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ABSTRACTCities worldwide have introduced or revived light rail transit (LRT) to develop compact city strategies and help address environmental issues, such as increasing CO2 emissions or air pollution. Toyama is such a city that has addressed these issues by establishing a compact city rooted in transportation policies, notably the LRT established in 2006. Although there appears to be a consensus that the LRT contributes to establishing a compact city, contributing factors to ridership remain unclear. This study attempts to identify these factors, using the norm-activation model and theory of planned behaviour as a theoretical grounding, questionnaires for a data collection method and structural equation modelling for data analysis. The findings suggest that attitudes, perceived behavioural control and behavioural norms are significantly associated with the intention to use the LRT, which is, along with age, associated with its actual use. Based on these findings, this study provides theoretical and practical insights for cities wanting to pursue establishing or developing an LRT system.

Discussions on the relationship between urban form and social capital have garnered attention for a long time as they are well documented in the literature. However, the empirical analysis regarding these two issues is still limited. This study proposes a new perspective on the link between the 3Ds (Density, Diversity, and Design) element of urban form and social capital in the global south using the Indonesian context. Using the linear multilevel regression, this study consistently revealed a contradicting result according to which greater residential density is negatively associated with several social capital factors. Surprisingly, more retail areas in cities are adversely associated with some social capital indicators. High connectivity did not necessarily encourage the development of social capital for small-medium cities. This study showed varied associations between density and social capital in small-medium, and large cities, with consistent results regarding land use mix.

Heat wave episodes are becoming more frequent and severe worldwide, especially in areas such as the Mediterranean region. This study is aimed at assessing the impact of heat waves in an urban environment and the ways areas of urban green infrastructure (UGI) can play key roles in moderating the impacts of these high-temperature events. We analyzed land surface temperature (LST) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data retrieved from Landsat 8/9 satellite images. These data were recorded during heat wave episodes from 2017 to 2022 in a representative Mediterranean medium-sized compact city. We carried out a correlation analysis between LST and NDVI per area type and as individual units to assess how UGI elements can contribute to the cooling of the urban matrix during heat wave episodes. Those small green spaces distributed throughout the city, defined as "Other" areas, showed stronger negative correlation. These spaces are particularly relevant for Mediterranean cities, where highly limited space in city centers hinders the possibility of having larger-surface UGI elements. The study highlights the need for further research into the composition of those small public green spaces to understand how their components enhance the city's cooling capacity given the climate conditions and water scarcity in the Mediterranean region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

City densification and greening are two priority urban-policy objectives, for the coming years, aimed at making cities more resilient to climate change, slowing the spread of urbanization and improving the quality of life in cities. These are sometimes contradictory objectives that require fine and deep analysis to create approaches and methods that combine them. The most recent research has presented so-called small urban green spaces (SUGSs) as a viable alternative to achieve this double objective. This was the starting point of this research, which used GIS digital analysis and microscale fieldwork to study the possibilities of greening an excessively dense and low-quality urban space in the city of Pamplona (Spain). The results thereof showed that the urban structure of this neighbourhood contains a large number of small spaces with no specific use or function—residual, surface and vertical spaces—and that are simply undefined remnants between buildings and streets, or party walls that were never built. Only these surface spaces occupy a total area that is twice the size of the existing green spaces. Based on these results, this work explores the possibility of increasing the green areas of the neighbourhood through new SUGSs and the creation of a green corridor that increases environmental and social connectivity and the quality of life in the studied space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The search for sustainable cities has seen the Compact City as a better way to structure urban areas. This statement is corroborated by the fact that, among the guidelines proposed by the United Nations on the last Habitat Conference, there are several compact city principles. Given the importance of this model, this article presented an overview of its development, its main thinkers, the most relevant publications and the context in which the Compact City concept was developed, focusing on the importance of the thought and activity of the Townscape movement in the consolidation of the model since the end of the 1940’s. From the publications analyzed, one can recognize two phases in the concept’s evolution: a formative period (1940-1970), characterized by the search for an alternative to the postwar urban models; and a second moment (since the 1980’s), when the concept took its current form and started to be proposed as an answer to environmental problems and, secondarily, to other challenges of contemporary urbanization.

