Urban Sustainability

This book chiefly focuses on urban traffic, an area supported by massive amounts of data. The application of big data to urban traffic provides strategic and technical methods for the multi-directional and in-depth observation of complex adaptive systems, thus transforming conventional urban traffic planning and management methods. Sharing valuable insights into how big data can be applied to urban traffic, it offers a valuable asset for information technicians, traffic engineers and traffic data analysts alike.

This book aims to explore how sustainability transitions can be explored in current and future cities and how research and policy approaches can be applied to change urban life as we know it, hence aligning the two thematic of urban science and future science, for achieving deep decarbonization. On this, the discourse on philosophy, ethics, and morality appertaining to sustainable cities and urban transitions, across disciplines, are also welcomed as it provides a deeper understanding of humanity in future scenarios.

Chapter 08 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This book analyzes the adoption of stakeholders’ engagement in various fields and scales while providing the readers with an international outlook of the topic. In the contemporary processes of urban development, regeneration is becoming a relevant way to limit the occupation of new land and to enhance the existing spatial, social, and ecological dimensions of specific parts of the city. It generally entails the engagement of different groups of stakeholders and users at various levels—e.g., institutional and private—who carry on their own agendas while conveying a wide range of interests and values to safeguard. At the same time, despite indications of a significant increase in its implementation under various forms and in multiple contexts in the last twenty years, participatory mechanisms have not been without challenges and barriers due to several factors, including facilitators’ poor negotiation and communication practices, and consequently misinterpretation of the values at stake made by the parties involved, or obstructionism and gridlocks carried on by the different stakeholders. The narrative of the collection is structured in four sections The contributions elaborate on innovative participatory patterns, how they are/might be entangled with the different stages of regeneration projects, in what measure they have contributed to the United Nations sustainability goals, and the potential matters emerging during the negotiation phases. In detail, the four sections are: 

  1.     Public space regeneration

  2.     Ecological regeneration

  3.     Built heritage regeneration

  4.     Informal settlements regeneration. 

Finally, this book is a significant asset to urban policy makers, planners, practitioners, and researchers in the architecture and urban studies domain who aim at deepening public participation practices knowledge by comparing different experiences.

This book examines the strategies adopted by local governments to obtain excess construction land quotas in the face of the central government’s strict land management system. It applies game theory, principal-agent theory, collective action theory, and competition and collusion theory to analyze the trade-offs and constraints faced by local governments under the existing institutional framework. It also empirically tests the imitative competitive strategy of land violation and the institutional collusion strategy of land development rights trading using spatial panel model and Tobit model. The book reveals the internal mechanism behind local governments’ simultaneous adoption of competitive and collusive strategies in pursuing local interests and economic growth. It also shows how local governments’ land violations have significant strategic characteristics in time and space, and how economic development gap, resource endowment gap, and human network relationship influence their collusion formation in land development rights trading. This book is a valuable contribution to the literature on land management, local governance, and political economy in China. It is suitable for scholars, students, policy makers, and practitioners who are interested in understanding the complex dynamics of land development in China. The book is written in an accessible and engaging style, with clear explanations of theoretical concepts and empirical methods.

This book provides a comprehensive exploration of the spatial patterns, drivers, mechanisms and management strategies associated with urban heat islands (UHI). It presents new insights into how urban form shapes the thermal environment of cities, shedding light on previously unexplored aspects of UHI dynamics and urban cooling strategies. The key features of this book include: 1. Comprehensive coverage of the influence of urban form on UHI intensity, from spatial patterns to regulatory strategies. 2. Practical implications and recommendations for urban planning and policy formulation to mitigate UHI effects and enhance urban sustainability.

Written for researchers, urban planners, policymakers and environmental practitioners, this book provides valuable insights into understanding and addressing the challenges posed by UHI in rapidly urbanising environments. It is suitable for advanced graduate level courses in urban studies, environmental science and geography.