Megacities

O presente trabalho trata da obra do grupo inglês Archigram, formado por seis arquitetos, cuja produção coletiva vai de 1961 a 1974. Aborda, de forma específica, o projeto para a Plug-In City, elaborado por Peter Cook (integrante do grupo) a partir de 1964. O objetivo é levantar alguns questionamentos sobre a "imagem" da variedade e da multiplicidade propostas por Archigram em Plug-in City, buscando confrontá-la com a complexidade dos processos de produção e conformação metropolitanas que, na maior parte das vezes, escapam à dimensão reguladora do desenho arquitetônico -articulando-se, ao invés disso, na busca de formas outras de comunicação, expansão e integração sistêmica. Para tanto, percorremos brevemente as discussões do grupo a partir da história da revista ("magazine") Archigram, principal veículo de divulgação de suas ideias. Em seguida, analisamos o projeto mesmo de Plug-in City, suas peças gráficas e também algumas elaborações correlatas -teóricas e projetuais -, com o intuito de situar historicamente o objeto analisado. Por fim, recapitulamos algumas formulações historiográficas de interesse (Reyner Banham, Manfredo Tafuri e Alan Colquhoun) que, ao se aproximarem da obra de Archigram a partir de diferentes vieses metodológicos, fornecem-nos uma visão multifacetada do problema, apontando algumas restrições e possibilidades -não somente ideológicas, mas também históricas -que se afirmavam de forma cada vez mais enfática naquele momento, no âmbito do discurso sobre a arquitetura e sobre as cidades.

This editorial argues that the modern and contemporary Shanghai cityscape revolves around the dialectical reconciliation of opposing forces, such as communism and capitalism, east and west, colonial and cosmopolitan, in line with the surrealist movement's 'supreme point' (1929). Empirically speaking, this was fleshed out in 1924 when Shanghai was termed as both a 'magical' and 'demonic' city by the Japanese traveller, Shofu Muramatsu, who identified a sordid underbelly beneath Shanghai's façade of colonial glamour. The editorial brings together twelve articles and one conversation responding to this conceptual stimulus over the course of a century.

Inequality of income and wellbeing is not only unjust but also detrimental for social cohesion. Global and national inequalities have received considerable attention; however spatial inequalities, within cities are of equal concern. Spatial inequality reinforces social inequality because access to economic, social, and cultural capital is shaped by location. Such disparities within cities can socially destabilizing, leading to political discontent and conflict. This paper examines the extent of inequality in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest metropolitan city. It goes beyond income and takes a multidimensional approach to inequality while situating it in the spatial configuration of the city. Using a unique data set that enables neighborhood-level analysis, the paper constructs an index of wellbeing based on measures of income, living environment conditions, education, employment, and asset holdings. It maps these dimensions across Karachi’s neighborhoods revealing how spatial inequalities contribute to the peripheralization of certain social groups. Peripheries not only face restricted access to opportunities and resources but also experience increased social unrest. The paper contributes to our understanding of peripheralization by demonstrating how hierarchies between urban centers and peripheries sustain urban inequality. Ultimately, it underscores the importance of analyzing spatial disparities to deepen our understanding of social inequality and inform policy interventions.

This research examines the growing challenges of climate change and flood risks in Jakarta, Indonesia, focusing on the implementation of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) in civil infrastructure. The study investigates how SUDS can effectively mitigate flooding and bolster urban resilience in the face of increasing climate variability. Through a comprehensive methodology that includes climate scenario modeling, flood risk assessments, and hydrological analysis supported by Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the research evaluates Jakarta’s vulnerability to extreme weather events. It also assesses the efficiency of SUDS in managing stormwater and reducing flood risks. The findings highlight the significant benefits of SUDS, such as improved flood management, enhanced water quality, and promotion of sustainable urban design. The research stresses the importance of integrating SUDS into Jakarta's urban planning frameworks to create a more water-resilient environment. By contributing to policy development and infrastructure planning, the study aims to guide decision-makers toward sustainable water management solutions that support the city’s long-term resilience.

En el contexto de crecimiento urbano expansivo, caracterizado por la acumulación heterogénea de fragmentos y el desmantelamiento de los lazos sociales, las universidades latinoamericanas no pueden ser solo centros de conocimiento y formación profesional. Deben involucrarse con las organizaciones comunitarias y contribuir a la transformación social, buscando soluciones a los conflictos sociales en el territorio. La extensión universitaria ofrece una oportunidad para estos procesos, implementando metodologías alternativas para desarrollar propuestas proyectuales junto con la comunidad. Este trabajo evalúa los resultados obtenidos en el proyecto de extensión universitaria "Elementos de planificación para la construcción social del hábitat" a partir del modelo CIPP 1 (Bausela Herreras, 2003). El proyecto buscó generar instrumentos cognitivos para el análisis de las estrategias del espacio social dirigidas a la movilización organizada de recursos con enfoque territorial. Adoptó el formato de talleres participativos con elaboración de cartografías sociales, siguiendo con alguna adaptación de lo propuesto por Habegger (2006). Se evalúan los resultados como plan piloto para aceptar, rectificar o abandonar el formato implementado (Bausela Herreras, 2003).