Structural modeling measurement the social acceptability of compact city (case study: Ahvaz city)AbstractIntroductionThe form of cities in Iran, especially in metropolitan areas, is sprawl. But traditional urban planning in Iran has always been shaped by the compact spatial structure associated with its context (geography, culture). Compactness in urban form and structure is a concept that is used to organize cities from a state of confusion and dispersion and broadly in sustainable urban planning and development, the compact city is seen as a profound interpretation of what a sustainable city should be. In studies related to compact cities, one of the topics that has been considered is the discussion of the acceptability and feasibility of compact cities. Social acceptability is an important factor in feasibility. Due to the importance of studying the acceptability and feasibility of urban forms, especially the compact form from the perspective of the public and residents and due to the lack of investigation of the impact of the compact city on the realization of sustainable urban development This research investigates the social acceptability of compact city in Ahvaz.MethodologyThe present research is applied in terms of purpose which is in the category of descriptive survey research. In terms of philosophy, this research is a deductive research that is based on the paradigm of positivism and quantitative approach and is considered as a cross-sectional research in terms of time index. The data collection tool in the present study is a questionnaire. Thus, to measure the theory of the compact city, four indicators including density, diversity, intensification and transportation and the theory of sustainable urban development, three environmental, economic and social dimensions have been used. The Likert scale was used to answer the questions and the numbers 1 to 5 were used to score the answers. The questionnaire was completed by two groups of citizens, experts and managers. The statistical population is the first group of citizens of Ahvaz who were selected as a sample using Cochran's formula 384 people. And the second statistical population is experts and managers of Ahvaz city, which was purposefully selected 30. The structural equations method in Amos was used to analyze the citizen-related questionnaire and the structural equations in Smart-pls software were used to analyze the questionnaire of experts and managers.Discussion and ResultsCompact city assessment in previous studies has been done retrospectively with methods such as survey method, objective data and interview. In this research, a survey method has been used to investigate the feasibility and social acceptance capacity of the compact city and its impact on sustainable urban development in the city of Ahvaz. The variables and indexes that have been selected for the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable urban development are most evident in the city of Ahvaz, and these indicators are the consequences of sprawl growth and unsustainable development of the city in recent decades. Since the compact city has been proposed as a suitable solution in sprawl studies and urban sustainability, the indicators of the compact city have been selected as an independent variable. From the citizens' point of view, the highest coefficient of the route is related to the effect of transportation on the environmental variable, after that, the effect of the diversity variable on the economic variable has the highest coefficient. The impact coefficients of all hypotheses are higher than 0.60. The results of the experts' research indicate that the effect of density variable on three environmental, economic and social indicators is 0.870, 0.890 and 0.900, respectively. The coefficient of diversity path on environmental, economic and social indicators has been calculated as 0.830, 0.865 and 0.864, respectively. The intensification variable with path coefficients of 0.810, 0.853 and 0.872 has a significant effect on environmental, economic and social indicators, respectively. The coefficients of the variable of transportation on environmental, economic and social indicators are 0.790, 0.837 and 0.880.ConclusionThe results indicate that the indicators of the compact city including density, diversity, intensification and public transport have a positive and significant effect on the indicators of sustainable urban development including environmental, economic and social in Ahvaz city. Therefore, citizens and managers consider the use of the compact city as the basis for the realization of sustainable urban development in Ahvaz.In addition to the fact that all indicators of the compact city must be implemented at the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to the issue of spatial planning and migration control in Khuzestan province and Ahvaz city in order to reduce problems and obstacles in its implementation.Keywords: urban form, compact city, sustainable urban development, Ahvaz, structural modeling.

Cars are dominating urban traffic in cities around the world, even though daily trips in many cities are often realized with active modes of transportation or public transport. Urban transport planning processes need to adapt to this reality and the necessity of climate change mitigation. Against this background, the research project "Mobility Reporting", a joint undertaking of the district Pankow in Berlin and researchers from TU Berlin and TU Dresden, established a new, goal-driven, and participative planning process. The process identified local mobility as one of the central planning goals. The 15-min city (FMC) was thus adduced as a benchmark to analyze the district's current mobility system and development potential. We conducted extensive accessibility analyses to examine the status quo concerning the FMC. We calculated travel times to essential destinations in daily life by foot, public transport, and car. This analysis was accompanied by a mixed online and paper–pencil survey conducted to evaluate the perceived accessibility of people in Pankow. The survey results shed light on the question of which walking time thresholds constitute a "very good" or "good" accessibility. Further analyses included environmental and social variables, allowing us to check whether areas with different accessibility levels also differ regarding the socio-economic characteristics of their inhabitants. For example, do socially advantaged neighborhoods have better local accessibility? Is there a trade-off between exposure to environmental pollution and good accessibility? With this contribution, we shed light on what an FMC is and ought to be. Results from the survey support the normative and political vision of the FMC. Pankow generally offers the merits of a walkable city, showing the expected travel time differences between the dense inner city and the outskirts. Socially disadvantaged neighborhoods are not consistently less accessible. However, there seems to be a trade-off between good accessibility (especially PT accessibility) and correlated externalities of transport, namely air pollution and noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urbanization has resulted in a series of problems, such as single-type land use, low efficiency, traffic congestion, and environmental degradation. The compact city, a concept that advocates the intensive and efficient use of land, may be considered when planning urban stocks. Grounded in the evaluation of the coordination degree in the coupling between spatial compactness and mixed land use based on compact city theory, this study aimed to provide scientific guidance for sustainability measures to renew the compact urban form. To this end, it analysed an area of 3972 hectares on both sides of the Hunhe River in Shenyang City, identified spatial problems, and put forward governance suggestions through case study methods. In spatiotemporal terms, the distribution characteristics of the coordination between the northern (old district) and southern (new district) banks were significantly different, with the former being better than the latter. In terms of land use type, higher coordination may be implemented in small blocks with predominantly residential functions and central areas for mixed use. The identification results clearly revealed the patches that need to be treated, thereby facilitating the delineation of urban renewal units. Differentiated design and governance measures are needed to address the imbalanced patches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new model to optimize the location and size of facilities that serve the public. The objective function is based on the floor area of the facility and the time that individuals spend in the facility. In this model, the area is used to represent the range of services provided by the facility: the larger the area, the more services are available, and thus the greater the utility. Time spent is based on daily time use and represents the degree to which users could enjoy the services provided: If the time spent in the facility is short, users are unable to take full advantage of the services offered. Focusing on the actual time spent makes it possible to avoid an overestimation of the facility's utility. The proposed model is applied to both a virtual city and an actual city. The results indicate that the optimum size of a facility depends on the amount of time that users can spend in the facility without restriction and that the optimum location is influenced by user activity patterns and population distribution. This suggests that planners should survey the daily time use of potential users before integrating facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper proposes a new model to optimize the location and size of facilities that serve the public. The objective function is based on the floor area of the facility and the time that individuals spend in the facility. In this model, the area is used to represent the range of services provided by the facility: the larger the area, the more services are available, and thus the greater the utility. Time spent is based on daily time use and represents the degree to which users could enjoy the services provided: If the time spent in the facility is short, users are unable to take full advantage of the services offered. Focusing on the actual time spent makes it possible to avoid an overestimation of the facility's utility. The proposed model is applied to both a virtual city and an actual city. The results indicate that the optimum size of a facility depends on the amount of time that users can spend in the facility without restriction and that the optimum location is influenced by user activity patterns and population distribution. This suggests that planners should survey the daily time use of potential users before integrating facilities.

