Urban Sprawl

The analysis of territorial phenomena usually bypasses the role of local political entities as crucial decision-makers and market regulators, focusing instead on the role of developers and housing preferences of home-buyers. In contrast, this article suggests that local administrative units are crucial agents in defining and shaping the processes of urban development at a larger scale. In this article It is argued that, when a given local government is allowed to subsist mainly on local taxation, a fiscal crisis of local government units is a determinant factor of urban growth, as each administration tries to fuel up urban expansion, in the hopes of boosting the local tax base. By employing a multi-method approach, we have ascertained that other characteristics traditionally associated with urban sprawling were not present in the area of Milan, so it has been identified as a least likely case to experience urban dispersion. In this context, we concentrate mainly on the Groane Regional Park. The aim of article is to re--‐focus on the local administrations as powerful agents that shape metropolitan scale urban development.

Può la densità essere lo strumento analitico di interpretazione dei fenomeni urbani e contemporaneamente un parametro progettuale di prefigurazione dello spazio architettonico? La densità nelle sue diverse accezioni e unità di misura, costituisce un nodo di grande rilevanza per l'interpretazione dei fenomeni urbani e degli spazi architettonici. Incoraggia una riconciliazione dello sguardo quantitativo con quello mirato alla lettura qualitativa, riavvicina discipline disgraziatamente disgiunte nell'attuale pratica, suggerisce mezzi e stili di vita che sono alla base del nostro habitat. Ciò che infatti ha da sempre caratterizzato la città non è solo la sua dimensione ed il numero degli abitanti, ma un secondo fattore fondamentale: la densità appunto, o meglio un valore di densità minimo in grado di produrre divisione del lavoro, varietà di funzioni e attività, complessità della struttura sociale. L'architettura progetta distanze oltrechè volumi, la densità ne è quindi un parametro centrale; l'urbanistica e la progettazione urbana, utilizzando il calcolo della densità come livello minimo di pianificazione, dovranno tendere a configurare in futuro le città, influenzandone gli aspetti non solo numerici, ma anche tipologici, morfologici e spaziali. Riscattato dalla computistica, il fattore densità, si trasforma allora in una variabile urbana in grado di definire la forma attuale della città, divenendone strumento di misurazione e di progetto.

The concentration of people in densely populated urban areas, especially in developing countries, calls for the use of monitoring systems like remote sensing. Such systems along with spatial analysis techniques like digital image processing and geographical information system (GIS) can be used for the monitoring and planning purposes as these enable the reporting of overall sprawl at a detailed level.In the present work, urban sprawl of the Ajmer city (situated in Rajasthan State of India) has been studied at a mid scale level, over a period of 25 years (1977–2002), to extract the information related to sprawl, area of impervious surfaces and their spatial and temporal variability. Statistical classification approaches have been used for the classification of the remotely sensed images obtained from various sensors viz. Landsat MSS, TM, ETM+ and IRS LISS-III. Urban sprawl and its spatial and temporal characteristics have been derived from the classified satellite images. The Shannon's entropy and landscape metrics (patchiness and map density) have been computed in terms of spatial phenomenon, in order to quantify the urban form (impervious area). Further, multivariate statistical techniques have been used to establish the relationship between the urban sprawl and its causative factors. Results reveal that land development (160.8%) in Ajmer is more than three times the population growth (50.1%). Shannon's entropy and landscape metrics has revealed the spatial distribution of the urban sprawl over a period of last 25 years.

