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Floating car data (FCD), characterized by wide spatiotemporal coverage, low collection cost, and immunity to adverse weather conditions, are one of the key approaches for intelligent transportation systems to obtain real‐time urban road network traffic information. The research aims to utilize GPS data from taxis in Shanghai and vector geographic information data of the road network, with urban expressways as the research focus. Based on the different driving characteristics of expressways and the vehicles on the ramps below, a clustering analysis is employed to determine all floating vehicles traveling on the target road. Furthermore, an adaptive buffer zone consistent with the road orientation is established based on road vector geographic data. This allows for the extraction of FCD within segmented areas, and the average vehicle speed for that road segment is obtained through weighted calculations. This method fully exploits the natural characteristics of taxis in urban areas with a wide spatiotemporal distribution. The data effectiveness and coverage reach 90.2% and 85.7%, respectively, significantly surpassing the traditional grid‐based extraction method for FCD. Additionally, to capture the long‐term spatiotemporal dependencies of road network traffic states, a spatial–temporal autoformer (STAF) network based on spatial–temporal sequence autocorrelation is employed for traffic state prediction. The results indicate that the STAF method demonstrates good performance in medium‐ and long‐term prediction. We believe that the proposed FCD mining method in this paper provides a new approach for efficiently extracting large‐scale road network traffic states and conducting medium‐ to long‐term predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the introduction and implementation of core literacy, scientific thinking (ST) has become an essential goal and key dimension of science teaching. At present, there is no agreement on how to cultivate students' ST. This study took 238 sixth grade students from a public primary school in urban China as research sample, built a theoretical model of scientific thinking development based on the theory of the Bronfenbrenner' ecological systems theory, and used multiple data to explore and analyze the impact path of ST development of primary school students using the fuzzy sets of qualitative comparative analysis method (fsQCA). The development of urban primary school students' ST is the result of multiple factors at the level of individual drive, family environment, school teaching, and social resources. The result of data analysis showed that the influence path of ST development of urban primary school students driven by multiple factors includes three paths: parent participation leading, scientific practice leading, and home-school-community integration. We have interpreted the influence mechanism of each path in detail and put forward the enlightenment for science education policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historic cities serve as a crucial historical–cultural cornerstone within urban settings, and fostering its sustainable vitality has emerged as a focal point in urban research. Multisource data have advanced large-scale vitality research. Despite keen interest in the nexus between urban vitality and the built environment, the spatiotemporal intricacies influencing street vitality in smaller urban settings like ancient city are underexplored. To fill this gap, we use Chaozhou ancient cities as a case study to examine the relationship between street vitality and the built environment. Leveraging Jacobs' urban vitality theory and the 5D system, this study develops initial tools to understand ancient city vitality, focusing on density, diversity, accessibility, and the streets' spatial characteristics. Subsequently, employing a geographically and temporally weighted regression model, we delve into the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of vitality and the built environment. The research findings indicate that: (1) the association between street vitality and the built environment in historic cities exhibits dynamic variations over time and space. The impact of different built environment indicators on the vitality of the streets varies in intensity across different periods and areas. (2) Density and diversity play contrasting multifaceted and limited roles in enhancing the vitality of ancient cities. Accessibility's role in traffic attraction and navigability significantly sways vitality. The temporal nonstationary of street space characteristics is particularly pronounced. (3) The density of aged buildings, diversity of building ages, sky view ratio, and green view ratio generally show a negative correlation with the vitality of ancient cities across time and space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessibility is a vital measure of convenience for seniors in accessing urban park green spaces (UPGS). However, current research on accessibility for seniors faces challenges in terms of the reliability of results, and existing categorization methods lack an exploration of accessibility equity. Consequently, there are limited references for city managers to formulate urban planning programs. In this context, this study focuses on Ningbo City, China, and establishes a framework connecting accessibility research and urban planning practices by (1) utilizing the smallest unit in urban planning and zoning regulations as the study's basis; (2) enhancing the reliability of accessibility results through improved input data for the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA); and (3) exploring accessibility equity by constructing an Accessibility Difference Index (ADI) and employing Hotspot Analysis and Pearson's correlation coefficient. The study identified blocks as the smallest unit for accessibility analysis by extracting centerlines from major urban roads. Additionally, the study controlled park division shapes using the Slenderness Ratio and incorporated Baidu population data and path planning time, resulting in more precise 2SFCA results. Consequently, the findings indicated inadequate accessibility in areas where seniors gathered and in the periphery of the study area. Public transportation can significantly improve accessibility equity. The results of the correlation analyses at 15 and 30 min supported this finding. Additionally, the results from the ADI revealed a left-skewed distribution in the assessment data on accessibility equity at 15, 30, and 45-min intervals. Therefore, the accessibility equity for seniors in Ningbo was insufficient. Finally, this paper proposes solutions based on the 2SFCA model, including enhancing the areas and quality of UPGS and optimizing the distribution of seniors. This study can inform urban planning by enhancing transport planning and improving minimum standards for UPGS in zoning regulations. This framework assesses the degree of equity in specific blocks and can guide equity planning in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past, research on urban spatial structure under complex terrain conditions has mostly remained at the level of analyzing a specific city and a single type of terrain, the limitations of the research scope and perspective making it difficult to fully determine any general laws. In order to effectively grasp the mode of spatial expansion, development law, and evolutionary mechanism, we innovatively chose to combine dynamic and static research methods, utilizing static and dynamic maps as two mutually supportive analysis paths, and taking 71 typical cities in China as samples to provide empirical evidence. Our results indicate that there is a phenomenon of differentiation in the types of preferred spatial structure of cities under different terrains, which is realized through the urban space adapting to the topographic constraints, penetrating into the topography, and crossing the topography to break through barriers of scale. Compared with plains cities, the spatial structure of cities under complex terrain changes from compact to decentralized, the urban form