{"title":"Fighting the hunger games through permaculture: a scoping review to inform urban planning","authors":"Denise Janse van Rensburg, Karen Puren","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1203739","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1203739","url":null,"abstract":"In 2020, more than seven million people across the globe starved, and 868 million people were estimated to be undernourished globally. Although the eradication of hunger is a noble goal, the continuously growing world population together with the warning of a future characterized by food insecurity spells ongoing hardship for the future of humankind. This study explores the extent of permaculture literature to establish its potential place within urban systems. A scoping review looks at permaculture literature from the last 8 years to establish its benefits and limitations, possibly within urban systems. Permaculture is mainly studied from social, environmental, and economic perspectives, and mostly within rural contexts. Urban planning directly concerns the social, environmental, and economic dimensions of urban systems. This study thus reveals the possible merits of permaculture for food production within urban systems; however, certain limitations should be kept in mind that may encumber the implementation of permaculture by urban planning.","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136103256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Urban ecosystem services and climate change: a dynamic interplay","authors":"Bhanu Pandey, Annesha Ghosh","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1281430","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1281430","url":null,"abstract":"Urban ecosystems play a crucial role in providing a wide range of services to their inhabitants, and their functioning is deeply intertwined with the effects of climate change. The present review explores the dynamic interplay between urban ecosystem services and climate change, highlighting the reciprocal relationships, impacts, and adaptation strategies associated with these phenomena. The urban environment, with its built infrastructure, green spaces, and diverse human activities, offers various ecosystem services that enhance the wellbeing and resilience of urban dwellers. Urban ecosystems offer regulatory services like temperature control, air quality upkeep, and stormwater management, plus provisioning like food and water. They also provide cultural benefits, promoting recreation and community unity. However, climate change poses significant challenges to urban ecosystem services. Rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and increased frequency of extreme weather events can disrupt the functioning of urban ecosystems, impacting the provision of services. Heatwaves and urban heat island effects can compromise human health and energy demands, while changes in rainfall patterns can strain stormwater management systems and lead to flooding. Moreover, climate change can disrupt biodiversity and ecological processes, affecting the overall resilience and sustainability of urban ecosystems. To address these challenges, cities are adopting various adaptation strategies that recognize the interdependence between urban ecosystems and climate change. Green infrastructure interventions, such as the creation of urban parks, green roofs, and community gardens, aim to mitigate the impacts of climate change by enhancing the regulation of temperature, improving air quality, and reducing stormwater runoff. Additionally, urban planning and design approaches prioritize compact and walkable neighborhoods, promoting public transportation and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Furthermore, engaging communities in the management of urban ecosystems and climate change adaptation measures is crucial for ensuring equitable distribution of ecosystem services and building social resilience. Therefore, the review article highlights a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic interrelationship between urban ecosystem services and climate change and their implications. By recognizing and integrating the contributions of urban ecosystems, cities can develop sustainable and resilient strategies to mitigate and adapt to climate change, ensuring the wellbeing and habitability of urban environments for present and future generations.","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136104352","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nicole C. S. Bell, John S. Ascher, Jen J.-M. Hayes, Mallory Mead, Gail A. Langellotto
{"title":"Assessing five decades of garden bee studies","authors":"Nicole C. S. Bell, John S. Ascher, Jen J.-M. Hayes, Mallory Mead, Gail A. Langellotto","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1102360","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1102360","url":null,"abstract":"Urban garden spaces are potentially important habitats for bee conservation. Gardens can host diverse flora, which provide floral resources across foraging seasons for bee species. Recent reviews have focused on the impacts of cityscapes on urban bee assemblages in different green spaces. Urban gardens are distinct from other urban green spaces, and bee communities in urban spaces have been an increasing topic of study over the past few decades. We reviewed 28 urban garden bee studies spanning five decades and 14 countries to compile an original metadataset of bee species' functional traits to understand the conservation value of gardens, identify gaps in bee sampling efforts, and summarize the calls to action included by their authors. Studies of urban garden bees have documented between 674 (conservative count, excluding morphospecies) and 830 (liberal count, including morphospecies) bee species. Urban garden bee communities were taxonomically and functionally diverse, although bee species that were non-eusocial, ground-nesting, generalist foragers, and native were most common in garden habitats. The proportion of parasitic bee species and specialist foragers found in urban gardens was comparable to proportions for global bee taxa. This suggests that gardens contain the hosts and forage needed to support bees with specialized life history requirements, and thus represent high quality habitat for a subset of bee communities. Garden bee research was strongly biased toward the northern hemisphere, which signifies a large gap in our understanding of garden bee communities in other regions. The variety of, and non-standard sampling methods in garden bee research makes it difficult to directly compare results between studies. In addition, both intentional low taxonomic resolution and a lack of collaboration with taxonomists constrains our understanding of bee diversity. Our analyses highlight both successes of past urban garden bee studies, and areas of opportunity for future research as we move into a sixth decade of garden bee research.","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136102468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Data-driven approach for AI-based crack detection: techniques, challenges, and future