Urbanization is a growing challenge for city planners and policymakers who are continuously focusing on computer-based statistical models, and machine learning for a sustainable and livable city. The main objectives of this article were to develop a robust artificial intelligence-based hybrid geo-simulation model to support multi-scenario urban growth modeling for urban policy improvement. In this study, earth observation datasets, Artificial Neural Network-Multilayer Perceptron coupled with Markov Chain (MLP-Markov) and Cellular Automata and Markov Chain (CAMarkov) were applied and the best performance was measured for urban growth modeling. The result shows that the urban land use was 25.79, 31.40, 45.19, 89.22 and 147.96 square km in 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011 which has been predicted for 2021, 2031, 2041 and 2051 based on the planned and unplanned development scenarios. The predicted urban land use of the planned development scenario is 242.10, 312.69, 363.80 and 400.72 square km while 242.91, 314.31, 366.23 and 403.98 square km of the unplanned development scenario during 2021, 2031, 2041 and 2051. The uncertainty result shows that overall agreement (84.99%) and other indices are higher, and disagreement is lower (15.01%) for MLP-Markov than the CA-Markov for the urban land use prediction. The hybrid geo-simulation models were tested over multiple urban planning indicators to understand urban growth patterns and related scenarios. The result shows that the geo-simulation model is extremely sensitive to the complex pattern of urban growth and disperse indicators over space and time. This study provides a promising guideline for urban planners and conservation scientists to implement a robust artificial intelligence-based hybrid geo-simulation model for compact, organized, and integrated land use-transportation development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussions on the relationship between urban form and social capital have garnered attention for a long time as they are well documented in the literature. However, the empirical analysis regarding these two issues is still limited. This study proposes a new perspective on the link between the 3Ds (Density, Diversity, and Design) element of urban form and social capital in the global south using the Indonesian context. Using the linear multilevel regression, this study consistently revealed a contradicting result according to which greater residential density is negatively associated with several social capital factors. Surprisingly, more retail areas in cities are adversely associated with some social capital indicators. High connectivity did not necessarily encourage the development of social capital for small-medium cities. This study showed varied associations between density and social capital in small-medium, and large cities, with consistent results regarding land use mix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategies applied by urban policy makers in order to achieve sustainable city development may be in conflict with each other because it crosses many disciplines and policy areas. This research focusses on the dilemma between compact city and urban greenspace policies and their influence on actual land-use change in Amsterdam and Brussels. These cases are selected because of their similar urban growth yet diverse policy and governance contexts. We contend that comparing how urban policies try to address this dilemma can provide a deeper understanding of how policy strategies affect land-use change. The results show that densification indeed decreases the quantity (Amsterdam: −4.7% Brussels: −11.9%), average size (A: −3.1% B: −25.6%) and connectivity of urban greenspaces. Observed land-use changes seem disconnected from purported urban greenspace policies, whereas urban development plans seem to dominate changes in greenspace quantity and form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compact cities, characterized by high density and accessibility with fully developed inner-city public transport, are widely discussed and practiced around the world in response to the challenges of sustainable development and global warming. On this basis, we are committed to answering the question of how cities with varying urban growth rates adopt different policy practices, and whether these practices contribute to achieving the goal of building a sustainable, low-carbon city. Specifically, this study assesses the theoretical evidence and practical experiences on the effect of compact city characteristics and policies on urban CO2 emissions using a focused literature review and representative case studies. The results illustrate that public transportation is often strengthened in compact city policies and the density and spatial configuration of cities has a significant impact on urban carbon emissions. Moreover, there are significant differences within the impact mechanisms of compact cities on carbon emissions between small-medium-sized cities (dealing with aging populations and resource waste) and megacities (dealing with excessive urban sprawl). However, there is still insufficient quantitative evidence on the effectiveness of compact city policies and this review provides insights into future compact city planning toward policy approaches which yield lower carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development and urban resilience are dominant urban planning paradigms that have become buzzwords in urban planning and policy domains over the past 2–3 decades. While these two paradigms have been analyzed and scrutinized in different studies, the interconnection between them in policy realms is understudied. Compact development policy is expected to contribute to a variety of sustainability goals. However, these goals' alignment with the principles and goals of urban resilience is under question. This research tries to shed some light on this issue. A critical review method is employed to understand how compactness as a sustainable urban development policy relates to different principles and dimensions of urban resilience. First, the conceptual and theoretical relationship between urban resilience and compact city is established. Next, the resulting framework is used to critically analyze 124 articles to understand how the compact city policy relates to urban resilience from different dimensions and principles. Densification and intensification, mixed land use and diversity, and spatial connectivity and public transportation are identified as principles of the compact city. Finally, the interconnection between compact city policy and urban resilience dimensions and principles is explored and assessed through examining the selected literature. The results of the review show some alignments between compact city policy outcomes and urban resilience. However, the level of alignment may vary depending on the context, scale, or dimension. In other words, while compact city in one scale/dimension can increase urban resilience to a specific adverse event or stressor, it might increase vulnerability to others in another scale/dimension. From the policy perspective, compact development policy and urban resilience principles should clearly be defined a priori to reach favorable outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial structure of cities has changed a lot after technological changes and population growth and they have shifted from a monocentric compact city structure to an extended and scattered structure that poses many challenges and they have made human life and well-being difficult. Efforts to achieve a sustainable urban structure and form intensified after the second half of the twentieth century and solutions such as smart growth, urbanism, infill development, and a compact city are offered. Following the process of changing the structure of cities, the structure of polycentric city has become apparent in large cities. The formation of a polycentric structure in large cities is inevitable. Therefore, in order to increase sustainability in the urban form and achieve sustainable urban development, it is necessary to combine the polycentric city structure with previous approaches such as the compact city. The main purpose of the research is to explain theoretically the approach of polycentric compact city structure within the framework of urban planning theories. In this study, using the review method of studies related to urban sprawl, compact city and polycentric structure, the theoretical framework of combining compact and polycentric structures was explained. The research results suggest that a compact city with several indicators such as increasing density, strengthening public transport, increasing mixed land use, facilitating service delivery, reducing the distance between home and work, intensification and infill are proposed as the last structure to achieve sustainable urban development. Polycentric compact city approach takes advantage from the three structures of sprawl, compact city and polycentric city to achieve a sustainable city form.