tends toward complex from single, and the development rate is divided into two trends of continuous acceleration and reduced growth rate. The reason for this is that the topographical environment is the fundamental influencing factor, and social factors, such as economy and population, play an inherent driving role. National policies directly determine the flow of land and other factors, which are ultimately reflected in the spatial structure. These insights are beneficial for improving the academic research system in this field, as well as supporting the foresight of planning schemes, the direction of optimization measures, and the decision-making of urban agglomeration development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document reflects on the 14-year tenure of the authors as editors of the Urban Affairs Review (UAR) journal. The document highlights the journal's focus on various urban issues, including governance, sustainability, environmental justice, race, ethnicity, poverty, economic development, and fiscal architecture. It emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary and multi-scalar approaches to understanding urban dynamics and acknowledges the challenges posed by the centralization of government authority and the nationalization of politics. The document also discusses the measurement of journal impact and the editorial responsibilities of promoting emergent ideas and responding to disruptive events. Overall, the authors express gratitude for their role as journal editors and the impact they have had on the urban scholarly community. [Extracted from the article]

The applicability of augmented reality (AR) as a tool for geospatial data analysis and urban environment interaction relies on developing robust and accurate systems capable of aligning the virtual reference frame with the geographic one. In this article, we introduce our work toward the conceptualization and realization of Geographic-Aware Augmented Reality (GeoAR), including an evaluated framework for the automatic registration of georeferenced AR content. The proposed framework uses a novel calibration method that enables highly accurate placement of augmentations at their assigned geographic coordinate. Moreover, it introduces four calibration approaches suitable for different user needs. The framework was evaluated to assess the robustness of the augmentation's positional accuracy in three areas with different environmental characteristics, using references up to 50 m away while the user moves around. The results demonstrate that this framework supports novel outdoor AR applications, extending the possibilities in research and urban applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual tree detection in urban areas using unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) RGB imagery poses challenges due to the diverse shapes and structures of urban trees and the complexity of urban forests. The digital surface model (DSM) provides elevation data, and the fusion of UAV RGB imagery with elevation data has emerged as a promising approach for tree detection. Here, we constructed a novel network structure based on the faster region-based convolutional neural network (Faster R-CNN) to detect camphor trees in urban environments using RGB-DSM data. First, an attention fusion module was proposed to effectively fuse the RGB and DSM features by leveraging their complementarity. Second, the bidirectional feature pyramid network (BiFPN) was introduced to enhance the model performance in detecting camphor tree crowns of varying sizes. The results showed that our approach could effectively detect urban camphor trees and achieved an AP of 85.7%. Notably, our approach yielded an AP of 81.3% in urban green spaces. The analysis indicated that our approach was feasible for detecting camphor trees in urban areas and demonstrated its potential to facilitate urban forestry research and applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on ethnographic research on an urban regeneration project targeting the historically Armenian quarter of a provincial capital in the Kurdish parts of Turkey, the article engages with two related, but separate strands of anthropological scholarship on the 'fragmented' nature of sovereignty to think through the relation of sovereignty and extraction. It does so, firstly, in relation to contemporary transformations of statecraft under conditions of financialised neoliberalism and authoritarianism, and secondly, in relation to the historically contingent constellation of property relations, racialisation and violence in the transition from Ottoman Empire to Turkish nation-state. The first leads me to argue that 'fragmentation' emerges here as a project internal to the practices of statecraft, that is, not primarily driven by market mechanisms, nor as something that extends beyond the nation-state. The historical account is offered as a case that further extends our scholarly archive of modern sovereignty as a global form intimately entangled with extraction and dispossession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ecology of urban wild mammals is studied twice as often as human dimensions. • Canids and murids are the most studied taxonomic families. • Human dimensions research is dominated by a conflict narrative. • Sound planning policy for biophilic future cities requires more interdisciplinary research. • We propose a research agenda for future research on urban wild mammals. Future cities have the potential to be biodiverse areas in which humans and wildlife can coexist. However, the success of creating or maintaining wildlife-inclusive future cities can be challenged by management actions that are solely based on ecological research, while overlooking research on human perspectives. Despite the growth of literature on human-wildlife interactions, which complements the breadth of urban ecology research, the overlap between these two research areas is still uncommon. In this study, we reviewed the literature of wild mammals in urban areas to identify patterns and gaps in the literature. We found 848 published journal articles, of which 480 articles focused on wildlife ecology, 269 articles focused on human dimensions and 99 articles had interdisciplinary combinations of both. Ecology-centered publications tended to be about habitat, rather than behavior, diet, health, reproduction and inter-species-relations, and literature on human dimensions was more evenly divided into management, perception, conflict and coexistence. Most ecology studies reported on specific taxonomic families, mainly canids and murids, but in human-dimension studies, "wildlife" was considered more as a general community of species. The most studied interdisciplinary combination of research themes was wildlife habitat and human-wildlife conflicts (n = 22), while only nine studies incorporated perception with ecological research. Even though studies on human dimensions of wildlife in cities are increasing, interdisciplinary research is lacking, which limits the knowledge on how to manage and shape urban areas to achieve coexistence of humans and wild mammals. For future cities to successfully become biophilic and support human-wildlife coexistence, we outlined five key elements for a research agenda: 1) Investigate urban mammal research through an interdisciplinary lens; 2) Explore ecological dynamics beyond habitat selection; 3) Conduct research for coexistence; 4) Disentangle what is "urban wildlife"; 5) Study a diverse array of urban wild mammals. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In order to study the deep learning model of urban planning image data processing and health intelligent system, based on existing remote sensing image change detection methods, the author introduces and proposes the use of deep belief networks in deep learning to classify high-resolution remote sensing images and analyze urban expansion change detection. Compared with traditional methods, deep learning has the highest overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient. Deep learning has the highest producer accuracy and relatively low misjudgment rate, making it the most suitable for studying the trend of urban built-up areas. By calculating the information entropy of the image to predict the number of hidden layer nodes, the time for deep learning is greatly reduced. Under the same experimental conditions, the training time for each image can be shortened by 12 525 seconds has improved classification efficiency and made a significant contribution to research on urban expansion applications. Finally, the improved deep belief network was applied to classify and detect changes in the three phase remote sensing images of Beijing, and the urban expansion trend and characteristics of Beijing were analyzed. Provide technical reference and inspiration for urban planning and land use protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents insights on conducting urban research amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing the adoption of digital ethnography as an innovative and flexible approach. Drawing from an expanding body of literature on fieldwork among 'hard-to-reach' populations during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, we share our experiences from a study on the socio-economic impacts of mandatory lockdowns on poor urban residents in Harare, Zimbabwe. Our research highlighted several methodological benefits of digital ethnography, including its non-intrusive and non-intimidating nature, cost and time efficiency, ability to increase participant diversity, assurance of respondent safety, research flexibility, and the generation of impactful data. Unlike traditional immersive ethnography, digital ethnography proved adept at navigating the complexities of the 'global', 'local', and 'trans-local' dimensions of contemporary urban research subjects. However, this approach also presents several ethical challenges. These challenges include obtaining informed consent, ensuring confidentiality and anonymity, participants' potential misunderstanding of the research context, the risk of exacerbating stress during crises, and respecting privacy in digital spaces. Urban researchers must carefully consider these ethical issues before undertaking their studies. In conclusion, virtual environments have become integral to modern life and represent essential avenues for urban researchers, particularly during periods of limited physical interaction and when studying populations that are difficult to reach in person but more accessible online. Further, the adoption of digital ethnography, extends beyond the necessity imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It reflects an ongoing evolution in ethnographic practices, adapting to the realities of a digitally connected world. We suggest that urban researchers should think of digital ethnographic ethics from the point of view of reciprocal and mutual collaboration with participants. With this thinking, urban research subjects become co-participants and co-researchers rather than subjects of exploitation in the expanding and complex digital space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With advancements in sustainable urban development, research on urban functional areas has garnered significant attention. In recent years, Point-of-Interest, with their large volume of information and ease of acquisition, have been widely applied in research on urban functional domains. However, scholars currently focus on the identification of urban functional areas, usually relying on data from a single period, whereas research on the prediction of functional areas has not yet been well validated. Therefore, in this study, we propose a new method based on several years of POI data to predict urban functional areas. Taking Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, as an example, we first identified the functional area distribution of the old city of Nanjing over several years using POI data and then designed multiple sets of experiments to explore the CA–Markov model's ability to predict functional areas from various aspects, including model overall accuracy, robustness, and comparison analysis between predictions and actual situations. The results show that (1) for mixed or single functional areas, the model's predictions over several years tend to be stable, and the accuracy of the predictions over many years indicates the robustness of the model in predicting urban functional areas. (2) For mixed functional areas in cities, model predictions largely rely on the distribution of the base years used for prediction, leading to inaccurate results; thus, it is still not applicable for simulating and predicting mixed functional areas. (3) For single functional areas in cities or primary functions within an area, the model's predicted degree of change was close to the actual degree of change, making the results referable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractUnderstanding fine-scale dynamics of human mobility patterns is pivotal for effective urban planning, public health strategies, and retail analysis. This study introduces a novel mobility measure – the Local Mobility Index (LMI) – combining geometry-based mobility metrics and accessibility measures. The LMI can be considered a measure of ‘relative localness’ by integrating preferences into the assessment of local mobility patterns, offering a novel measure for understanding mobility behavior in urban contexts. The LMI improves upon existing measures as it captures individual choice for local destinations through measuring whether individuals select nearby destinations; accounting for the unequal spatial distribution of urban amenities. Our contribution is mainly methodological, advancing the field by introducing a metric that captures different aspects of mobility compared to conventional mobility metrics. Leveraging mobile-phone-based GPS data, we examine the LMI using 759 individuals across three cities in England. We found that the LMI captures a new and distinct dimension of urban mobility, as evidenced by its weak correlation with established metrics. Therefore, LMI's capacity to highlight previously undetected aspects of mobility behavior, underscores its importance for advancing research and urban planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Matters of sound and listening are increasingly being attended to across the social sciences and humanities, reflecting what has been termed a 'sonic turn' since the early 2000s. In urban ethnographic research, scholars are starting to pay attention to the role of sound in social relations, in expressions of identity and senses of belonging, as well as in processes of othering. In this paper, we explore the theoretical and methodological opportunities of sonic urban ethnography, that is, an urban ethnography that foregrounds sound and listening in theoretical and methodological ways. We argue that the promise of sonic urban ethnography lies in its ability to interrupt the predominant focus on text and the visual by developing expanded practices of listening for alternative ways of knowing and engaging with the urban. We share four empirical vignettes from Shanghai, Berlin and London that illustrate, in their different ways, the power exercised through sound in the urban environment. Our discussion of the empirical cases highlights three key 'lessons' for doing sonic urban ethnography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urban planning profession is increasingly challenged to analyze extensive text data, from plans to public feedback. While natural language processing (NLP) has promising potential for aiding this analysis, its applications and purpose in planning remain unclear. This article reviews current planning research using NLP, seeking to highlight key themes and challenges, and suggesting a coherent future research agenda. The results reveal that existing research is primarily exploratory with a fragmented research landscape. Future studies should focus on sharing data, benchmarking NLP techniques, fostering collaborative research tailored to planning, and addressing ethical implications to harness NLP's full potential in planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper interrogates what has and has not