scope","authors":"Priti S. Chakurkar, Deepali Vora, Shruti Patil, Sashikala Mishra, Ketan Kotecha","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1253627","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1253627","url":null,"abstract":"This article provides a systematic literature review on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) technology for detecting cracks in civil infrastructure, which is a critical issue affecting the performance and longevity of these structures. Traditional crack detection methods involve manual inspection, which is laborious and time-consuming, especially in urban areas. Therefore, automatic crack detection with AI technology has gained popularity due to its ability to identify degradation of roads in real-time, leading to increased safety and reliability. This review emphasizes two key approaches for crack detection: deep learning and traditional computer vision, with a focus on data-driven aspects that rely primarily on data from training datasets to detect and quantify the severity level of the crack. The article highlights the advantages and drawbacks of each approach and provides an overview of various crack detection models, feature extraction techniques, datasets, potential issues, and future directions. The research concludes that deep learning-based methods used for crack classification, localization and segmentation have shown better performance than traditional computer vision techniques, especially in terms of accuracy. However, deep learning methods require large amounts of training data and computational power, which can be a significant limitation. Additionally, the article identifies a lack of 3D datasets, unsupervised learning algorithms are rarely used to train crack detection model, and datasets having road images with variety of road textures such as asphalt and cement etc. as challenges for future research in this field. A need for 3D and combined texture datasets as challenges for future research in this field.","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135168388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Multi-sensory evaluation of urban design in creating obesity encouraging environments: The experience of town centres in Auckland, New Zealand","authors":"Jayesh Parekh, Wen Liu, Lee Beattie","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1178056","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1178056","url":null,"abstract":"This article presents a multi-sensory study on pedestrian activities in the public realm of two town centers in Auckland, New Zealand. We utilize mixed-method and multi-sensory evaluation methods, combined with sensory experience and activity mapping, to explore the effects of the obesity encouraging environment of town centers on the activity concentrations of pedestrians. We further discuss the influences of urban design and land use diversity on generating obesity encouraging environments of town centers. The article aims to provide a basis to initiate discussion around the importance of understanding the multiple-sensory experience of public space beyond merely sight sense which traditionally dominates urban design discipline. Furthermore, this article demonstrates the role and quality of sensory experience in shaping obesogenic behaviors within the built environment of two town centres; with a diversity of type and quality of land uses. It also highlights that the mere provision of urban morphology or built form factors linked with walking activities is not a precursor for healthier communities. Thus, the impacts of urban design and quality uses of the built environment on the multiple senses of the users should be considered in urban design research and practices.","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135265649","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Understanding the role of cities and citizen science in advancing sustainable development goals across Europe: insights from European research framework projects","authors":"Hai-Ying Liu, Sohel Ahmed, Antonella Passani, Alena Bartonova","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1219768","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1219768","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines the potential impact of citizen science on achieving SDGs in cities. The analysis focuses on projects funded through the European Research Framework Programmes that utilize citizen science practices to involve cities and citizens in addressing sustainability issues. We analyzed a total of 44 projects active between 2016 and 2027, encompassing both ongoing and completed projects. Instead of relying solely on existing literature, we utilized a project database called CORDIS to gather project information. This approach allowed us to develop a comprehensive framework by utilizing uniformly classified data from the database, which is not typically available in literature. Using a four-stage framework analysis method, we assessed the projects' thematic areas, goals, types of solution promoted or tested to address sustainability challenges, methodologies employed, and the impacts achieved or expected. Through this analysis, we identified successful collaborations between citizen science and cities, showcasing examples of effective practice where citizens and cities co-created and tested solutions that contribute to SDGs. This highlights the active role that citizens, as participants or citizen scientists, play in the transition toward SDGs. This study focuses on more than 100 European cities that have been involved in EU-funded research projects implementing and planning to conduct citizen science activities, which directly and indirectly link to various SDGs. Our findings reveal that citizen science practices in cities predominantly address SDG3 (Good health and wellbeing), 11 (Sustainable cities and communities), and 13 (Climate action). Cities that engage citizens in co-creating solutions can enhance their capacity to improve quality of life and reduce climate and environmental impacts. Citizen engagement at the city and community levels can bolster efforts toward achieving SDGs and monitoring progress on a city-wide scale. However, to fully integrate citizen science and its contribution to cities in achieving SDGs, further research is needed to align the SDGs formulated at the national level with those at the city level. This entails exploring how citizen science can align with SDGs indicators and the quantification of SDG targets. Such efforts will facilitate the mainstreaming of citizen science and its potential to drive progress toward SDGs in cities.","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135884262","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Advancing flood resilience: the nexus between flood risk management, green infrastructure, and resilience","authors":"Mehrafarin Takin, Elizelle Juanee' Cilliers, Sumita Ghosh","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1186885","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1186885","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction Climate change and the fast pace of