction with the environment, as cognitive and affective niche construction. We extend this analysis to the built environment, as urban niche construction, and provide two examples of urban design for which niche construction provides useful theoretical and practical insights. We also discuss how different urban policy initiatives are related through the lens of cultural niche construction. This paper proposes the theory of cultural niche construction as a framework to conceptualise, model and manage human‐environment relationships towards sustainability. It illustrates how to do these with two cases of urban niche construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability rating systems for the built environment involve a multitude of indicators that are based on different types of data. This work capitalizes on an existing multicriteria assessment method and supporting decision-making tool at building and neighbourhood scale, to develop an enhanced method and tool at city scale. The main sustainability issues at building and city scales include site and infrastructure, energy and resources consumption, environmental loadings, climate change, environmental quality, water, waste, transportation, services, social aspects, economy and governance. Approximately 300 indicators distributed among the different scales are used to describe and quantify the various facets of sustainability. Specifically, the building scale includes a pool of 80 indicators of which 17 are key performance indicators (KPIs), the neighbourhood scale has 133 indicators of which 14 are KPIs and the city scale has a total of 99 indicators of which 10 are KPIs that were new additions to the existing method. The emphasis in this paper is given on elaborating the key performance indicators for cities and demonstrating their applicability through a case study. The common method and tools provide a flexible assessment system for local authorities and stakeholders to develop and assess sustainability plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental product declarations (EPD) to EN 15804 provide information about the embodied carbon dioxide of construction products – their life cycle greenhouse gas emissions – alongside reporting the use of renewable and non-renewable primary energy and secondary fuels, among the other environmental indicators. As the number of EPD to EN 15804 increases, they become a useful data resource to consider these impacts. In moving towards a reduction in the embodied carbon of products, it is necessary to use renewable energy resources efficiently to allow the transition to net zero; this is because of the increasing demands on renewable energy to decarbonise industry, transport and domestic energy consumption and the limited capacity to expand renewable generation. This paper reviews published EPD data for structural and reinforcing steels, cement, bricks and structural timber products, and considers, for the cradle to gate 'product' life cycle stage, exploring the relationship of embodied carbon with embodied energy (total energy used), the balance of renewable and non-renewable energy, and the efficient use of energy. It is found, for bricks and timber, that EPD show products that use a greater percentage of renewable energy have higher embodied energy, suggesting a less efficient use of renewable energy for these products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the industrial revolution, the civil engineers who created a built environment for a civilisation that is based on fossil fuel have been admired. For over 250 years, engineers have been educated and trained for the 'upslope' of using ever more resources to fuel engineering needs. However, there is now an urgent requirement to enter an era that is an order of magnitude shorter, and which is on the steep 'downslope' towards net-zero carbon dioxide by 2050 or earlier. The difference between what it meant to be an engineer on the upslope and what it means to be engineer on the downslope is colossal. The first step for all educators is to realise this, to embrace it and to be part of the solution by instilling a downslope mentality in engineering students. The Joint Board of Moderators (JBM) has recently reviewed and updated its guidelines for universities. It has placed the climate emergency central to the education of future civil engineers. This paper describes the background to, and details of, the changes made by the JBM. Given that creativity is enhanced through these additional challenges, what could possibly be more exciting for today's engineering students than knowing that they will lead the profession in achieving massive reductions in emissions, to the benefit of all humanity? The JBM, and society, require of civil engineering education that this ambition is fulfilled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well established that the existing building environmental assessment methods and sustainability assessment methods are intended to foster detailed design stage while there is a need to support early design stages. This research intends to develop a framework that actively supports design development at the formative design stages. The paper reviews the well-established building environmental assessment methods: CASBEE, LEED, BREEAM and GRIHA, and the existing sustainability assessment methods: iiSBE's Sustainable Building Tool (SB Tool), German Sustainable Building Council's Certificate Program (DGNB), Living Building Challenge (LBC) and ARUP's Sustainable Project Assessment Routine SPeAR®. Further, well-known theories of ecological Sustainability are reviewed. The critical points of convergence and divergence of anthropocentric and biocentric approaches are identified to articulate the parameters of sustainability assessment. Specialists in the sustainable built environment assigned weights for assessment parameters (criteria) by applying the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Their specialist opinions manifest the particular features of the Indian context. The paper delineates the Biocenosis, a novel framework for sustainability assessment of the built environment rooted in the concept of the synergy of nature with social, economic, environmental and cultural benefits for the context of India. It is intended to aid building professionals in the formative design phases as it enables an integrated and comprehensive assessment of the level to which the requirement of a sustainable built environment is satisfied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The burden of childhood obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors affecting newcomer Canadians living in lower socioeconomic circumstances is a concerning public health issue. This paper describes Strengthening Community Roots: Anchoring Newcomers in Wellness and Sustainability (SCORE!), an academic-community research partnership to co-design interventions that nurture and optimize healthy activity living (HAL) among a community of children and families new to Canada in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Methods/Design: Our overarching program is informed by a socio-ecological model, and will co-create HAL interventions for children and families new to Canada rooted in outdoor, nature-based physical activity. We will proceed in three phases: Phase 1) synthesis of existing evidence regarding nature based HAL interventions among children and families; Phase 2) program development through four data collection activities including: i) community engagement activities to build trustful relationships and understand barriers and facilitators, including establishing a community advisory and action board, qualitative studies including a photovoice study, and co-design workshops to develop programs; ii) characterizing the demographics of the community through a household survey; iii) characterizing the built environment and HAL programs/services available in the community by developing an accessible real-time systems map; and iv) reviewing municipal policies relevant to HAL and sustainability; leading to Phase 3) implementation and evaluation of the feasibility of co-designed HAL programs. Conclusion: The etiology of childhood obesity and related chronic diseases is complex and multifactorial, as are intervention