Purpose. The goal of the study is to develop an algorithm for assessing urban green space (UGS) accessibility in conditions of a compact city with high-density development by the example of Kyiv. Methodology. The research technique provides for spatial and quantitative analysis of UGS distribution within city limits by using OpenStreetMap, Google Map geospatial data and the QGIS software. The pedestrian accessibility to greenery is determined as the distance walked from the residential building to the nearest green space. If the average speed of walking of all age groups is taken to be 3 km/hr, then 10 minutes are needed to cover a distance of 500 m, and 20 minutes, for 1,000 m. To account for curved paths and obstacles (buildings, fences, motorways), UGS were surrounded with buffer areas 300 m and 700 m wide. This equals the walking distances of 500 and 1,000 m respectively. Results. We plotted on the map all available UGS within Kyiv limits, determined their total area and found a very uneven spatial UGS distribution in different city districts. Then we found the average provision of each Kyiv resident with greenery of all kinds, including not only parks, mini parks, and urban forests, but also cemeteries, flowerbeds and grass lawns, separate street bushes and trees, and roadside hedgerows. Based on the data of the number of buildings and the population density within Kyiv’s residential development area, we calculated the actual provision of Kyiv residents with UGS of all kinds, and with greenery suitable for daily recreation. In so doing, we found that the provision of UGS, where short-term recreation is possible, is significantly smaller in area per head of population as compared to an identical indicator calculated for greenery of all kinds. This is confirmed by the built map charts. Using the buffer approach, we determined the shortest distances to be covered to reach a UGS nearest to a residential building. Independently, we measured pedestrian accessibility to any green cover in Kyiv and UGS accessibility for public use, which are suitable for daily recreation in different Kyiv micro districts. The findings yielded a significant difference in these indicators. According to the calculations of UGS accessibility of all kinds, Kyiv really looks like a “green” city where almost in all the developed territories the distance to the nearest UGS is within 1,000 m. However, an assessment of the accessibility to greenery suitable for short-term daily recreation is indicative of a deficiency of UGS in at least eleven residential complexes in the city. All the locations with different UGS accessibility are also plotted on relevant map charts. Scientific novelty. The study has shown that only 45.4% of Kyiv residents are provided with high pedestrian accessibility within a distance of 500 m to UGS for daily recreation. The residents of different age and social groups who, within a 1-km radius, have no access at all to any recreation site make up 15.5% of Kyiv residents. Substantial disproportions in UGS accessibility were also found in different administrative districts and residential complexes. This is indicative that the management of the entire city’s green infrastructure is not perfect. Practical importance. The algorithm for assessing green space accessibility that was developed and tested for Kyiv can be used for any compact city. This will help city planners to identify accurately the micro districts and other locations requiring priority planting of greenery.