There is an increasing need and interest in including indicators of landscape fragmentation in monitoring systems of sustainable landscape management. Landscape fragmentation due to transportation infrastructure and urban development threatens human and environmental well-being by noise and pollution from traffic, reducing the size and viability of wildlife populations, facilitating the spread of invasive species, and impairing the scenic and recreational qualities of the landscape. This paper provides the rationale, method, and data for including landscape fragmentation in monitoring systems, using as an example the Swiss Monitoring System of Sustainable Development (Monet). We defined and compared four levels of fragmentation analysis, or fragmentation geometries (FGs), each based on different fragmenting elements, e.g., only anthropogenic, or combinations of anthropogenic and natural elements. As each FG has specific strengths and weaknesses, the most appropriate choice of FG depends on the context and objectives of a study. We present data on the current degree of landscape fragmentation for the five ecoregions and 26 cantons in Switzerland for all four FGs. Our results show that the degree of landscape fragmentation as quantified by the effective mesh size method is strongly supported by the postulates and indicator selection criteria of Monet, and we identify the most suitable FG focusing on the land area below 2,100 m (e.g., excluding lakes) and allowing for an equitable comparison of fragmentation degrees among regions that differ in area covered by lakes and high mountains. For a more detailed analysis of landscape fragmentation in the context of environmental impact assessments and strategic environmental assessments, a combination of all four FGs may provide a more informative tool than any single FG.

Measuring urban sprawl is a controversial topic among scholars who investigate the urban landscape. This study attempts to measure sprawl from a landscape perspective. The measures and indices used derive from various research disciplines, such as urban research, ecological research, and fractal geometry. The examination was based on an urban land-use survey performed in 78 urban settlements in Israel over the course of 15 years. Measures of sprawl were calculated at each settlement and then weighted into one integrated sprawl index through factor analysis, thus enabling a description of sprawl rates and their dynamics during a time period of two decades. The results reveal that urban sprawl is a multidimensional phenomenon that is better quantified by various measures.

There is a large literature on the existence of agglomeration economies, as shown in the surveys by Moomaw (1983) or Gerking (1993). The benefits of these economies arise from multiple sources, but some negative externalities might also emerge. Within the hierarchical urban system, cities at different ranks (different size) take on different economic functions with variant 'efficient sizes' (Capello and Camagni, 2000) and, indeed, the distributions of cities' relative size have been stable in many countries (Black and Henderson, 1999; Eaton and Eckstein, 1997; Nitsch, 2005) and, in many cases they obey the Zipf's law (Gabaix, 1999). If a city is able to adjust its spatial structure to offset the negative exter- nalities due to its size, it will be able to keep growing. If that is not possible, it might be more convenient to transit from a monocentric to a polycentric structure, which is usually considered as a possible strategy to eliminate diseconomies in urban econ...

"It's a critique that manages to mention Pamela Anderson, Brad Pitt and Rem Koolhaas. Estimated reading time: seven minutes."
-  SimCity Dubai - Designing Ottawa Blog (Ottawa Citizen)

Dubai tries to outdo the biggest and the best in the world. It is an amazing display of urban eye candy. But there is a dark side as well.

As a student of architecture, I took a break from my studies in India to work in a furniture factory in Sharjah 1976-1978. I returned to Dubai as an architect in 1988 and again in 2008 , being commissioned to write on Dubai for this edition on Future Cities.

(The essay was written in July 2008 and submitted for publication early Augus. Only in 2009 did the international press catch on, after Dubai’s boom was over. Burj Dubai opened in 2010, renamed Burj Khalifa after its lender who had bailed out Dubai).

Every year road traffic accidents produce near 1.3 million deaths around the world and leave between 20 and 50 million people with non-fatal injuries. It is the first cause of mortality for those under 35 years old. Most of these fatalities correspond to a healthy and young segment of the population in its productive age. While most of the policies to contain the problem focus on changing drivers’ behaviour through awareness campaigns and introducing indulgent design in road infrastructure to minimize the damage, there is much less attention from academics and policymakers on how land use and spatial distribution condition mobility and increase the risk exposure of all types of street users. We have selected the United States to perform an analysis on the spatial and other structural factors that affect traffic fatalities, taking advantage of the vast geography of this country and the contrasts in the nature of the urbanization across its regions.