strategies. The SCORE! program of research brings together partners including community members, service providers, academic researchers, and organizational leaders to build a multi-component intervention that promotes the health and wellness of newcomer children and families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability is a global goal of sustainable development aimed at ensuring a quality life on the Earth for the future generations. Buildings, infrastructure and the entire built environment should be better prepared for the new conditions—they should be sustainable, resilient and adaptable to new situations. This requires new technical solutions for the construction, reconstruction, and modernization of buildings and all other engineering structures. Concrete is gradually becoming a building material with great potential for realizing technical solutions that meet new requirements, leading to the necessary reduction of environmental impacts and consequent improvement of social and economic conditions. The paper presents implementation of sustainability principles in the new fib Model Code 2020 (MC2020). This represents a contribution of the International Federation for Structural Concrete (fib) to the achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), set by the United Nations in 2015 as an action plan for the period up to 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hillside planning, design, and development require an intensive understanding of human habitats, man–environment interaction, hill environment sensitivities, spatial planning, and design issues to ensure contextually appropriate development. Although numerous tools, techniques, and frameworks have been developed and implemented to assess urban sustainability, these have not been applied to environmentally sensitive hilly areas, nor have their appropriateness been determined. Therefore, this paper aims to develop a new urban sustainability assessment tool (USAT) named the "Sustainable Urban Development of Environmentally Sensitive Hilly Areas Suitability IndeX (SUDESHA-SIX)" to evaluate the sustainability of hillside settlements using an analytical hierarchy process. The methodology combines descriptive and deductive analytical techniques and geographic information systems-based statistical methods. SUDESHA-SIX was first developed some years back and was applied to the New Tehri Township as it received the National Award for Excellence in planning and design in hills in the year 2000 by the then Prime Minister of India. The results showed that out of the six broad factors, "site suitability" was ranked as the most critical factor of environmentally sensitive hilly areas, followed by "built environment," "environment and ecology," "climate and energy," "transportation and connectivity," and "visual resources." When applied to existing projects, the developed tool provided a more objective and detailed information on the urban sustainability of hilly areas, which could help architects, planners, designers, and decision-makers develop strategies to improve the overall urban sustainability of hilly regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomimicry is an interdisciplinary approach to study and transfer principles or mechanisms from nature to solve design challenges, frequently differentiated from other design disciplines by its particular focus on and promise of sustainability. However, in the biomimicry and biologically inspired design literature, there are varying interpretations of how and whether biomimetic designs lead to sustainable outcomes and how sustainability, nature, and mimesis are conceptualised and engaged in practice. This paper takes a particular focus on the built environment and presents a theoretical overview of biomimicry literature spanning across specific fields, namely architecture, philosophy, sustainability and design. We develop upon conceptual considerations in an effort to contribute to the growing calls in the literature for more reflective discussions about the nuanced relationship between biomimicry and sustainability. We further develop a 'Biomimicry for Sustainability' framework that synthesises recent reflective deliberations, as a possible direction for further theorisation of biomimicry, aiming to elaborate on the role of biomimicry as a sustainable design methodology and its potential to cultivate more sustainable human-nature relations. The framework is used as a tool for retrospective analysis, based on literature of completed designs, and as a catalyst for biomimetic design thinking. The objective of this paper is to serve as a point of departure for more active and deeper discussions regarding future biomimetic practice in the context of sustainability and transformational change, particularly within the built environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the focus on embodied carbon within the built environment has grown in the U.S., local jurisdictional codes have increasingly proposed and implemented code language that requires the use of concrete mixtures that have reduced environmental impacts. This paper provides details about the various ways that localized sustainable concrete provisions have been proposed and implemented in the U.S., including limits on cement content and Global Warming Potential (GWP). These laws and code revisions vary in their measurement of low-carbon concrete and their exemptions and incentives. While the current version of the ACI Building Code, ACI 318-19, does allow for the consideration of sustainability in concrete design, specifics about how the relative sustainability of concrete mixtures and systems are to be measured and compared are not included. This paper addresses how the changing landscape of local jurisdictional codes is driving the development of future ACI 318 provisions to play a part in providing more consistency in the application of sustainable design practices in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to draw on an in-depth qualitative case study of an undergraduate sustainability education course to show the extent of pedagogical reflection and teaching capability demonstrated in lived practice to support transformative, systemic and capability building learning processes, as advocated in the literature, for effective sustainability education. Design/methodology/approach: Transformative learning and capability building are an essential part of sustainability education according to the growing body of literature. This approach to education, however, necessitates critical, learner-centred pedagogies which challenge traditional transmissive modes of teaching. Findings: This paper finds that pedagogy which supports the learning experiences and outcomes advocated in sustainability education literature requires significant reflection on behalf of the educator and also motivation, capability and experience to do this, thus more research and academic support is needed which focusses on pedagogical development within sustainability education. Originality/value: Literature on sustainability education often assumes that teachers are capable of reflecting on and transforming their pedagogical practice, and therefore, the pedagogical implications of sustainability education are often understated in research findings. This paper highlights why pedagogical reflection plays a crucial role in the effective implementation of sustainability education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Some of the main urban issues we currently face include ageing populations, the impact of the built environment, and the treatment of urban ecosystems. Yet the dynamic relationships and synergies between these issues, and how they are influenced by urban growth and evolution, receives little attention. Research focus: We explore the nexus between people, the urban built environment, and ecosystems as they grow, age, change, and evolve and propose an integrated approach to examine the relationships, synergies, and challenges that may emerge over time within urban neighbourhoods. We argue that this should draw on the lived-experience and wisdom of older people as part of an intergenerational approach underpinned by local, traditional, and ecological knowledge. We propose Growing Older Urbanism as an