changed in 100 years of professional planning in Zanzibar, Tanzania. The geographical focus is on the area of the historic core of the city known as Ng'ambo (a KiSwahili place-name meaning 'the Other Side'). The gap between formal plans for infrastructure, housing, or neighbourhood development, and their implementation, is examined in its evolution over this century. The central focus of the empirical examination resides with the most recent planning initiatives, since 2011, which present a strongly inclusive and participatory emphasis for planning on the Other Side. The key research question is this: has this new era of inclusive planning strengthened the urban poor majority's citizenship, or has it continued the long run of state planning failures for Ng'ambo's residents? This essay argues that, despite progressive ambitions, in implementation there are a number of continuities with both colonial and post-independence planning, where outside powers and elite interests have predominated. The paper is built from more than thirty years of the author's research on urban planning in Ng'ambo and engagement with the literature of urban planning studies in Africa and the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As cities increasingly adopt diverse ethnic, social, and cultural characteristics, there is an emerging logic for planning and policy to reflect this hyper-diversity (inclusion) while resolving the looming sustainability-related challenges. However, what is not adequately addressed in the current literature on urban planning – which could also solidify the justification for more citizen inclusion – is what happens when citizens are involved in planning from the perspective of sustainability. In response, this paper asks a key question: "What are the implications, in the case of urban foodscape, when citizens are involved in planning from the perspective of sustainability?" This question is investigated in this paper in the domain of urban foodscapes and through qualitative interviews, with the support of maps, in the Dutch city of Almere. A novel theoretical combination of just sustainabilities and social licence to operate (SLO) was utilised to frame citizen inclusion in foodscape planning. The findings showed that based on everyday practical experiences of food access in the city, citizens were more concerned about social interaction, the representation of food from cultural origins, and local food production. This theoretical combination, as a way of deepening inclusion, would help avoid the tendency of urban planning being used as an instrument for glossing over social injustice under the guise of citizen participation. This paper, therefore, argues that SLO can be a key pathway for actualising just sustainabilities in both urban planning research and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accelerated growth of urban areas has resulted in substantial alterations to the spatial structure of these settlements. The accurate identification of the multi-centre spatial structure is a fundamental prerequisite for the assessment of urban spatial development and the optimisation of urban space. Accordingly, this study aimed to identify the multi-centre spatial structure of cities through a novel approach of data fusion based on night-time lighting data, LandScan data, and population heat data. Furthermore, this study compared the differential effects of population distribution and population mobility in identifying urban spatial structures. The empirical research results for Zhengzhou City demonstrate that the accuracy of using LandScan data fusion to identify multi-centre spatial structures was 0.7463, while the accuracy of using night-time light data fusion to identify urban spatial structures through population mobility reached 0.8235. This suggests that, in the context of increasing population mobility and economic activity, the integration of population mobility data may have a significant impact on the accuracy of urban spatial research. Moreover, this study places a dual focus on population distribution and population mobility and a new method of data integration for urban spatial research. These are of considerable practical value in facilitating spatial optimisation and the coordinated development of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we explore the extent to which applying embodied, 'skin in the game' methods used in infrastructure activism (a contemporary art practice) can help expand the toolkit of methods applied in action research on infrastructures, interactions between humans and more-than-humans and urban socio-environmental processes in planning. In particular, we focus on two cases of infrastructure activism: the Amsterdam Zuidoost Food Forest (VBAZO), in Amsterdam's South East, and the KRATER project in Ljubljana's city centre. In our discussion of these projects, we explore the embodied research practices that infrastructure activists have developed to change not only urban green infrastructures but also researcher-actors' own perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the global push for sustainable urban development progresses, this study, set against the backdrop of Hangzhou City, one of China's megacities, addressed the conflict between urban expansion and the occurrence of urban geological hazards. Focusing on the predominant geological hazards troubling Hangzhou—urban road collapse, land subsidence, and karst collapse—we introduced a Categorical Boosting-SHapley Additive exPlanations (CatBoost-SHAP) model. This model not only demonstrates strong performance in predicting the selected typical urban hazards, with area under the curve (AUC) values reaching 0.92, 0.92, and 0.94, respectively, but also, through the incorporation of the explainable model SHAP, visually presents the prediction process, the interrelations between evaluation factors, and the weight of each factor. Additionally, the study undertook a multi-hazard evaluation, producing a susceptibility zoning map for multiple hazards, while performing tailored analysis by integrating economic and population density factors of Hangzhou. This research enables urban decision makers to transcend the "black box" limitations of machine learning, facilitating informed decision making through strategic resource allocation and scheduling based on economic and demographic factors of the study area. This approach holds the potential to offer valuable insights for the sustainable development of cities worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Annual urban forest expansion dynamics are crucial for assessing the benefits and potential issues associated with vegetation accumulation over time. LandTrendr (Landsat-Based Detection of Trends in Disturbance and Recovery) can efficiently detect the dynamics of interannual land cover change, but it has difficulty distinguishing urban forest expansion from urban surface rapid conversions, as changes are usually filtered by magnitude-of-change thresholds. To accurately detect annual urban forest expansion dynamics, we developed an improved method using random forest-supervised classification to filter urban forests. We further enhanced the performance of the improved method by incorporating trend features between segments. Additionally, we tested two threshold-based filtering baseline methods. These methods were tested with various spectral and parameter combinations in Beijing's Central District and the 1st Greenbelt from 1994 to 2022. The improved method with trend features achieved the highest average accuracy of 89.35%, representing a 25% improvement over baseline methods. Post-change trend features aided in accurate identification, while quantitative features rather than extremum features were more important in filtering. The improved method with trend features tested in Beijing's 2nd Greenbelt also showed an accuracy of 88.27%, confirming its stability. SWIR2 and a higher maximum segment number are efficient for filtering by providing the most detailed dynamics. Accurate annual expansion dynamic mapping offers insights into change rates and precise expansion years, providing a new perspective for urban forest