Abstract: It is a fact that the urban sprawl, known as the process of gradual spread out of urbanization has become a worldwide phenomenon. The growing consumption of land, as a result of the extension of highway networks, open up vast space of territory, which seems ...

MacGuffin reached out for a contribution on my research on self-storage facilities for their issue dedicated to The Cabinet. The essays highlights some themes of my ongoing analysis of storage facilities, such as the emergence and the analysis of the phenomenon and its embodiment of a society of surplus, of clutter, of stuff obesity.
The storage unit is viewed here as an external cabinet and the summary questions answered are what do we store and, more significantly, why.


About MacGuffin Magazine:
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Stack Awards, dedicated to finding the best in independent publishing, nominated MacGuffin Magazine of the Year in 2016. MacGuffin’s team was Editor and Art Director of the year, winning the Stack Award 2017 and 2019.

Numerous villages in the European loess belt are confronted with floods caused by runoff from agricultural land. Seventy-nine percent of the municipalities in central Belgium experienced at least one muddy flood during the last decade. Of these flooded municipalities, 22% have been affected more than 10 times during this period. Twenty municipalities have been selected for a detailed analysis. A database

Continual, historical, and precise information about the land use and land cover (LULC) changes of the Earth's surface is extremely important for any kind of sustainable development program, in which LULC serves as one of the major input criteria. In this study, a supervised classification was applied to five types of Landsat images collected over time (1980, 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2015) that provided recent and historical LULC conditions for the area. Four LULC categories were identified and mapped. Post-classification comparisons of the classified images indicated that the major change consisted of barren land changing into agricultural land. This analysis revealed that substantial growth of built-up areas in the south eastern part of Kolkata over the study period resulted in significant decrease in the area of water bodies, cultivated land, vegetation and wetlands. Urban land transformation has been largely driven by large number of population and high population growth rate with rapid economic and infrastructural development like the extension of metro railway, flyovers and hence huge real estate development.

Illegal parcellings are a unique case within urban sprawl processes. Th ey are characte-rised by originating against urban planning and by a lack of basic infrastructure. It is a phenomenon that has not been studied in much depth, and its typological aspect has been the least discussed element. Th is article analyses the illegal parcellings in the municipality of Cordoba, Spain, where their area has reached 4,606.88 hectares-this, compared to the slightly more than 2,800 hectares occupied by the consolidated city, gives an idea of the signifi cance of the process. Th e main objective is therefore to present its territorial scope and, secondly, to propose a methodology for its typological classifi cation. Ilegalna stanovanjska gradnja je edinstven primer znotraj procesov nenačrtnega širjenja urbanih območij. Zanjo sta značilna nastanek v nasprotju z urbanističnim načrtovanjem in pomanjkanje osnovne infrastrukture. Ta pojav doslej ni bil proučen zelo poglobljeno, njegov tipološki vidik pa je bil tisti element, o katerem se je naj-manj razpravljalo. Prispevek analizira ilegalno stanovanjsko gradnjo v občini Cór-doba, Španija, kjer je površina tovrstne gradnje dosegla 4606,88 ha. Če to primer-jamo z 2800 ha, kolikor jih zaseda konsolidirano mesto, dobimo predstavo o pomenu tega procesa. Glavni namen prispevka je potemtakem predstaviti teritorialni obseg obravnavanega pojava ter predlagati metodologijo za njegovo tipološko klasifikacijo. Raziskave kažejo, da je to vprašanje pomembno za pravilno oceno pojava in da mora biti ustrezno naslovljeno s strani relevantnih administracij.

In recent years, several phenomena have caused significant pressures on the traditional, centralized urban structure. These phenomena include urban sprawl, separation of business and residential areas and concomitant dependence on transportation, the absence of effective or widespread mass transit, and declining oil reserves with rising energy costs. These conditions have made decentralization more attractive to many large organizations currently located in the central business districts (CBD's) of major urban areas. The increasing availability of sophisticated communications and computer technologies may encourage the continued growth and future decentralization of "information industries," thereby producing major urban changes. The telecommunicationsaugmented decentralization of a traditional, centralized organization to a diffused one with an intraorganizational telecommunications network is described. The key factors in this process are discussed: 1) the ability o...