ecological, co-evolutionary, and complex-adaptive-systems-based framework to explore the nexus between ageing, the built environment, and urban ecosystems and to reveal the synergies and antagonisms that might exist between these three elements. This framework is designed to be used for various types of urban neighbourhoods, and by a diverse range of stakeholders. As part of this approach we provide a preliminary visual canvas to illustrate how the framework might be used within a selected neighbourhood over an agreed timespan. Conclusion: This paper presents some early thinking around the Growing Older Urbanism concept, while also outlining questions and a proposed transdisciplinary research programme to further develop the framework. We argue that understanding the relationship between ageing and the co-evolution of people, place, and ecosystems may teach us about our past, present, and future, and help us grow towards inclusive and sustainable communities. Science Highlights: • The nexus between ageing, the urban built environment, and urban ecosystems is highlighted. • The potential synergies between people, the built environment, and ecosystems as they age and evolve are scrutinised. • The important role for ageing, wisdom, lived experience, and local knowledge in urban transformation is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multifunctional nature-based solutions (NBS) can help urban areas become more climate proof and adaptable and provide a range of societal goals. Alongside chronic impacts from climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic has illustrated the disruption that unexpected and acute shocks can bring to society. Measures such as NBS can help reduce the vulnerability of urban areas and increase resilience. Traditional infrastructure planning relies on strong business cases to demonstrate the economic value of a scheme. Numerous approaches assign economic value to the benefits from using NBS. However, this value is more than what can be accounted for by traditional finance methods, as there are many different perspectives on 'value'. Decision making processes for selection of NBS measures require stronger integration of these value perspectives. This paper considers these perspectives in the business models that are being used in the decision processes regarding use and selection of NBS. Examples are drawn from case studies in the EU Begin project and also from the Living with Water partnership in the UK, which illustrate how value perspectives can be included in business cases for NBS, also signposting the need to account for potential future changes using scenario planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, sustainable development represents a global challenge, especially in urban centers. In this sense, it is urgent that, in the public policies implemented by municipal governance, there are strategic actions related to the preservation of the environment (environmental dimension), the reduction of social inequalities (social dimension), the promotion of local economic growth (economic dimension), the conservation and dissemination of cultural traditions (cultural dimension), as well as the search for a balance between the built and natural environment (spatial dimension). Thus, it is urgent and necessary that the design plans of cities contemplate all dimensions of sustainability, thus enabling a concrete and effective sustainable urban development. Indeed, the objective of this study is to verify the relationship of public policies, developed in Fortaleza, with all the axes of urban sustainability, especially the one that contemplates the management of natural assets in the city. The methodological procedure is qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive. A bibliographic and documental survey was carried out (articles, scientific papers, and documents produced by the public power) through which the main sustainability public policies developed in Fortaleza were listed and presented. Then, the alignment of the objectives, goals, and actions described in these legal instruments was verified, as were the practices related to each of the dimensions of sustainability. It was observed that among the actions planned and implemented by the local government, all the dimensions of sustainability are contemplated, and a specific axis for governance is also present in these plans. It is important to emphasize that there are also specific plans or projects for the management of natural resources and maintenance of environmental quality, showing that in the urban space of Fortaleza there is a search for balance between the built and natural environments, focusing on the reduction of socio-environmental vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource conservation, sustainability, quality, and cost control have been considered significant issues for the construction sector worldwide. Green Lean Six Sigma not only improves quality, process flow, resource conservation, and environmental performance but also minimizes cost, waste, and lead time. The construction sector in Pakistan is struggling to adopt sustainable and quality-oriented practices. In this context, this paper aims to identify Green Lean Six Sigma enablers from the perspective of Pakistan's construction industry. Interpretive Structural Modelling consolidated with the Fuzzy Matrice d'Impacts Croises – Multipication Applique a classement technique, was employed to establish an ISM model and measure fuzzy indirect interactions, strengths, effectiveness and categorization of enablers. The findings signify that the most significant driving enablers are government support and incentives, availability of financial resources, top-management determination to enhance sustainability, and organizational capability and quality maturity level for GLS operations. These results could facilitate practitioners, policymakers, and government by providing insights to promote GLS methods for the sustainable growth of the construction sector. This study will assist practitioners and policymakers in developing appropriate strategies considering the intricate relationships and intensity of influence among Green, Lean and Six Sigma enablers during GLS adoption. Researchers can identify and analyze the elements related to their industries and country. Society will benefit in terms of health and the environmentally friendly built environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable buildings can save 36% of total energy use, 65% of electricity consumption, 30% of greenhouse gas emissions, 30% of raw materials use, 30% of waste output, and 12% of potable water consumption. Several sustainable building assessment tools were used by both developed and developing countries. However, Ethiopia's buildings were not critically assessed and evaluated from a sustainability point of view because there was no such type of study conducted so far. This paper aims to explore the most significant and widely used tools as well as the basis for other sustainable building assessment tools, such as Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM), Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE), Sustainable Building Tool (SBTool), Comprehensive Environmental Performance Assessment Scheme (CEPAS), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB), and Green Mark and Green Star. The methodology employed is the selection of the 10 most commonly and widely utilized sustainable building assessment tools (SBATs) from the 57 SBATs based on desk review and document analysis. The results of the study identified that all 10 SBATs have their own assessment categories and criteria based on many factors, such as climatic conditions and availability of resources, plus methods employing demographic dynamics and legal aspects of the sector for assessing the sustainable/green buildings. It distinguishes the most commonly and repeatedly used assessment categories and criteria and uses a consensus-based approach with experts in the building sectors, a four-quadrant model, and a circular and helical flow model, to develop a new sustainable building assessment tool suitable for Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing companies create, maintain and develop an important part of the built environment. Besides