urbanization are two major factors contributing to the exacerbated risk of flooding in urban areas. Flood resilience strategies, underpinned by the principles of green infrastructure, are gaining importance as within broader spatial planning approaches, and various global cities are adopting revised policies and frameworks to improve flood risk management. Yet, such responsive approaches are still limited and context-specific. Methods In this article, thematic analysis using NVivo was employed to analyse 49 documents related to flood risk management, resilience, and green infrastructure planning. Results This paper reflects on the concepts of flood risk management, flood resilience and green infrastructure planning to identify the synergies between these concepts, and identify challenges that are prohibiting global flood resilience. Discussion Enhancing flood resilience requires coordinated efforts, effective communication, and collaborative governance among stakeholders. The paper also draws planning recommendations for advancing flood resilience through governance and an integrated planning approach, in support of the global goals toward flood resilience.","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135591498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"In the zone: the effects of 2002–2010 upzoning on urban life in New York City","authors":"James A. Lian, Arin Khare, Kai Vernooy","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1149753","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1149753","url":null,"abstract":"As policymakers look for solutions to mitigate the growing housing crisis and sustainable urban development, upzoning is becoming an increasingly popular tool. By altering a community's zoning code to allow for denser development, advocates hope to increase housing capacity and affordability. However, upzoning's effects on urban life, which we define as encompassing housing, greenspace, demographics, and transportation, remains unclear. Existing research primarily consists of isolated studies on each of these aspects' relationship with land use. In this study, we develop a holistic path analysis model by joining 2002–2010 lot-level and aggregating them with 2010–2018 tract-level datasets within NYC, investigating the impacts of upzoning on urban life as a whole. Unlike existing research, this model considers the delayed effects of upzoning by longitudinally separating upzoning from the dependent variables to elucidate the correlation of upzoning with different aspects of urban life. An imagery-based approach was used to more accurately measure greenspace, and a complex path analysis using densification as the main intermediate variable with significance thresholds was applied, enabling satisfactory model fit while preserving only significant connections between land-use and urban life. We find a positive correlation between densification and upzoning, through which upzoning is positively associated with increased home values and urban greening. However, no associations are identified between upzoning with rent prices, racial gentrification and transportation patterns. These results suggest that 2002–2010 upzoning in NYC does not fully realize its goals of increasing housing capacity and affordability. The comprehensive analysis of the impact of upzoning on broader aspects of urban life discussed in this study will be beneficial for future policy making and urban planning.","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135246731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exploring the sustainability of public housing: the case of customized public housing for artists in Seoul","authors":"Ziyu Duan, Seiyong Kim","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1236979","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1236979","url":null,"abstract":"Since 2014, Seoul has proposed customized public housing as a means to address the reduced effectiveness of the urban housing supply. The focus of policy has gradually shifted from total housing security to welfare support, and the South Korean government has announced that the model will be replicated nationwide by 2023. The paper aims to summarize the development and characteristics of the artist-tailored public housing through a review of policy developments and cases from 2013 to 2023. The analysis reveals that the model is characterized by a uniform supply by the public sector, starting with the rights of minority groups rather than the needs of society as a whole. It helps improve the housing supply's effectiveness and moderate the vacancy rate in the city and regional economic stagnation. Finally, this paper summarizes the staged development experience of the artist's customized public rental housing system from four aspects: housing market, supply system, regional economy, and residents' spontaneous participation, and discusses the system's role in promoting the sustainable development of the public housing system. It provides suggestions for the current model's promotion and also provides references for the binary opposition relationship between the economic value of art and urban gentrification in other countries.","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135246064","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Oriol García-Antúnez, Megan L. Maurer, Natalie M. Gulsrud, Sofia Lundmark, Romina Rodela
{"title":"The contradictions of youth participation for intergenerational justice in urban environmental planning","authors":"Oriol García-Antúnez, Megan L. Maurer, Natalie M. Gulsrud, Sofia Lundmark, Romina Rodela","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1250830","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1250830","url":null,"abstract":"Intergenerational justice (IGJ) has long been utilized in academic contexts such as philosophy and political theory. However, IGJ has increasingly become politicized. That is, it has been translated into more tangible ideas and discourses for public scrutiny, contestation, and action. This politicization is strongly represented by youth activism, which has utilized the concept to demand urgent political action and to defend the right to be included and represented in decision-making processes, particularly regarding climate change-related issues. The central topic of discussion in this perspective article is the strategic identification of youth inclusion with IGJ, and specifically the risks involved in accepting this identification. In this article we focus on urban environmental planning and argue that it is important to separate the practice of youth inclusion and the concept of IGJ to address these concerns and explore alternative strategies for incorporating IGJ in urban environmental planning. We then proceed to explore potential urban environmental planning approaches that are more intergenerationally just and conclude by critically reflecting on how the current political economy enables or hinders a more intergenerationally just approach to urban environmental planning.","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135199194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}