As suburbanization has led to new development on the outskirts of urban areas, the industries and mills under industrial zones are found to be in non-working condition since decades. These industries have closed either because of failure, due to global competition, technological change, or simply because of outdated equipments. These large chunks of land are not being used up to its fullest potential. These unutilized, abandoned industrial lands are known as “Brown fields.”The paper will describe the disadvantages and the need of redevelopment of such properties which will not only revitalize the social fabric of areas where Brownfield are located nearby the surrounding neighborhoods but also provide much needed revenue to the city and increase business activity in the region. Hence to unfold these unused abandoned sites of the city, and reducing the urban sprawl, it is thus very important to revitalize or redevelop or convert these unused vacant lands into an alternative residential/commercial or mixed land use. These Brownfield sites reduce urban sprawl, lessen Greenfield development, create jobs, increase local revenue and rejuvenate the urban areas.

Recursos Hídricos e Rede Urbana Mundial: Dimensões Globais da Escassez é um paper elaborado como contribuição para a discussão do grupo de interesse Questão dos Recursos Hídricos, Meio Urbano e Mananciais, integrado ao XIII Encontro Nacional de Geógrafos, realizado em João Pessoa, Paraíba, entre 16 e 21 de Julho de 2002. O material foi indexado aos Anais do XIII Encontro Nacional de Geógrafos e referenciado no Caderno de Resumos, publicado pela Associação dos Geógrafos Brasileiros (AGB), com apoio do Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) e da Universidade Federal da Paraíba (ISSN 0103-0884, 2002). Posteriormente, foi colocada em circulação uma versão do texto em CD, também divulgado pela Associação dos Geógrafos Brasileiros. O texto procura traçar algumas linhas básicas para a discussão pertinente aos recursos hídricos e a crise urbana nos países do Terceiro Mundo e no Brasil. Isto porque a água constitui item prioritário na pauta dos recursos ambientais vitais do mundo moderno, particularmente da grande cidade. Recorde-se que todas as análises apontam para uma situação de estresse hídrico para a próxima década, atingindo nações industrializadas, que terão que recorrer para a importação visando satisfazer as necessidades da sua população e da sua economia. Há também o recrudescimento da escassez da água por conta da degradação ambiental e da utilização perdulária do recurso, atingindo duramente populações tradicionais, excluídas e/ou marginalizadas, particularmente no Hemisfério Sul. A nova configuração urbana mundial radicaliza e reapresenta esta problemática. Ela opõe as metrópoles do Norte, consumidoras por excelência de recursos hídricos, às do Sul, também às voltas com o problema de abastecimento de água potável. No caso brasileiro, esta contradição se explicita fortemente em razão do país se credenciar tanto como possível fornecedor de água potável para o Hemisfério Norte quanto por reunir diversas regiões metropolitanas nas quais o abastecimento de água potável já é problemático. Tal é o contexto vivenciado pela Região Metropolitana da Grande São Paulo (RMSP).  A disputa pelo recurso será fonte provável de conflitos, gerando debates que devem ser cada vez mais aprofundados. Nestes, a presença dos geógrafos é imprescindível.  A presente edição de Recursos Hídricos e Rede Urbana Mundial: Dimensões Globais da Escassez, masterizada pela Editora Kotev para fins de acesso livre na Internet (2019, Kotev ©), atende às regras vigentes quanto à norma culta da língua portuguesa, cautelas de estilo e normatizações editoriais inerentes ao formato PDF. Na edição digital de 2019, este paper, sem prejuízo das premissas originalmente consignadas para XIII Encontro Nacional de Geógrafos, foi levemente ampliado e os dados de caráter matricial, atualizados para fins de inserção com o debate atual sobre os recursos hídricos. A mais ver, a edição agregou nove figuras somente passíveis de incorporação no formato masterizado pela Editora Kotev. Os dados de Recursos Hídricos e Rede Urbana Mundial: Dimensões Globais da Escassez podem ser reproduzidos para fins educativos, de pesquisa e comunicacionais desde que mencionadas a fonte e a autoria. É vedada a reprodução comercial de qualquer gênero ou natureza deste documento e também, de divulgação sem aprovação prévia da Editora Kotev. A citação de Recursos Hídricos e Rede Urbana Mundial: Dimensões Globais da Escassez deve obrigatoriamente incorporar referências bibliográficas em conformidade com o padrão modelar que segue: WALDMAN, Maurício. Recursos Hídricos e Rede Urbana Mundial: Dimensões Globais da Escassez. In: Anais do XIII Encontro Nacional de Geógrafos, João Pessoa (PA), 16/21-07-2002, página 122. Série Recursos Hídricos Nº. 3. São Paulo (SP): Editora Kotev. 2019.