their core activity of providing housing, they can increasingly also mitigate societal problems and contribute to social, environmental and financial sustainability. One contribution to sustainability by housing companies is to create meaningful activities for tenants that benefit their employability, skills, careers, and physical and mental wellbeing. These 'activity interventions' are used as a vehicle to create social value. However, it is unclear what sort of impact these interventions have, and how they affect housing companies' financial value. This paper investigates: (1) Swedish housing companies' initiatives to provide meaningful 'activity interventions' for tenants; (2) what value these interventions create; and (3) how social value creation relates to financial value. Observations and interviews (n = 23) with Swedish housing companies are mapped onto a social value creation framework. The findings reveal several types of employment, educational and leisure activities that have been created for tenants, and the areas in which these initiatives create the most social value. Social value creation is often used as risk management to mitigate issues related to criminality, welfaredependent tenants and decreased property values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green buildings have gained increasing relevance and market share in recent decades. Also, higher education institutions are progressively incorporating the conceptualisation of sustainable development by greening campuses. Thus, given the construction sector relevance in climate change mitigation and the role universities have to play as models for society, the purpose of the present paper is twofold. First, the authors develop a baseline study to determine the extent to which green buildings' features and certifications are being incorporated in public Chilean higher education institutions, as a first of its kind effort in the higher education sector in Chile. Second, the authors explore the opportunities that can support the advancement of campus greening through green buildings deployment on university campuses in Chile. This study follows a qualitative strategy approach in the form of a survey design based on the UI GreenMetric World University Ranking that was administered through an online questionnaire to representatives who hold the position of Sustainability or Infrastructure Heads in public universities, which are united in the Chilean State Universities Consortium. The main findings suggest a general maturation process of green building features´ incorporation on campuses at Chilean public higher education institutions in early or transitional stages. The leading indicators relate to open space, pedestrian paths, and efficient appliances, whereas the reported performance is lower with respect to sustainability budget, zero emission vehicles, and greenhouse gas emission reduction programmes. The opportunities identified for promoting the implementation of green buildings relate to three entrenched dimensions: research, promotion, and public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban liveability is a global priority for creating healthy, sustainable cities. Measurement of policy-relevant spatial indicators of the built and natural environment supports city planning at all levels of government. Analysis of their spatial distribution within cities, and impacts on individuals and communities, is crucial to ensure planning decisions are effective and equitable. This paper outlines challenges and lessons from a 5-year collaborative research program, scaling up a software workflow for calculating a composite indicator of urban liveability for residential address points across Melbourne, to Australia's 21 largest cities, and further extension to 25 global cities in diverse contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural disasters are responsible for causing significant damage to built environments and its consequent homelessness. This subject is notable in developing countries, specifically when they are located in earthquake-prone areas. After extensive destruction due to such incidents, authorities are confronted with numerous economic, social, and environmental complications in the implementation of housing solutions. Temporary housing (TH) is a short-term solution enabling communities to return to their routine activities by providing a minimum level of housing requirement. To accelerate the recovery procedure, resources should be carefully managed and a sustainable plan concerning economic, social, and environmental complexities should be developed. Therefore, this paper investigates the shortcomings of the existing TH solutions and uses prior experiences to propose a sustainable TH solution for an extensive area of Iran with a hot-arid climatic condition. Accordingly, the result is a TH system using earthquake rubbles in modular gabion containers. It was found that such a method could increase the occupants comfort level up to 8.61% while reducing a project's carbon footprint compared with the existing solutions. The proposed system assists authorities in confronting disasters with a more sustainable TH plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban areas are highly complex systems, with interconnections between their political, economic, social, natural and built environments components, and each with its own unique priorities and contexts. They are also facing key global and local sustainability challenges such as a changing climate, air pollution and waste, all of which also present risks for population health. Improving urban sustainability can provide co-benefits for population health; however, the effectiveness--or unintended consequences--of policies or actions can depend on the behaviours and relationships in the wider urban system. The papers published in this special issue explore issues related to urban sustainability and health, including urban design and environmental justice, scale, and informal settlements. The papers also describe issues at the interface of different system components, demonstrating the systemic challenges that can act to enhance or prevent sustainable change. The complexity of urban environments presents challenges for research and policy, both of which can be reductive, and conducted independent from other disciplines or government departments. However, by moving from this siloed approach towards a broader systemic understanding, there are opportunities to develop and implement evidence-based solutions that have the potential to lead to significant improvements in sustainability and health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As climate change threats to urban centres become more alarming, cities are proposing ambitious plans to adapt to climate impacts. These plans are increasingly subsumed within urban development projects, and embedded in global flows of capital and networks of environmental governance and planning. And yet, scholarship on urban adaptation has tended to approach the city as an analytically bounded territory, neglecting interconnections across space and processes of globalisation, urbanisation, and geopolitics. This paper extends theories of relational geographies to explore the emerging conditions of urban adaptation in the context of climate change and globalised urban development. Focusing on the global links of Dutch water expertise, and tracing relationships within and between Rotterdam, New York, and Jakarta, it illustrates the formation of global-urban networks – the multiscalar, multilevel connections through which capital, knowledge, and influence flow. It probes the ways in which these networks emerge to mobilise ideas and influence across geographical scales and political boundaries, driven and defined by interrelated factors including economic relationships, historically defined situational relationships, and interface conditions including narratives of culture and environmental urgency. The paper introduces the concept of 'network formation' to see and understand such interconnected, relational processes. It explains the spatial and temporal interconnections within and across sites, and the relationships between urban spatial projects and broader political economies and ecologies. The paper