Search results for " cities"
showing 10 items of 195 documents
C4 plant isotopic composition (delta13C) evidence for urban CO2 pollution in the city of Cotonou, Benin (West Africa).
2006
9 pages; International audience; The carbon isotopic composition (delta13C) of plants can reveal the isotopic carbon content of the atmosphere in which they develop. The delta13C values of air and plants depend on the amount of atmospheric fossil fuel CO2, which is chiefly emitted in urban areas. A new indicator of CO2 pollution is tested using the delta13C variation in a C4 grass: Eleusine indica. A range of about 4 per thousand delta units was observed at different sites in Cotonou, the largest city in the Republic of Benin. The highest delta13C values, from -12 per thousand to -14 per thousand, were found in low traffic zones; low delta13C values, from -14 per thousand to -16 per thousan…
Evaluation of the ERA5 reanalysis-based Universal Thermal Climate Index on mortality data in Europe
2021
Air temperature has been the most commonly used exposure metric in assessing relationships between thermal stress and mortality. Lack of the high-quality meteorological station data necessary to adequately characterize the thermal environment has been one of the main limitations for the use of more complex thermal indices. Global climate reanalyses may provide an ideal platform to overcome this limitation and define complex heat and cold stress conditions anywhere in the world. In this study, we explored the potential of the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) based on ERA5 – the latest global climate reanalysis from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) – as a h…
Palermo Metro-Peripheries: The Role of Peripheries in a Metropolitan Perspective
2018
The deep change in functional, political, and symbolic relations between core and peripheries in European metropolitan dynamics has blurred the current categories of “periphery” and “core”. The periphery is no longer a homogeneous reality, but a dynamic and fragmented urban landscape. The institution of new territorial bodies in Italy, with the metropolitan cities and new forms of institutional collaboration between territorial bodies, is a new political framework that calls for new solutions in regional policy-making in order to overcome the radial (core-centric) urban model: peripheries are not longer satellites of core cities' development but realities that, in a wider view, have a new s…
Urban change and regional development at the margins of Europe: an introduction
2018
Since the beginning of the nineties the urban dimension has taken a growing relevance within the EU’s regional policy. The implementation of community initiatives or other areabased projects under the structural funds has meant for several cities a tangible opportunity to start urban renewal, introduce innovative planning instruments and implement new governance relations. In the so called “less developed” regions, this process has also been accompanied by significant financial resources, giving local governments and municipalities the chance to start large infrastructure projects of metropolitan or even regional relevance. Development processes in regions and urban areas, however, have fol…
Advanced services and city globalization on the Eastern fringe of Europe
2007
Capital cities in East Central and Eastern European Countries (ECEEC) are changing rapidly. Since the 1990s, the ECEEC capitals have faced the double challenge of the market (the transition process) and of integration in the world economy (the globalization process), which supposes a sufficient development of coordination functions and thus of advanced services concentrated in these cities (city globalization). Their capacity to join the network of global cities is evaluated on the basis of their relative specializations in advanced services and their connections with the rest of the world. The comparative analysis leads to contrasted globalization perspectives. Thus, Budapest, Prague and W…
Culture, communication and cooperation: the three Cs for a proactive creative city
2009
The network of European Union creative cities is a powerful new configuration of dynamic, innovative and action-oriented cities, able to transform the space using their network of cultural heritage and activities. From a vision in which the more competitive cities are those able to attract the creative class must go to a vision in which the city becomes generates creativity, presents itself as a powerful incubator of economies based on creativity, culture, research and artistic production. The cities will have to invest in the experience economy, strengthening their identity. The Creative City 3.0, therefore, is an active tension, that requires a long-term vision ability, and calls us to ac…
Consumption and Sustainable Development of Polish Metropolitan Cities
2023
The purpose of the study is to determine the level of sustainable development of metropolitan cities in Poland within the basic dimensions of sustainable development. At the same time, the levels of development of cities in terms of consumption were determined, and an attempt was made to identify the relationship of the levels of development of cities and the levels of development of consumption. Three main dimensions of sustainable development were considered: social, economic and environmental-spatial. It was important to find an answer to the question whether consumption can influence the levels of sustainable development achieved by cities, and in what aspects? A taxonomic method was us…
Describing urban soils through a faceted system ensures more informed decision-making
2016
Urban areas are increasing worldwide at a dramatic rate and their soils definitely deserve more attention than they have received in the past. In urban environments, soils potentially provide the same ecosystem services as in rural and wild environments, although in some cases they are depleted of their basic functions, such as when they lose their productive and filtering capacities because of sealing, and become mere supports for infrastructures. In other cases, soils of urban areas acquire new functions that are unique to these environments. Current soil classifications fail to effectively account for the complexity of urban soils and the information that is required for their management…
Urban Energy Hubs and Microgrids: Smart Energy Planning for Cities
2017
In this chapter, we try to connect the urban design features with energy consumption and consequent pollution parameters. After a review of a selected set of approaches to Urban Energy Systems study with a special focus on electrical power systems, urban energy systems are proposed as networks of multi-source hybrid energy hubs, where different energy flows are collected at the same bus and can be stored, delivered or transformed as needed. Resources at the hub and infrastructures interact with each other; therefore, both definition and boundaries of such energy systems at urban level are difficult to be clearly outlined. Similarly, the possibility to generate new operational models based o…
Evaluating the citywide Edinburgh 20mph speed limit intervention effects on traffic speed and volume: A pre-post observational evaluation.
2021
Objectives Traffic speed is important to public health as it is a major contributory factor to collision risk and casualty severity. 20mph (32km/h) speed limit interventions are an increasingly common approach to address this transport and health challenge, but a more developed evidence base is needed to understand their effects. This study describes the changes in traffic speed and traffic volume in the City of Edinburgh, pre- and 12 months post-implementation of phased city-wide 20mph speed limits from 2016–2018. Methods The City of Edinburgh Council collected speed and volume data across one full week (24 hours a day) pre- and post-20mph speed limits for 66 streets. The pre- and post-sp…