research and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Health Organization (WHO) articulated a vision in 1986, hoping that countries around the world would actively promote the construction and development of healthy cities. In the context of China, a paradigm shift in urban development has been triggered by the deep implementation of the Healthy China Strategy and the gradual completion of the comprehensive national spatial planning. This shift emphasizes a micro-level focus, advocating a human-centered approach to urban space exploration. In this paper, the Dingwangtai Area of Changsha City is selected as a case study. A street space health evaluation index system called "5D+" is constructed from six dimensions, namely, human perception, degree of mixing, density, distance to transit, destination accessibility, and devise. This research adopts the community as the fundamental unit of analysis, employing the Entropy-weighting TOPSIS method for the computation of indicators. The results of this study show that the Dingwangtai Area exhibits relative deficiencies in the dimensions of density, devise, and destination accessibility. Specifically, at the community level, the Ma Wang Street Community and the Fanhou Street Community have scored particularly low. In response, this paper proposes targeted measures and detailed recommendations aimed at optimizing the design of the street, enhancing the human experience, enriching functional attributes, and refining the street network. The ultimate goal is to propose a Healthy Streets Evaluation Index System based on the concept of a healthy city and to explore its relationship with healthy streets so as to provide valuable insights for the development of healthy city streets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water, energy, and food (WEF) are critical resources to sustain urban development, which requires a sustainable structure of the urban WEF nexus to address trade-offs and achieve synergies. Although interactions in the WEF nexus are widely explored, its sustainable structure has largely been ignored. This study constructs a framework of WEF nexus sustainability factors. Based on a literature review and expert opinions, 21 factors influencing urban WEF nexus sustainability were extracted and their interrelationships determined. We used social network analysis (SNA) and interpretive structural modeling (ISM) to analyze the structure of the urban WEF network. The results indicate that technological investment and industrial added-value energy consumption are the most critical and fundamental factors for promoting the sustainable development of the urban WEF nexus. Additionally, the balance of water supply and demand and the comprehensive management of waste pollutants are also driving and supporting factors for the sustainability of the urban WEF nexus. The results of this study complement the interaction mechanism research of the urban WEF nexus and provide practical references for sustainable decision-making in urban WEF nexus practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the widespread application of multisource data, the identification of urban polycenters faces the challenge of increasing data costs. This study developed a cost‐effective model for identifying urban polycenters by employing a combination of the Random Forest algorithm and Local Moran's I index. Using point‐of‐interest data from Amap, our model was benchmarked against a multisource data model to verify its effectiveness and accuracy. The results indicate that the single‐source model possesses an accuracy comparable to that of the multisource model in determining the centrality and spatial distribution of urban centers, thus offering a substantial capability to reduce reliance on multisource data. The random forest method exhibits a significant accuracy advantage over traditional ordinary least squares regression methods. However, it also exhibited susceptibility to overfitting and variations in data sampling. This suggests that while the model is highly effective for large‐scale urban studies, it requires careful handling of data inputs. This model can be applied to actual urban planning and research, providing a useful instrument for investigating urban polycentric structures at different spatial scales. This will increase the usefulness of the model in real‐world scenarios and lower the expenses related to analyzing urban data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sustainable transdisciplinary research network was established through a research practice partnership (RPP) between an urban farm, faculty and staff from a Historically Black College (HBC), and researchers at a medium-sized private university. We investigate student-worker resilience at this urban farm situated on the HBC campus, drawing on literature that explores tensions between informal learning environments and formal spaces, equitable food systems and farming systems, as well as the resilience of farm work, and which is grounded critical food systems education theory. Utilizing a participatory design approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews and deductively analyzed the data. The research questions guiding this paper are: (1) What topics of discussion are most important to the student-workers and staff working on an urban farm, (2) How do student-workers and college staff members perceive and experience resilience on an urban farm? We found that what participants on an urban farm discuss, relating to their experiences, include (1) how participants were eager to engage with the local community, (2) how participants demonstrated resilience while working on the urban farm, (3) how power dynamics played a pivotal role informing the direction of the urban farm, (4) how participants consider community access to healthy foods an important mission for the farm, (5) how the college acted as a power wielding entity, perpetuating its privilege over the farmers and the farm operations. These findings have the potential to enable community organizing spaces to promote resilience for their volunteers and workers, and for urban farms top partner with their community to promote the mission of increasing access to healthy and affordable food options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine the effects of digital technologies on academic knowledge production in the field of urban research. It provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution of technology-based urban research literature, delineates the knowledge structure, and investigates prevalent trends. The study employs bibliometric analysis to analyze bibliographical and textual data extracted from scientific documents, which allows for the discovery of the existing epistemological structure of the discipline or research domain. The research was conducted by conducting a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the literature available in the Web of Science Core Collection regarding how concepts such as big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) are discussed in academic papers in the field of urban studies. A total of 2055 academic papers that met the established criteria were identified and analyzed using bibliometric analysis software called Bibliometrix. The results of the research aid in examining the integration of technological advancements into urban research, and reveal the temporal, spatial, and disciplinary distribution of scientific articles, as well as their reflections on new research areas and both frequently studied and yet unexplored topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite being a traditional research topic in urban studies, competitive relations among cities have rarely been quantified in empirical research. Drawing on methods of social network analysis, this study aims to extract intercity competitive relations at the global scale based on the global corporate spatial organization of manufacturing. The geographies of competitive relations manifest different patterns from those of global city networks based on cooperative relations. This study finds an inverse U‐shaped relationship between cities' connectivities