RESUMO: O texto procura traçar algumas linhas básicas para a discussão pertinente aos recursos hídricos e a crise urbana nos países do Terceiro Mundo e no Brasil. Isto porque a água constitui item prioritário na pauta dos recursos ambientais vitais do mundo moderno, particularmente da grande cidade. Recorde-se que todas as análises apontam para uma situação de estresse hídrico para a próxima década, atingindo nações industrializadas, que terão que recorrer para a importação visando satisfazer as necessidades da sua população e da sua economia. Há também o recrudescimento da escassez da água por conta da degradação ambiental e da utilização perdulária do recurso, atingindo duramente populações tradicionais, excluídas e/ou marginalizadas, particularmente no Hemisfério Sul. A nova configuração urbana mundial radicaliza e reapresenta esta problemática. Ela opõe as metrópoles do Norte, consumidoras por excelência de recursos hídricos, às do Sul, também às voltas com o problema de abastecimento de água potável. No caso brasileiro, esta contradição se explicita fortemente em razão do país se credenciar tanto como possível fornecedor de água potável para o Hemisfério Norte quanto por reunir diversas regiões metropolitanas nas quais o abastecimento de água potável já é problemático. Tal é o contexto vivenciado pela Região Metropolitana da Grande São Paulo (RMSP).  A disputa pelo recurso será fonte provável de conflitos, gerando debates que devem ser cada vez mais aprofundados. Nestes, a presença dos geógrafos é imprescindível. 

Palavras-Chave: Urbanização, Rede Urbana Mundial, Contradições Urbanas, Água Doce, Gestão de Recursos Hídricos, Estresse Hídrico, Exclusão Hidrológica

In recent decades, extreme rains and drought have struck urban regions in Africa like never before. Nevertheless, limited information is available on which to base development of early warning systems, identification of high-risk zones and formulation of local action plans. This book is about how to build the knowledge necessary for planning adaptation to climate change in Sub-Saharan cities. It brings together lessons learned from international development actions conducted by a number of scholars in disciplines ranging from meteorology and hydrogeology to urban planning and environmental management. Selected methods to assess the impacts of extreme weather and ecological stress are presented along with possible approaches to improve the adaptive capacity of Sub-Saharan cities through institutional measures at the local government level. The book is addressed to graduate students, researchers and practitioners interested in enhancing their knowledge and skills in order to integrate climate change into applied research and development projects in urban Africa.