asserts the importance of conceptualising the relationships and interfaces of increasingly mobile and interconnected urban environmental futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World Cities contribute to a massive amount of carbon emissions. About 80% of the global greenhouse gasses are emitted from these cities. The sustainable practices should be adopted in built environment for these cities. As an example, a residential neighbourhoods in arid climate has been discussed as a case study in practice in this paper. It has been developed to implement the sustainable strategies and concepts. It demonstrates a mixed-use community which integrates the sustainability dimensions to improve the quality toward sustainable living in a small community (about 4000 persons), allocated in Dubai land area. This paper aims to highlight the sustainable practices in the arid zones and to give an overview about the performance of the clean energy and renewable in these areas. The studied development has been selected to evaluate such techniques and strategies in the gulf region (Dubai). Various environmental categories such as; on energy, water, mobility, energy consumption of the buildings and infrastructure, urban green spaces, solid waste management and urban farming, have been appraised in this study. It has been noticed that the urban design proposed reduces its potable water consumption by 40% and for energy demands by 57% compared to conventional households. The solar production can cover around 38% of the energy consumption on average. Many challenges face the sustainability movement in the region, especially, the affordability and feasibility in such harsh climate zones areas. This manuscript opens new perspectives about the prioritization that should be considered for adopting the sustainable strategies in arid climate. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The feeling of deeper connection and affection for nature has intensified only in the last few decades, enhanced by knowledge about the disturbance of the natural balance, so that sustainability and environmental awareness have been transposed into all segments of human activity. The concept of sustainable architecture refers to the structure and application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource efficient during the life cycle of a building. This approach allows us to reduce our impact on the environment in ways we could not even imagine before, but is that enough? Damage reduction was the standard, but currently only a slowdown in the degradation of the natural system can be achieved, but not a solution on how to repair the damage done over the years by uncontrolled construction. Instead of becoming neutral in the environment, it is necessary to learn how we can interact with nature by using the ecosystem as a basis for action. In this context, the emergence of regenerative development and design represents a significant evolution in the concept and application of sustainability. Regeneration uses biomimicry or the study of ecological systems to model patterns and find solutions to human problems. The aim of the paper is to show another narrative whose basis of action is inspired by nature and the ecosystem, while respecting the sense of place. The answer to the question of what is the difference between sustainable or green architecture and regenerative approach is given, and the potential of biomimicry as one of the strategies of regenerative design is explored. Based on this research, the aim is to present the new role of nature as an inexhaustible source of inspiration in the world of architecture and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of sustainable development and green management on the performance of an educational facility with a view of enhancing the learning environment and increasing students' achievement in Nigeria. A sequential examination of the benefits of green features and barriers in their adoption was carried out. The data for the study relied on a study sample of 400 respondents comprising university teachers, "in-resident" building professionals and postgraduate students of a built environment selected from four renowned universities in the south-west region of Nigeria. An ideation framework was constructed and multilevel analysis performed to evaluate perceptions on associated factors alongside the variable items. The low recognition of basic green benefits by the respondents was, to some extent, the result of unfamiliarity with the discussed concepts. In view of barrier factors deterring the implementation of concepts, the lack of government intervention, unavailability of formulated policies, lack of inclusion of the sustainability concept in the school curricula, and unavailability of capacity training for professionals in the building industry, were perceived to be the prime factors. The paper concludes that all stakeholders have cogent roles to play at an individual level when it comes to eliminating barriers, initiating concepts, and realizing the desired facility performance capable of ensuring a sustainable learning environment as well as promoting academic excellence in the Nigerian educational sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Increasing awareness of environmental concerns is leading a drive towards more sustainable structural materials for the built environment. Natural fibres such as flax and jute have increasingly been considered for fibre-resin composites, with a major motivation for their implementation being their notable sustainability attributes. This paper is part of an ongoing effort by the author to demonstrate the structural properties of primary structural elements and members fabricated from natural fibre composites of flax and jute. Previously the structural properties of flat plates, plain channel sections and channel sections with complex stiffeners were investigated under pure compression. This paper presents investigations of channel sections with complex stiffeners under pure bending. A series of sixteen channels with varying geometries, complex stiffener arrangements and composite thicknesses were tested in pure flexure. Material tests indicated that the mean tensile elastic stiffness and strength values were 6386 MPa and 55.1 MPa for flax, and 6941 MPa and 62.1 MPa for jute. The experimental results indicated that flexural failure of the channel sections was governed by tensile fracturing. The ultimate moment capacities varied from 1.043 to 1.501 kNm for four-layered composites, and 2.184 to 2.511 kNm for six-layered composites. The analytical models predicted the experimental ultimate moment capacities well, with a mean and coefficient of variation of the test to predicted ratio of 0.97 and 0.06, respectively. Finite element models used progressive damage analysis via stress-based damage initiation models and damage evolution laws, to replicate the tension fracture failure mode of the channels. The numerical models predicted the experimental ultimate moment capacities well, with a mean and coefficient of variation of the test to predicted ratio of 0.99 and 0.06, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current context of the necessary sustainability transition of the built environment, it is widely recognized that buildings are a major contributor to the energy consumption of fossil fuels and the emission of CO 2 . Most of the debates, policies and research are however dedicated to the sole construction of new very efficient (up to zero-energy) building, neglecting the potential of actions on the existing building stock. In this context, we argue that LCA tools are of a huge interest to objectivise the need to refurbish old buildings, in order to increase their energy efficiency and extend their life span, and to compare this strategy to the demolition/reconstruction of buildings. To achieve this aim, this paper aims at updating an existing tool that enables to carry out the life cycle assessment of buildings, by taking into account demolition and construction phases. Then, the tool is applied to one case study of the low-energy refurbishment of a public office building in Brussels, to compare the impacts of the complete demolition followed by a complete reconstruction (rebuild project) to the retrofitting of the