and their gross intensity of competition. Although most global cities have unique positions in global manufacturing competition, intensive competition occurs among some global cities, whereas extensive competition exists between wide‐ranging cities with weak global connectivities. Furthermore, there is strong competition among cities of similar size and among those located in the same region. This research not only re‐examines global intercity relations from a competitive perspective but also informs the formulation of policy‐making on competition strategies of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• In the last decade, there has been a greater publication focus on local markets. • Studies in urban ethnobotany demand new theoretical and methodological approaches. • America has the highest number of articles on medicinal plants in local markets. • There is a great opportunity to adopt a decolonial perspective in local markets. • In terms of numbers, native species are the most relevant in local markets. The rising demand for medicinal plants in urban settings, coupled with the rapid urbanization process, has spurred researchers to document the biological diversity of the plant trade in numerous regions and investigate potential health and environmental consequences associated with this commerce. This article provides a comprehensive review of the ethnobotany of medicinal plants sold in local markets. It delves into the most current themes explored in ethnobotanical studies, focusing on the socioeconomic and cultural aspects of the continents and countries covered. A total of 170 articles on medicinal and/or magical-religious plants were analyzed. We note that many recent studies still lack a foundation in theoretical and hypothetical frameworks, and other limitations, indicating challenges in applying that research to address observed health and environmental problems. We emphasize the socioeconomic and cultural data from participating groups, given the significant role that the plant trade plays in maintaining cultural identities and serving low-income populations in both urban and rural environments. Nevertheless, the importance of more participatory and interdisciplinary approaches in studies conducted in urban environments becomes imperative. Moreover, the prevalence of urban ethnobotanical research in developing countries opens up opportunities for studies to adopt a decolonizing perspective, recognizing not only the protagonism of global south countries in the development of research in urban ethnobotany, but also the sociabilities and non-hegemonic knowledge about medicinal plants held by various social subjects involved in the commercial chain of medicinal plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on a fascination with Denis Cosgrove's term 'Carto-City' that encompasses the concept that 'Urban space and cartographic space are inseparable' [Cosgrove, D. (2006). Carto-City. In J. Abrams, & P. Hall (Eds.), Else/where: Mapping New cartographies of networks and territories (pp. 148–157). University of Minnesota], this essay applies the idea to a conceptualisation of 'city' as urbaness – as a connected state of mind or urban emotion. Through a visual methodology of 'unmapping' and 're-mapping' of Carto-City as Surface-City, this artistic research practice aims to contribute to how we understand and map the connected cartographies of contemporary urban consciousness. Cosgroves "seeing, imagining and representing" (2008) is re-interpreted to map a specific emotion within urbaness emerging out of the restricted transience of a world-wide pandemic – the emotion of missing. As physical city spaces across the world stood still, digital connection expanded creating a focused space for critical reflection on how interconnected layers of urban emotion might be mapped. My response to this, Surface-City, is grounded in my ongoing body of research into urban consciousness and its mapping through academic writing and visual practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes hope as a lens for critical urban research for the purpose of grasping the interplay between forces of change and stability as manifested in popular uprisings, as well as in broader, self-organised spatial practices in everyday life. This hopeful lens allows for reimagining hope through the concept of 'the political', defined in the post-foundationalist literature as an ontological condition assuming the inherent impossibility for 'politics' to reach its final closure, fixation or stability. The hopes thus arising from 'the political' provide critical urban scholars with better tools to navigate the ever-present possibilities for emancipatory change and action, arising from an ontological lack of foundations, upon which political orders are temporarily based. In this paper, we show how theoretical notions from post-foundationalism can expand the current sense of hope by instilling a non-teleological view on inherent possibilities for matters to be otherwise, thus implying the absence of certainty about presupposed ideas of what genuine political change should look like. Through this lens, hope appears linked to concrete openings for alternatives found in everyday life. By laying out such a hopeful approach, we aim to expand the awareness of urban 'scholars' to ponder both mundane and radical materialisations and practices of 'the political' within urban settings. Ultimately, by reimagining hope to look beyond or alongside postpolitics, we unlock a future-oriented research agenda that adds nuance to an ontologically restricted conception of 'politics', which allows for broader empirical attunement to ever-present embodied signs of unfinished urban alternatives generated by 'the political'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of South Architecture / Nanfang Jianzhu is the property of South Architecture Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The conceptualization of insularity in the context of islands has been widely studied and debated, encompassing both geographical and identity aspects. The academic discussion on the definition of insularity and isolation in the context of islands remains a current topic, along with the economic, social, legal and environmental challenges faced by insular regions. This study aims to deepen the conceptual framework of insularity and structure its issues from various scientific perspectives through quantitative bibliometric analysis. Key focus areas and research gaps have been identified, including the need for enhanced economic policies, better marine resource management, more comprehensive urban development research and improved data on social and political issues. The conclusions emphasize the importance of prioritizing intervention areas and specific policies to address the unique challenges faced by insular regions in terms of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Arid Zone Research / Ganhanqu Yanjiu is the property of Arid Zone Research Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Frontiers of Computer Science & Technology is the property of Beijing Journal of Computer Engineering & Applications Journal Co Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The advances of panoramic imaging technology, the growing popularity of street view imagery tools, and the development in artificial intelligence such as computer vision, machine learning and deep learning, have led to the use of panoramic imagery for large-scale, automated discrimination and parsing in urban research. The rapid development of the aforementioned fields has led to a large number of cross-cutting results between the fields of panoramic imagery, artificial intelligence and urban research in the last two decades. In this paper, CiteSpace and VOSviewer are utilized as analysis platforms to investigate the advancement of panoramic imagery applications in urban research. Firstly, three developmental stages of panoramic imagery in urban research are identified using a literature co-citation clustering network and a terminology time zone map. Subsequently, co-authorship network and keyword clustering analysis are employed to investigate the co-authorship relationships, acquisition methods and image information extraction techniques. Four main application fields of panoramic imagery in urban research are summarized: urban built environment, urban landscape environment, urban physical environment and smart city. Finally, the primary driving factors for the advancement of panoramic imagery application areas are summarized from a historical perspective. Additionally, current challenges and future trends of panoramic imagery application in urban research are discussed.