The citta diffusa defined and characterised by Francesco Indovina (1990) as an urbanized territory where a great variety of functions and dispersed services is present, differs essentially from other low-density settlements spread in rural areas by the urban condition that its own inhabitants can recognise. The citta diffusa is simultaneously diffuse and urban. Indovina describes the processes of transformation of the agricultural land into a citta diffusa but does not stop at the particularities that the coexistence of built areas with agricultural activity and, especially, with abandoned areas supposes for this specific urban model. At this stage, it may be stimulating to refer to the work of the French gardener Gilles Clement who names a Third Landscape (2004) to give meaning and substance to those ‘unattended’ spaces left behind, so they acquire a valuable role as promoters of biological diversity. The citta diffusa systematically generates those left behind sites identified as ...

India is rapidly urbanizing and its population growth for which the Plugin of Urbanization, Conservation, and hitch the Plugin of Urbanization Consecration of the 21st century, the cost of ignoring the of the 21st contrite cost of ignoring the development is highland keeping that in mind in cluster took this challenge to evaluate the existing cluster took this challenge to escalate the existing improvements needed in the Process of Development improvements  The key outcomes of this white paper are as follows:  The outcomes of this white paper are as follows natural environment by identifying the ‘go’ and ‘no go’  natural environment identifying the ‘go’ and ‘no go’  boosting the economy by earmarking the areas for suitable economic engines Second developing a  needs of transport and land uses. Finally, implementing needs of transport and landuses Final implementing pooling the land and financing the infrastructure cost pooling the land and fin We believe that this white paper will serve the We believe that this white paper ill sere the stakeholders involved in this process. The research will have stakeholders involved in this process The research will be adding incredible urban places, thus tapping the tourism potential.

During the 20th century, profound socio-economic changes typified the metropolitan regions of the World. One
of the most outstanding alterations was the relative decentralisation of urban space, that’s visible sign is urban
sprawl. The following paper intends to introduce the most significant characteristics of this specific
phenomenon.
Current urban processes are presented throughout both Northern American and European metropolitan
regions, with special emphasis on the similarities and differences, by the help of adequate European examples
(Paris, Vienna, Copenhagen, Budapest).
The research is aiming to give multilateral information on suburbanisation and gentrification, moreover the
recentralisation or/and decentralisation of metropolitan areas.
A vaste introduction can be found in connection with the Hungarian urban planning system and procedures,
especially during the Socialist Era and the Post-Socialist Period. The results of a deep research on the suburbia,
suburban societies, the economic welfare of agglomeration settlements are presented concerning the Budapest
Metropolitan Region, furthermore the recent effects of the world financial crisis that substantially determined.

Một số ý kiến gần đây cho rằng việc xây dựng nhà cao tầng là giúp xây dựng đô thị nén – một xu hướng lành mạnh của phát triển đô thị. Tuy nhiên, xây nhà cao tầng không đúng cách còn phản tác dụng khi xây dựng đô thị nén là các nỗ lực tổng hợp nhằm quản lý tăng trưởng thông minh hơn chống lại sự phát triển dàn trải và sự lệ thuộc vào phương tiện cá nhân. Bài viết thảo luận về đô thị nén với mục tiêu vận dụng kinh nghiệm cách thức quản lý phát triển thông minh hơn vào thực tiễn ở Việt Nam.

Human influences strongly affect the Earth Surface, environment and impact natural resources. To reduce the disadvantages, we have to monitor the human activities as well as the environment. Considering the rapid increase of population the loss of agricultural land is a very dangerous situation for the future of the country. Multi temporal Remote Sensing data is the most powerful tool for mapping and monitoring the land use changes and GIS is the best way to store and reproduce various kinds of integrated data. The aim of this study is to determine agricultural land loss and environmental changes caused by urban sprawl and industrialization using the Multi temporal Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS). A major problem of rapid urban growth is changing land use patterns. Agricultural lands are most affected by rapid urbanization and its functions of demand. In this study, a database will create the parameters of land loss and environmental changes by means of field observation, interpretation of satellite images like Landsat-ETM+, LISS IV .Through this study, which aimed to reveal the characteristics of the areas of land already lost as well as the types of land use in the hosur city and to determine geographically the remaining areas in need of protection, local authorities were provided with the required data support.