existing building (retrofit project). Our main findings confirm the huge impact of the use phase, highlight the impact (energy and CO 2 emissions) of the construction and demolition phases and show that the in-depth renovation of this building leads to lower environmental indicators compared to its full reconstruction. The tool and results provided in this paper support the development of policies in favour of the retrofitting of the existing building stock and highlight the importance of including the whole life cycle of the building in the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing process of global urbanization has shifted the discourse from ‘developmental mechanistic’ towards ‘sustainable and ecological’ view. Global cities must also transition toward more dynamic, sustainable, healthier and smarter futures. However, the supportive transition theories, trajectory agendas, methodologies and pathways are currently under-investigated. This introductory paper provides an overview of the twenty-seven papers included in this special volume, with the objective to document the key lessons learned and to catalyze theoretical dialogue about the evolution of smart cities, healthy cities, eco-cities, and regenerative cities. These authors reviewed how these aspects of evolving cities are measured, monitored and implemented across different geographic, time and cultural contexts. After reviewing and mapping the obstacles and enablers in implementing transitions towards smarter, healthier, sustainable, regenerative, post-fossil carbon, urban societies, the authors of this introductory article provide insights into practical pathways and examples of best practices of their implementation in multiple social, cultural and climatic contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although an explosion of new building materials are being introduced into today's market, adequate up-front research into their chemical and physical properties as well as their potential health and environmental consequences is lacking. History has provided us with several examples where building materials were broadly deployed into society only to find that health and environmental problems resulted in unintended sustainability consequences. In the following paper, we use lead and asbestos as legacy building materials to show their similar historical trends and sustainability consequences. Our research findings show unintended consequences such as: increased remediation and litigation costs; adverse health effects; offshoring of related industries; and impediments to urban revitalization. As numerous new building materials enter today's market, another building material may have already been deployed, representing the next “asbestos.” This paper also proposes an alternative methodology that can be applied in a cost-effective way into existing and upcoming building materials, to minimize and prevent potential unintended consequences and create a pathway for sustainable communities. For instance, our findings show that this proposed methodology could have prevented the unintended incurred sustainability costs of approximately $272-$359 billion by investing roughly $24 million in constant 2014 U.S. dollars on up-front research into lead and asbestos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthy built environments place people and communities at the heart of urban planning, encouraging decision-making based on human health, well-being and environmental sustainability. This paper describes the development of a set of indicators to assist in this endeavour—by translating and linking the research evidence base with policy-makers and other practitioners. The paper describes how the indicators were chosen, contextualized and subsequently structured to maximize useability for urban planners and health professionals working together to improve community health and neighbourhood sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance gap between simulation and reality has been identified as a major challenge to achieving sustainability in the Built Environment. While Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) surveys are an integral part of better understanding building performance, and thus addressing this issue, the importance of POE remains relatively unacknowledged within the wider Built Environment community. A possible reason that has been highlighted is that POE survey data is not easily understood and utilizable by non-expert stakeholders, including designers. A potential method by which to address this is the visualization method, which has well established benefits for communication of big datasets. This paper presents two case studies where EnViz (short for "Environmental Visualization"), a prototype software application developed for research purposes, was utilized and its effectiveness tested via a range of analysis tasks. The results are discussed and compared with those of previous work that utilized variations of the methods presented here. The paper concludes by presenting the lessons drawn from the five-year period of EnViz, emphasizing the potential of environmental visualization for decision support in environmental design and engineering for the built environment, and suggests directions for future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In urban sustainability, passive cooling energy systems are recognised as primary design factors that highlight efficient and performative buildings. In the literature, there is a gap in addressing these design systems in the form of strategies that holistically suggest sustainable energy systems, cleaner built environments, and urban sustainability. This study fills this gap by conducting a comprehensive SWOT analysis of all major passive cooling energy systems. In doing so, the study highlights key implications from a multi-indicator perspective comprised of five primary indicators, 'energy', 'policy', 'practice', 'health', and 'environment'. These indicators are significant for disciplines of sustainable energy systems and the built environment. Through an in-depth interdependency evaluation of these indicators, this study assesses the passive energy systems across three spatial levels of macro, meso, and micro. Finally, this paper provides a holistic overview of these sustainable energy systems from the policy and practice perspectives across the three spatial levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deepens the conceptualisation of territory as a key dimension of the production of socionatures within Urban Political Ecology (UPE) in order to better understand the emerging citycentric politics and territorial projects to effect change at multiple scales. The industrial district, and Superfund site, the Duwamish River Valley in Seattle, is used as a space to examine how the production of territory plays an integral role in how people perceive cities as leading sites to address global and local socionatural problems, which will be called eco-cityism. Two vignettes are provided to illustrate these points. The first looks at the politics of Superfund cleanup, and the second looks at the attempt to build an Eco-Industrial District. The vignettes demonstrate that the contradictions of territorial politics give rise to both possibilities and limits to producing cleaner urban processes and landscapes. Additionally, they show how marginalised groups within the city engage with the politics of territory and place as they participate in the production of spatial relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why does everyone think cities can save the planet? Contemporary planning interventions promise salvation via spatial fixes that might reduce carbon emissions, boost metropolitan economies, and allow urban society to thrive in spite of rising seas and climate disasters. New wetlands, floodgates, and other adaptive infrastructures allow water to coexist with urban space; new parks, such as New York's High Line and Chicago's 606, celebrate the interweaving of built and natural environments and suggest how outmoded infrastructure can be repurposed for civic benefit. While the climate dilemmas at hand are historically new, the use of landscaped environments in the service of solving social problems is not. Dating to the first