In this paper we explore how policy discourses on urban sustainability impact the governing of urban food gardening in favoring community gardens. Our main hypothesis is that community gardens better accommodate the tensions created by the discourses of the compact and green city compared to other types of food gardening, especially allotment gardens. In the context of the Swiss cities of Lausanne and Zurich, analysis of policy documents confirms this hypothesis by identifying four frames that orient policies toward favoring community gardening: (i) Adapting green space planning to densification favors community gardening with their modest, flexible and multifunctional design, (ii) Revaluating the role of urban food gardening in urban sustainability represents community gardening as a new multifunctional benchmark, (iii) Reorganizing urban food gardening fosters diversity in gardening opportunities which in turn supports a variety of forms of community gardening, (iv) Justifying urban food gardening through public values and needs supports community gardening with their cost-efficient green space management, lower land management and more active citizen participation. In this vein, urban policymakers continually turn to community gardens as a strategic urban planning tool that gives urban green space greater legitimacy in the wake of the densifying city. Overall, urban food gardens continue to be negotiated between space-related marginalization and socio-political significance serving different needs to urban citizens. This results in the need of a more sophisticated planning approach considering different types of urban gardens related to their location in the built city, associated functions, and user groups.

Modern cities require urban compact development to be sustainable. The evaluation of urban compact development may help create more accurate and realistic policies. The spatio-temporal dynamic evolution of urban compact development efficiency and its regional differences in China are examined in this study. This paper analysis uses 282 cities from 2005 to 2021. The unexpected output super-efficiency SBM model measures urban compact development efficiency. In this study, the urban compact development efficiency’s spatial and temporal patterns are also examined using kernel density estimation (KDE) and the Theil index (TI). The average efficiency of urban compact development in China has decreased slightly. However, compact efficiency disparities are decreasing. Eastern cities have a relatively stable compact efficiency, while central and western cities vary more. The compact efficiency polarisation has not changed fundamentally. The compact city growth model’s spatial agglomeration is poor, limiting its spatial spillover impact. Thus, compact urban development is necessary to speed up planning, facilitate inter-city production factor movement by creating a comprehensive transport network, and maximise co-location benefits with the regional integration strategy. This method will gradually reduce regional urban development disparities and push Chinese cities towards more refined and sustainable compact development.

Responsible and rational urban planning is reflected in an integral and multidimensional approach to city development. Contemporary theories of sustainable and resilient urban planning support a clear vision and strategy for city development, emphasizing its identity, specifics, and values. Through its vision and action plans, the city of Banja Luka protects its default identity as a green city while recognizing the current development trend toward a compact city. The paper deals with two theories: green and compact cities, both motivated by ecological and energy planning. The paper aims to show the importance of the green dimension of a compact city and the adoption of the principles of compactness in the green city in order to examine its contribution through synergistic action. Through the comparative analysis of the green structure change toward a compact urban area and temperature rise in the last fifty years and on different scales, it is possible to question the set green goals and effects of environmental urban (non) planning.