Data on discrete, isolated attributes of the marine economy are often used in traditional marine economic research. However, as the focus of urban research shifts from internal static attributes to external dynamic linkages, the importance of marine economic network research is beginning to emerge. The construction of the marine economic network in China's coastal areas is necessary to change the flow of land and sea resources and optimize regional marine economic development. Employing data from headquarters and branches of sea-related A-share listed enterprises to construct the marine economic network in China, we use social network analysis (SNA) to discuss the characteristics of its evolution as of 2010, 2015, and 2020 and its governance. The following results were obtained. 1) In terms of topological characteristics, the scale of the marine economic network in China's coastal areas has accelerated and expanded, and the connections have become increasingly close; thus, this development has complex network characteristics. 2) In terms of spatial structure, the intensity of the connection fluctuates and does not form stable development support; the group structure gradually becomes clear, but the overall pattern is fragmented; there are spatial differences in marine economic agglomeration radiation; the radiation effect of the eastern marine economic circle is obvious; and the polarization effect of northern and southern marine economic circles is significant. On this basis, we construct a framework for the governance of a marine economic network with the market, the government, and industry as the three governing bodies. By clarifying the driving factors and building objectives of marine economic network construction, this study aims to foster the high-quality development of China's marine economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban evolutionary ecology is inherently interdisciplinary. Moreover, it is a field with global significance. However, bringing researchers and resources together across fields and countries is challenging. Therefore, an online collaborative research hub, where common methods and best practices are shared among scientists from diverse geographic, ethnic, and career backgrounds would make research focused on urban evolutionary ecology more inclusive. Here, we describe a freely available online research hub for toolkits that facilitate global research in urban evolutionary ecology. We provide rationales and descriptions of toolkits for: (1) decolonizing urban evolutionary ecology; (2) identifying and fostering international collaborative partnerships; (3) common methods and freely‐available datasets for trait mapping across cities; (4) common methods and freely‐available datasets for cross‐city evolutionary ecology experiments; and (5) best practices and freely available resources for public outreach and communication of research findings in urban evolutionary ecology. We outline how the toolkits can be accessed, archived, and modified over time in order to sustain long‐term global research that will advance our understanding of urban evolutionary ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last few years, with the fast growing of neural network field such as those for virtual reception and enhanced nature, the practice and theory of conventional landscape are impacted and challenged by virtual landscape based on these sorts of neural network technologies. On the one hand, the virtual landscape changes the carrier of landscape design from material real world to the networked virtual world, which breaks the traditional way of generating landscape and the way of expression of results. On the other hand, the virtualized and networked morphological characteristics of the virtual landscape itself and its capacity that can offer users a sense of immertion, interplay and enjoyment of the experience provide a way of extending and deepening the realm of scenery. It is also a new type of landscape that conforms to the trend of the times created in the background of the fast evolution of scientific and technical development. Virtual landscape brings new construction thinking and practical means for the application of digital city, the construction of urban context, and the development and utilization of relics. It provides an important research source for thinking about the relationship between current humanities and science, material and virtual, history and contemporary. After the research and experiment on the urban environment landscape design of PSO-BP neural network, the experimental data showed that before using the neural network method to improve Yanta East Garden, 57% of the crowd were satisfied with the overall impression of Yanta East Garden, and 17% were dissatisfied. After the improvement, 67% were satisfied with the landscape of Yanta East Garden, only 5% were dissatisfied, and the landscape satisfaction increased by 10%. The survey group believed that the landscape color of Yanta East Garden was full of historical flavor, especially the small sculptures convey the unique Qin Opera culture. The above data show that the method based on neural network is very suitable for the improvement and development of urban landscape design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: : This study aimed to investigate the work problems and challenges of male prehospital emergency technicians when faced with female medical emergencies. Given that qualitative research has not been done in this field, planning to find the weak points and improve the quality of prehospital emergency as the first line of treatment for female emergency patients, which is considered an important part of the health care system, is considered important and valuable. Therefore, this phenomenological study was conducted in 2023. Methods: This study was conducted using a qualitative method of phenomenology in 2023. The environment of the research was urban and road prehospital emergency centers in Iran and the data were collected through interviews with EMS technicians. The collected data were analyzed using Smith's approach to explain the lived experiences of EMS technicians facing female emergencies or women's emergencies in Iran. Results: All the 15 participants were men. Their mean age was 35 years, with a range of 25 to 45 years, and with a mean work experience of 10.54 years with a range of 4 to 20 years. The lived experiences of 115 emergency technicians in facing women's emergencies in Iran were placed in four main themes cultural-social factors, organizational factors, human resources-related factors, and administrative-legal factors. Conclusion: EMS personnel face various obstacles in carrying out missions related to women's emergencies, Considering the critical nature of women's emergencies, it is recommended that policymakers and clinical educators improve the level of community culture, communication skills, theoretical and practical training, respecting privacy, hiring female personnel, adding specialized equipment, amending and changing laws, removing road-traffic obstacles and to support personnel, patients and their families psychologically to optimize performance in women's emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines opposing viewpoints on Northern research interventions in Southern cities regarding urban refugees. While some argue for a complete boycott of Northern interventions, others perpetuate colonial attitudes of patronization. Engaging with decolonial perspectives, this article aims to bridge the gap between current practices and a desired decolonial future in refugee studies. By reflecting