generation of urban park development in the 19th century, planners have deployed green spaces as solutions to various cultural, political, and economic conundrums of the city. Offering an historical parallel and counterweight to investigations of contemporary urban–environmental dynamics, this paper investigates the period of park development that occurred in the 19th century in North America and Europe, using Chicago's Olmsted-designed South Park (the contemporary Washington and Jackson Parks) as a case study. I argue that green spaces' distinct nexus of (1) normative cultural meanings around nature, (2) power relations bound up in dominant landscape aesthetics, and (3) direct link to the economic realm via the structuring of land values have made green space development a powerful 'cultural fix': a means of using social space to mitigate perceived social crises. Understanding the historical foundations of green spaces' use as cultural fixes can inform contemporary analyses, particularly as new landscape ideologies emerge as part of broader green urbanism development and climate change adaptation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greenhouse gas emissions originating from the built environment play a significant role towards climate change. Carefully planning the future of the building sector is key to mitigating these emissions. Addressing this problem by using a predictive approach may miss possible futures that cannot be anticipated. Using explorative scenarios to perform futures analysis helps widen the range of futures taken into account, which minimises this risk. Tools that use scenarios to help study the resilience of sustainable solutions for the UK urban environment are already available. However, they do not facilitate in-depth analysis of future household energy demand. This paper considers how one such tool, 'Designing Resilient Cities' (DRC), could be modified appropriately. It includes (a) a series of indicators representing factors affecting the energy demand in dwellings and (b) their characteristics for each scenario to complement the narratives in DRC. As a case study to validate these additions, the resilience of a recommendation to decrease domestic electricity consumption is evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular economy (CE), the new 'buzzword' in urban and regional studies and policy debates, is about shifting from a linear production process towards a circular one in which the generation of waste is minimised, materials circulate in 'closed loops', and waste is not considered a burden but rather a resource that brings new economic opportunities. However, while there is a consensus on the need to facilitate a transition towards a circular economy, the governing of this endeavour remains extremely challenging because making a circular economy work requires cutting across sectoral, scalar, and administrative boundaries. Drawing on the sustainability transitions literature and the case of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, arguably one of the frontrunners on the strive towards a circular built environment and economy, the paper seeks to identify and understand barriers for CE transition at a regional scale. The findings underscore the multi-faceted nature of the challenge and offer lessons for the governance of emerging regional circular spatial-economic policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current climate change is calling for a drastic reduction of energy demand as well as of greenhouse gases. Besides this, cities also need to adapt to face the challenges related to climate change. Cities, with their complex urban texture and fabric, can be represented as a diverse ecosystem that does not have a clear and defined boundary. Multiple software tools that have been developed, in recent years, for assessment of urban climate, building energy demand, the outdoor thermal comfort and the energy systems. In this review, we, however, noted that these tools often address only one or two of these urban planning aspects. There is nonetheless an intricate link between them. For instance, the outdoor comfort assessment has shown that there is a strong link between biometeorology and architecture and urban climate. Additionally, to address the challenges of the energy transition, there will be a convergence of the energy needs in the future with an energy nexus regrouping the energy demand of urban areas. It is also highlighted that the uncertainty related to future climatic data makes urban adaptation and mitigation strategies complex to implement and to design given the lack of a comprehensive framework. We thus conclude by suggesting the need for a holistic interface to take into account this multi-dimensional problem. With the help of such a platform, a positive loop in urban design can be initiated leading to the development of low carbon cities and/or with the use of blue and green infrastructure to have a positive impact on the mitigation and adaptation strategies. • Reviewed assessment methods for the urban environment. • Critically analysed papers working on urban climate and energy demand, outdoor thermal comfort and the urban energy systems. • Demonstrated the links between the processes. • An integrated workflow is proposed for assessment of the urban environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To meet greenhouse gas emission targets, at global, national and sector level, reduction opportunities should be explored in both the embodied and operational carbon of the built environment. One underexploited option to reduce embodied carbon is the reuse of structural steel. However, in the UK, work by Sansom and Avery (2014) suggests a picture of declining levels of reuse. This paper explores why this is the case by identifying the practical barriers to structural steel reuse through a series of semi-structured interviews with UK construction industry members. Whilst there were many identified barriers, five practical barriers were prioritised as being most significant: cost, availability/storage, no client demand, traceability and supply chain gaps/lack of integration. These contrast with those most commonly identified in global literature: cost, supply chain gaps/integration, risk, jointing technique, composite construction and time for deconstruction; with only two overlaps: cost and supply chain gaps/integration. Many of the barriers from literature have a technical focus (reducing salvage yield rather than completely preventing reuse) differing from the largely systemic barriers that the interviews prioritised. These systemic barriers will need to be dealt with first to increase reuse rates. This will require a coordinated approach across the UK construction supply chain. Building on interview insights, this paper proposes four mechanisms to overcome these systemic barriers: (1) the creation of a database of suppliers/reused section availability, (2) a demonstration of client demand (3) technical guidance and education for the construction industry and (4) government leadership. Together these mechanisms would improve reuse rates in the UK, reduce the embodied emissions of the built environment and play a crucial role in meeting greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Densification is the key intervention strategy proposed in the urban sustainability planning literature. Nevertheless, the blueprint for action is still vague, and especially so in small cities. Is, for example, the premise for and reward of densification relatively transferable between city scales? In addition, does difference in centre structures and distribution of facilities in small cities have an implication for active travel? By focusing on three Norwegian small cities, this paper addresses how built environment and attitudes influence active travel behaviour in small cities with different centre structures. Using descriptive statistics, ANOVA test and negative binomial regression on survey data, the paper finds that attitude towards active travel as well as accessibility significantly influence walk/bike trip frequency. Moreover, variation in small-city centre structure has an important implication for active travel but the effect varies between facility types. • Theoretical premise on the causal mechanism between