The "15-minute city" concept has been receiving an increasing amount of attention as a model for urban policy as well as a tool for urban spatial analysis. The concept is often considered an urban planning ideal that can effectively contribute to improved accessibility and a more sustainable mobility. Through a sustainability, equity, and livability lens, this paper examines pitfalls of the 15-minute city from a theoretical and spatial analysis perspective and proposes alternative theoretical and methodological directions. The seven pitfalls of the 15-minute city in current literature are summarized as: (1) overstatement of the 15-minute city's originality, (2) strong decentralization proposed by the 15-minute city theory is unrealistic and unsustainable, (3) focusing on quantity of destinations instead of sufficiency, (4) improperly aggregating facilities, (5) neglecting diverse forms of nature and their characteristics, (6) disregarding public transport in 15-minute city theory or spatial analysis, and (7) ignoring interpersonal differences in walking and cycling when conducting analyses based on the 15-minute city. A set of strategies is proposed to address these pitfalls and reorient the 15-minute city towards improved environmental and societal outcomes. • The 15-minute city as theory and spatial analysis approach is scrutinized. • Seven pitfalls have been identified, considering goals of sustainability, equity, and livability. • Theoretical and methodological directions to address pitfalls are proposed. • Call for a new debate on how to reorient the 15-minute city within urban and transport planning and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper challenges the fact that the absolute freedom for residents to locate themselves wherever they want can lead to sustainable cities. Urban sprawl is the corollary to this freedom. Urban sprawl has become a controversial issue. Lines of thought among academics, practitioners, and local authorities have been diverse. Some academics advocate the compact city as an antidote to urban sprawl, some scholars doubt the ability of conventional notions of containments to create sustainability, and others are fascinated by urban technologies and believe in the feasibility of these technologies, whereas local authorities impose policies, one after the other, without effective results. The problematic point is the absence of a comprehensive approach to undermining the urban sprawl sustainably. On the other hand, the physical urban compactness alone cannot meet containment aims. The study therefore study poses a question: Is there a theory or policy that can accommodate all of these ideas? This study attempts to find a sustainable compromise through a critical review of the impact of auto-mobility on urban affairs and to solve the dialectical contradictions between the protagonists of compactness and their counterparts who advocate urban sprawl. The review ends with a comparison between urban initiatives and theories related to auto-mobilities, and highlights the approaches to sustainable urbanism. The conclusion is that all classic planning theories have neglected the sociocultural impact on the urban realm, and that the current initiatives and mutual debates consider the resident just as a physical object who cannot contribute effectively to sustainable urban syntax. The study concludes that urban sprawl can also be a compacted zone if authorities ensure the equity of loci-services. Then, the preference for housing locations will not be a challenge to urban residents' movements to settle closer to their work. In the end, the inhabitants will share in making an integrated and real urban containment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban areas are increasingly experiencing extreme weather events, especially related to water (e.g., droughts, heatwaves, floods), which are devastatingly impacting infrastructure and human lives. Compact cities, conceived to create more robust, effective, and sustainable environments, are under pressure to increase their resilience by co-producing adaptive strategies mainly focused on the urban public space. However, public space design tends to face environmental challenges without sufficiently exploring their intersection with social issues (citizens living conditions and vulnerability) and political structures (governance). This contribution delves into how urban public space interventions are (not) moving towards achieving urban resilience in an integrated way instead of sectoral. A triple-loop approach has been developed and tested in ten urban public spaces in European compact cities in the last 25 years. The results report how most projects reinforce the social dimension by promoting citizen well-being through new quality standards in public spaces, excluding some citizenry's vulnerable segments (immigrants, women, and disabled). The political dimension reinforces hard adaptation measures to manage water resources, although increasing attention is put on nature-based solutions, and most projects ensure participation processes. Finally, the environmental dimension is the most transversal by increasing land conversion, ensuring flooding mitigation, and enhancing adaptive capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Conventional and emerging paradigms of urbanism require new responses under the current circumstances, especially in relation to the integration of sustainability dimensions and technology advances. The escalating rate of urbanization, coupled with the climate emergency, fundamentally indeed disrupt the challenges that urbanism research and practice deal with, calling for adopting more innovative approaches to urban planning and design. With cities contributing around 65% of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and experiencing an unprecedented growth of population, contemporary urban policy needs to be redefined and re-assessed accordingly. While numerous urban models, such as the Compact City, the Eco-City, the Sustainable City, and the Smart City, have emerged in response to the challenges of sustainability and urbanization, the 15-Minute City has recently gained a steep popularity. This paper explores the theoretical, practical, and technological foundations of the 15-Minute City, with a particular focus on the proximity dimension of mixed land-use and its environmental, social, and economic benefits of sustainability as supported by smart technologies. We argue that this evolving model of urbanism has the potential to gain more expansion and success in regard to building more sustainable, efficient, resilient, equitable, and inclusive cities in line with the global agendas of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, as it adds a strategic value to the amalgam of the prevailing and emerging paradigms of urbanism and their synergies with respect to increasing the benefits of sustainability while emphasizing its environmental dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transportation sector, which has economic, social and environmental effects, is very important in terms of meeting vital needs. The transportation sector also constitutes an important part of the use of urban space and determines the urban form and sprawl. While air and noise pollution and climate change are among the impacts of the transportation sector, it is seen that transportation also affects urban resilience. The quality of transportation infrastructure is especially critical for cities, and the risks and disasters associated with climate change and extreme weather events increase the size of cities. Therefore, the bidirectional relationship between transportation sector and climate change should be carefully examined. In this direction, the aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of transportation sector on climate change and its vulnerability to the consequences of climate change, and the contribution of the use of green transportation modes to urban resilience. In the study, it was concluded that the development of green transportation options is effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, other vehicle-related pollutants and problems. It is another important result that the development of transportation infrastructure in urban planning according to new climatenormal will become more important in the upcoming period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article substantiates the essence and necessity of the use of innovative approaches to the formation and implementation of public policies of urban revitalization in the context of the latest concepts of urban development, namely: Compact City, Green City, Smart City, Creative City, Inclusive City, Cittaslow, Happy City, Learning City. The relevant proposals on the innovation policy of revitalizing cities are brought forward based on the analysis of the provisions of each of the chosen concepts. It is determined that there does not exist a single city where only one of the latest concepts of city development was implemented. In practice, we observe the multi-vectorness and combination of urban policies, which came to replace traditional sectoral views. Regarding the policy of urban revitalization, innovative approaches focus on the transformation of degraded areas into urban environments favourable for human life and activities in line with the needs and interests of their inhabitants. Revitalization should be considered both in terms of its impact on a specific degraded area and as having long-term synergetic effects on the city as a whole. It was found that the basis for innovative policies of urban revitalization is laid by human-oriented programmes of sustainable renewal of areas. The programmes are premised on taking into account a variety of concepts and combining a number of activities, specifically: organization of a compact multifunctional environment (Compact City); formation of an ecologically friendly environment for human life and activities (Green City); arrangement of urban space taking advantage of modern technologies and innovations (Smart City); creating conditions for life, activities and cooperation of creative people (Creative City); ensuring a full-fledged multidimensional inclusion of all the inhabitants (Inclusive City); realization of the internal potential of an area depending on local identity (Cittaslow); raising the level of public and individual happiness (Happy City); promotion of the culture of lifelong learning of all the inhabitants (Learning City). It is noted that innovative solutions for overcoming the crisis phenomena of degraded urban areas should be individualized depending on the local specificity and potential, the state of economic, physical, human and other capital of a particular city. In this case, the development of human capital of an area is increasingly becoming the key factor of its renewal, which presupposes organization of the inhabitants’ training, improving their qualifications and skills. It was substantiated that the revitalization policy is expedient to develop from the perspective of ensuring multiplicative impact on the development of a city as a whole. The efficiency of the policy implementation depends on the leveraging of resources (financial, intellectual, etc.) from different sources through partnerships. The main criterion of policy effectiveness is the ability of a revitalized urban area to develop sustainably, satisfying the needs of all stakeholders. Indicators of the policy success is not only the living standards and quality of life of the inhabitants, but also the condition of the natural environment, levels of tolerance, trust, empathy, social cohesion, education, happiness, etc.