on personal experiences, it highlights the usually unnoticed dynamics of North–South partnerships, academic and non-academic, in refugee studies. The article explores the Northern presence in the South, focusing on Jordan. It analyses four primary trends of Northern conduct in Jordan: the shift from women empowerment to climate change , rapid out-of-touch fieldwork , the Four Seasons Phenomenon , and the add-on partners. Finally, it seeks a middle ground by providing guidance to both Northern and Southern entities, facilitating better partnerships. This article aims to raise awareness and guide experts, scholars, and INGOs in refugee studies and other disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Density has been a key focus in research on the urban dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of this work has debated the role of density in infection rates. In contrast, we develop a comparison of the management of pandemic urbanism in two high density Asian cities with divergent pandemic experiences: Manila and Taipei. To pursue the comparison, we develop two conceptualisations of density: exposure density and networked density. Our approach allows us to examine the nature and consequences, especially for the urban poor, of different approaches to density in the pandemic, and to advance research on urban density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical research on urban epidemics has focused on the interaction of diseases with social and spatial gradients, such as class, ethnicity, or neighborhood. Even sophisticated historical studies usually lack data on health-related behavior or health-related perceptions, which modern analysts tend to emphasize. With detailed source material from the Finnish city of Tampere during a typhoid epidemic in 1916, we are able to combine both dimensions and look at how material and social constraints interacted with behavior and knowledge to produce unequal outcomes. We use data on socioeconomic status, location, and physical habitat as well as the self-reported behavior and expressed understandings of transmission mechanisms of the infected people to identify the determinants of some falling ill earlier or later than others. Applying survival analysis to approximately 2,500 cases, we show that disease avoidance behavior was deficient and constrained by physical habitat, regardless of considerable public health campaigning. Behavioral guidelines issued by authorities were sub-optimally communicated, unrealistic, and inadequately followed. Boiling water was hampered by shared kitchens, and access to laundry houses for additional hygiene was uneven. Centralized chemical water purification finally leveled the playing field by socializing the cost of prevention and eliminating key sources of unequal risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global rise in urban energy demand poses severe environmental and economic health challenges. We need adaptive policies in urban planning to reduce the need for urban energy. This has become a prominent agenda in urban planning, encompassing social (education and innovation in consumption), economic (real pricing), and physical (urban morphology) aspects. This research aims to investigate the influential role of urban form, particularly the physical environment, on energy performance. The methodological approach is centered on conducting analytical-comparative research to examine how urban form influences theoretical energy requirements. Yazd City is selected as a case study because of its distinctive features and traditional approaches to urban sustainability, which have been largely overlooked in previous energy consumption investigations. In a broader comparative context, five tissue types (morphological units) have been selected from Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, and Venice and used as the analytical basis of the study. The research categorizes urban forms into three levels: macro (fabric), medium (block), and micro (building patterns). Heating, cooling, and total energy consumption were computed at each level. The findings indicate that, at the macroscale, the Barcelona fabric offers the highest potential for adaptation in the hot, dry climate of Yazd City. Moreover, the paper analyzes the most recurring morphological indices in the tissues and proposes guidelines for new developments tailored to Yazd City's unique climatic conditions. By focusing on urban form's impact on energy performance, this research contributes to the broader understanding of sustainable urban planning. It offers valuable insights for energy-sensitive urban development in other contexts facing similar climate challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African doctoral students studying abroad and returning to their home countries for fieldwork face multiple and complex challenges. This paper reflexively addresses the question of positionality from the experiences of conducting research on urban governance and the spatial politics of street traders in Harare, Zimbabwe. The paper discusses dilemmas associated with navigating insider and outsider identities, showcasing how these categories continually shift while conducting research on street traders within a distinct socio‐cultural and political context. Moreover, the author's background as a former street trader, now pursuing a PhD at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, adds a layer of complexity to the situation, offering valuable insights into how these 'multiple' positionalities can either facilitate or hinder data collection. The paper underscores the nuanced experiences of the researcher in the field, shedding light on the potential challenges, pitfalls and opportunities inherent in grappling with one's positionality. By foregrounding these complexities, the paper contributes to our understanding of the positionalities of researchers in the social sciences and adds to the growing body of literature on methodologies for conducting urban studies, particularly with vulnerable populations. The paper discusses dilemmas of being insider and outsider and how these categories are shifted constantly while researching street traders in a unique socio‐cultural and political context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Bureau Men, Settlement Women: Constructing Public Administration in the Progressive Era" by Camilla Stivers is a gendered evaluation of the history of Public Administration, focusing on the contributions of women during the turn of the 20th century. The book challenges the traditional narrative of Public Administration and highlights the previously overlooked role of women in governance. Stivers argues for the inclusion of marginalized voices in the study and practice of Public Administration, emphasizing the need for a more diverse and inclusive approach to governance. The book also examines the gendered dynamics of reform and the contrasting approaches of the Municipal Research Bureaus and the Settlement Women. Overall, "Bureau Men, Settlement Women" offers a thought-provoking perspective on the history and future of Public Administration. [Extracted from the article]

Forms of informal urbanism, ranging from informal settlement to street vending and informal transport, have become integral to how places work across different contexts and scales. In this article, we reflect on the ethics of researching forms of urban informality, with a focus on the capacities and challenges associated with exploring informal urbanism, particularly in the context of what is considered the global South. By drawing on our experiences of investigating various forms of informality in different contexts, this article engages with ethical considerations that arise when researching informal urbanism. We argue that designing, conducting and disseminating research on forms of urban informality can pose critical ethical questions for researchers who not only strive to bring about positive change but must also exercise caution to avoid causing more harm than good by exposing individuals at risk of exploitation, eviction or displacement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]