urban form and travel behaviour in small city context is laid out. • City-scale built environment factors are strong predictors of average accessibility by active modes in small cities. • Attitude towards active modes strongly contributes to the propensity for active travel when alternative modes are available. • Distribution of facilities that optimizes active travel in a small city differs by facility categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of multi-owned housing (MOH) is often viewed as a step towards built environment sustainability. However, this view does not hold true if MOH developments are improperly managed by their owners. The existing research studies conclude that the quality management of an MOH development hinges on its owners' collective efforts. But the findings are divided over why one MOH development is successfully managed by its owners while another one is not. This paper aims to fill the research gap. From a collective action perspective, it first synthesized the key exogenous factors of MOH management. It then investigated the relationship between the factors and MOH management outcomes using survey data. The paper found that apart from the physical features of an MOH development (e.g. development age and scale), the attributes of the owner group (e.g. group size and agent) and the institutions governing the development management (e.g. deed of mutual covenant) played an important role in shaping the management outcomes. These findings have far-reaching implications for housing management policies intended to motivate MOH owners to take good care of their properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the spatiotemporal characteristics of shared e-bike commuting is crucial for promoting transit-oriented sustainable urban development. Shared e-bikes have been widely encouraged and supported by authorities around the world. However, studies on exploring commuting identification and demand factors for shared e-bikes are rare. Taking Ningbo as an example, this paper presents a commuting identification method for shared e-bikes based on the Density-based Spatial Clustering of Application with Noise (DBSCAN) algorithm. The geographically and temporally weighted regression model (GTWR) was constructed to reveal the spatiotemporal impacts of the built environment, transportation facilities, social economy and weather conditions on demand for shared e-bikes. The results show that schools, working population, parking lots and subway stations are positively correlated with the morning and evening rush hour demand in terms of time dimension. In the spatial dimension, the companies, living-service areas, schools and parking lots around subway stations, downtown and CBD are also positively correlated with the rush-hour demand. Rainfall and suburbs are negatively correlated with commuting demand. Low-income work areas, public parking lots around companies without a dedicated parking lot, and traffic congestion areas such as the city center are high-demand spots for shared e-bikes. When the subway station connection is promoted during rush hours, the demand for shared e-bikes in the parking lots is reduced. Off-peak commuting of enterprises also leads to a drop in demand for shared e-bikes. The results of this study can provide more comprehensive support for commuting management, essential policy significance for government agencies and shared e-bikes operators, and guiding significance for promoting sustainable urban development. [Display omitted] • This paper tackles spatiotemporal characteristics of shared e-bikes commuting demand. • Parking lots around companies without dedicated parking lots are high-demand spots. • Traffic congestion areas are high-demand spots for shared electric-bike. • The demand between the parking lot and the subway station is competitive. • Suburbs are negatively correlated with shared electric-bike commuting demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Evidence syntheses for sustainable urban development are of increasing importance. • An evidence map of systematic reviews and meta-analyses on this topic is presented. • The map contains 131 reviews examining numerous aspects of built environment. • The paper is supplemented by a free online database and interactive visual summaries. Sharing of key evidence on strategies for reducing resources consumption and lowering carbon footprint is essential to alleviating risks of increasing urbanization, population growth and looming climate change impacts. However, finding scientifically robust research and distilling knowledge to draw confident conclusions in a reasonable timeframe is challenging due to the sheer volume of rapidly accumulating research evidence. Primary evidence is aggregated in secondary studies, i.e. various types of reviews, including systematic reviews and meta-analyses. However, the number of secondary studies is also growing rapidly and their quality varies. This work presents the first systematic review of secondary studies which were claimed to be systematic reviews or meta-analyses of literature relevant to reducing carbon footprint of the built environment or its co-benefits (e.g., health and well-being). The resulting searchable and updatable database contains 131 reviews published between 2001 and early 2018. Importantly, the quality of the included reviews was assessed and categorized. The database is available via a dedicated website which includes interactive visualizations and filtering tools. In its current form, the interactive map and database can help discovery and appraisal of secondary evidence for decision-making and research use, supporting transition to low carbon future. This overview aimed to reveal trends and patterns, including gaps, in the publications of research syntheses relevant to sustainable built environment. The results showed that the number of reviews claiming to by systematic reviews or meta-analyses is rapidly increasing in recent years. However, the exact methodology used and the standard of adherence to methodological and reporting guidelines varies widely among reviews. The included reviews span different disciplines, such as environmental sciences, engineering, urban planning, public health, and social sciences. The first authors from USA, UK and Australia contributed the most relevant reviews. Health and well-being, along with closely related environment and nature, are currently the best synthesized subject areas, while there are still very few included reviews related to policy, economy or information technology, indicating synthesis gaps in these areas. Our analysis reveals the lack of standardized definitions of different types of research syntheses across disciplines, as well as poor reporting quality of research syntheses. We encourage detailed descriptions of methods, providing datasets and interactive visualizations as integral components of the future systematic reviews and evidence maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainability agenda is already taken in consideration widely in disciplines dealing with the built environment. What here is less agreed upon is how exactly each discipline herein repositions itself with regard to this agenda. This is exemplified when examining the fields of planning and real estate - two fields that actively embrace sustainability goals, but from two very different starting points. Planning approaches predominantly share a broader socio-spatial logic in their examination of areas, whereas real estate, by definition, works from the level of individual building and site, from which it potentially can connect with broader urban and economic concerns. There is also a constant interaction between the two: cities do not exist without homes and workplaces for their inhabitants; on the other, a well maintained and high quality urban amenity level together with timely provision of buildings and building land will keep property prices at moderate levels. This paper suggests a bottom-up oriented approach to overcome the friction between the two fields. This idea can be applied for analysis of either individual property management or revitalization of whole neighbourhood. This is demonstrated with the case of Portsmouth (UK). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]