With the rapid growth of automobile transport over the last century, conflicts between automobile and pedestrian transport have been viewed as a major concern in urban and transport planning. Elevated and underground pedestrian networks, which compensate for sidewalks at the street level and provide alternative options for pedestrians, have been developed in many cities. Elevated and underground pedestrian networks offer pedestrian–car separation in a vertical dimension and efficient connections between transit services and cities for subway passengers. This study aims to provide a balanced understanding of the development of underground pedestrian networks and propose supportive strategies for decision makers, planners, and designers concerned with the future implementation of underground pedestrian networks and the building of three-dimensional pedestrian networks in cities. The study applied textual analysis to examine the topic. The study indicated that three-dimensional pedestrian systems were developed based on historical precedents. It highlighted important considerations (such as dense cities, disaster mitigation and protection, and urban functions) in developing underground pedestrian networks in cities. Furthermore, it discussed significant aspects in planning and designing such networks, including safety, ease of orientation, and convenience. The paper also discussed policy implications in developing underground pedestrian networks and the building of three-dimensional pedestrian networks in cities.

This dataset includes many indexes of global cities. The variables of congestion level, skyscraper index, whether a city was bombed in WWII (World War II), and global cities’ population are key variables. (1) The congestion level data were collected from TOMTOM company. The congestion level data include five indexes which are “Congestion level”, “Morning peak Congestion level”, “Evening peak Congestion level”, “Highways Congestion level”, “Non-highways Congestion level” in 2004, but only include two indexes in 2020 which are “Time lost per year” and “Congestion level”. (2) The data of skyscraper index calculated using the data of building height from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, from which we can obtain accurate data on the number of buildings taller than 150 m. With these data, we constructed an index of skyscrapers taller than 150 m in a city. A building receives a score of 1.5 if it is taller than 150 m and shorter than 200 m, 2.0 if it is between 200 m and 300 m, and so on. Then, we summed the scores for skyscrapers in the city as the “skyscraper index” of the city. (3) The data of whether a city was bombed in WWII is dummy variable, if the urban area of a city was bombed in WWII, it is 1, and 0 otherwise. The authors consulted various historical files and determined the value. (4) The data of global cities’ population, as well as the area and density of the city, are on the city-level, and were collected from the website of the cities or countries’ statistics department. These indicators are good measures of the level of congestion, urban spatial structure, IV(instrumental variable) for urban spatial structure, and urban population in global cities, and can be reused in other analysis.

This article approaches the optimal solution of energy sustainability based on the use of artificial intelligence (AI). The application of renewable energy sources (RES) and unit commitment (UC) is the basic idea of this concept. Therefore, a new approach to solving the UC problem is introduced. The proposed method has a simple procedure to obtain the popular solutions in an acceptable time interval, by creating a basic model of the schedule of the state of energy units RES. It is obvious that individual consumer units, of an operational nature, take hourly performance values by performing economic evaluations on them in the sense of cost optimization. This is conducted through an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm by optimizing the dedicated cost function, simulated by annealing. Despite the acceptable solution obtained from these two steps, another shift is proposed, called the TDD process in a given consumer area. This process in the application of AI in the system of selection of universal load TDD from hundreds of possible ones is based on the use of artificial neural networks and cluster analysis, which is represented by the application of the Kohonen map. This logical process to achieve a modified solution is a self-organizing map (SOM). It is a software tool for visualizing high-dimensional data. Converts complex, nonlinear statistical relationships (functions) between high-dimensional data to simple geometric relationships, low-dimensional representation. The output of SOM is an optimized load TDD on the basis of which the process of automatic control of UC in the local urban area is built. The results of the AI application in the case of sustainable energy solutions confirm that this UC method provides a robust solution to an almost optimal solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international circulation of urban design concepts often leads to their characterization as transferable ideals defined by a set of universalized 'best practices' that are simply implemented in new localities, as is typical of top-down approaches to planning. Recently, the compact city and New Urbanism have become trendy concepts informing the development of urban projects across geographies. This research draws on ANT sensitivities and policy mobilities studies to examine the regeneration of Copenhagen's Southern Harbour (Sydhavn) wherein the compact city and New Urbanism ideals, together with a declared inspiration from Dutch architecture, were originally incorporated in the masterplan. Through the analysis of documents and semi-structured interviews, the paper illustrates how these ideals – merged as 'New Compactism' – were mobilized and re-intepreted by local actors in Sydhavn. It thus adds to our understanding of how the circulation of such ideals is not a matter of implementation, but a complex social process of translation that entails struggle and transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades, a tendency towards urban tissue densification has been observed to counteract the urban sprawl. Densification may be achieved through more compact built areas, preferring the vertical to the horizontal development of buildings but avoiding bulky high-rise building blocks. This strategy significantly affects several aspects of the microclimate and produces direct and indirect effects on human health and well-being. In this regard, air pollution and heat stress constitute two increasing threats to human health and well-being that need to be faced immediately. The involved phenomena are various, intertwined, and may lead to conflicting results. Hence, regenerating existing, well-structured, and stratified urban areas by densification is not an easy challenge. Urban ventilation may favor the mitigation of detrimental effects of air pollution and heat stress on human life. Therefore, a multidisciplinary methodology is presented for embedding urban ventilation performance evaluation into urban management and planning processes. The scope is to propose a framework for urban renewal plans that is citizens-centered and aims at improving their health and well-being in existing urban areas. The methodology builds upon the performance-based approach and is supported by the conceptual framework and the literature reviews provided through the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is concerned with the anthropology of a city. As an instrument of conceptualization, we used a three-dimensional scheme: organization — communication — information, which allows giving the urban interpretation for each of the coordinates, and then, using the two-dimensional projections (organization-information, organization-communication, information-communication), to develop a concept of the three-dimensional image of city. It has been proposed to distinguish three types of organizational structures when considering the city as an organization: hierarchical, algorithmic, and relational. The necessity of curbing the growth of the city and solidating it in the context of communication has produced a number of projections. One of them, "A compact city or city of short distances" has been considered. The concept of a compact city is based on the cost-effective public transport system, and it encourages pedestrian traffic and cycling. When considering the city as an organization, the main focus lies on its structure. From a topological point of view, it has been proposed to distinguish between three types of such structures: hierarchical, algorithmic, and relational. A hierarchical structure represents a tree of power hierarchy, but its content is not necessarily associated with consistent delegation of authority power (from top to bottom) or gradual accumulation of information (from the bottom up). Thus, a library catalogue, as well as other classification means, is arranged on the principle of hierarchy. An algorithmic structure is a scheme of production process which consists of a set of sequential operations. Its mathematical model appears as a network diagram. Typical examples of such structures include an algorithm of construction of a building, from foundation to roof, a conveyed assembly of complex technical devices, etc. In relation to a city, this structure can be filled with different content. Thus, carrying out of repair and maintenance in one of the city networks often requires not only formal coordination, but also a network schedule of joint work with other community services (water, electricity grid, heating, communication lines, etc.). A relational structure is a group of objects of arbitrary nature, usually of the same type, singled out from the total quantity of objects on the basis of any common feature. A complex of educational or medical institutions, trade companies, domestic services, etc. could be an example of such group within the organizational structure of a city.

The Basque Parliament has approved the Law 10/2019, of 27 June, on the territorial planning of large commercial spaces, regulating the establishment and enlargement of large commercial establishments in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, in order to adapt its regulations to the requirements of the Services Directive and the doctrine of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Supreme Court. From the perspective of territorial planning, and for the sake of greater legal certainty, it seeks to demonstrate in a sufficiently reasoned manner that the new planning observes the triple condition of necessity -especially to avoid sustainable and environmental problems derived from peripheral trade-, non-discrimination and proportionality, and the theoretical non-existence of an economic interest in protecting the small commerce. In this sense, the analysis of its content shows that this law promulgates a sustainable territorial model of compact city that promotes sustainable mobility and protects urban commerce of proximity, which serves as a matured basis to dictate precepts that establish the preference of the implantation of large commercial establishments in the residential urban area.