Sixteen years of hourly atmospheric pollutant data (1996-2011) in the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP), and seven years (2005-2011) of data measured in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro (MARJ), were analyzed in order to study the extreme pollution events and their return period. In addition, the objective was to compare the air quality between the two largest Brazilian urban areas and provide information for decision makers, government agencies and civil society. Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) and Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD) were applied to investigate the behavior of pollutants in these two regions. Although GEV and GPD are different approaches, they presented similar results. The probability of higher concentrations for CO, NO, NO 2, PM 10 and PM 2.5 was more frequent during the winter, and O 3 episodes occur most frequently during summer in the MASP. On the other hand, there is no seasonally defined behavior in MARJ for pollutants, with O 3 presenting the shortest return period for high concentrations. In general, Ibirapuera and Campos Elísios stations present the highest probabilities of extreme events with high concentrations in MASP and MARJ, respectively. When the regions are compared, MASP presented higher probabilities of extreme events for all analyzed pollutants, except for NO; while O 3 and PM 2.5 are those with most frequent probabilities of presenting extreme episodes, in comparison other pollutants.

Jürgen Wasim Frembgens Buch „Sufi Hotel. Aufzeichnungen aus den Untiefen einer Megacity“ rückt das im Süden Pakistans gelegene Karachi, das der Autor „[d]ie größte muslimische Stadt der Welt“ (S. 11) nennt, in das Zentrum der Repräsentation subalterner Charaktere und Themen. Der Titel des Buchs basiert auf einem real existierenden Ort, indiziert jedoch auch Frembgens spirituelles und ethnologisches Spezialgebiet, den Sufismus, eine lokalisierte Variante des Volksislam. Das „Sufi Hotel“, ein Teehaus in der Altstadt Karachis, welches ich im Anschluss an die Lektüre selbst besuchte, wird hier zum Beobachtungsposten und zum Ausgangspunkt einer Verkettung ethnographischer Beschreibungen, vermengt mit allgemeinen Beobachtungen und Anekdoten sowie subjektiven Eindrücken und Bewertungen. In Frembgens eigenen Worten ist diese narrative Ethnographie „kein akademischer Text im eigentlichen Sinn“, sondern „ein Versuch der Annäherung an kulturelle Realitäten mit erzählerischen Mitteln“ (S. 163–164).

This paper claims that the Egyptian movie, Feathers (El Zohairy 2021) uses the genre of magical realism as a tool of postcolonial dissent and transcendence: by providing insight into social injustice, by transcending norms and realities, and by deflecting censorship. The paper argues that Feathers has used magical realism to both provoke (ruffle) and deflect (un-ruffle) political outrage. This movie depicts the liberating journey of a rural housewife whose bullying husband has been magically turned into a chicken, relentlessly echoing the traditional Egyptian proverb that 'one woman is worth a hundred men' ('El sett B 100 ragel'). The film received international critical acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival. But nationalistic critics and directors have used post-colonial discourse to accuse its director of Othering and belittling Egypt. This paper in contrast uses multimodal discourse analysis to explore the ways in which Feathers uses magical realism to highlight and personalize and transcend the social injustice in Egypt, and in the Third World. On the other hand, Feathers deflects political outrage by using magical realism to locate its characters and plot in the past, by depicting local businesses rather than transnational investments and megaprojects, and by exploring the magic of personal transformation. By using magical realism as a tool of postcolonial dissent and transcendence, the director has portrayed important truths behind Egyptian norms and realities, and at the same time miraculously protected both the movie and himself.

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the actual knowledge on the atmospheric pollution sources, transport, transformation and levels in the East Mediterranean. It focuses both on the background atmosphere and on the similarities and differences between the urban areas that exhibited important urbanization the past Kanakidou et al revised for Atmos. Environ. Nov 17, 2010 2 years: the two megacities Istanbul, Cairo and the Athens extended area. Ground based observations are combined with satellite data and atmospheric modeling. The overall evaluation pointed out that long and regional range transport of natural and anthropogenic pollution sources have about similar importance with local sources for the background air pollution levels in the area.

The Solar Skyways project envisions a transformative approach to urban transportation by developing a solar-powered, fully automated, elevated personal rapid transit network. This innovative system aims to alleviate congestion, reduce carbon emissions, and enhance the efficiency of urban mobility. By leveraging renewable energy and cutting-edge automation technology, Solar Skyways offers a sustainable and futuristic solution to contemporary urban transport challenges. This research explores the technical, environmental, and economic aspects of implementing Solar Skyways, with a focus on its feasibility, benefits, and potential impact on urban environments. Also in the autumn of 2007, a group of 200 people convened in Uppsala, Sweden, to view a prototype and explore collaboration on a new transportation alternative: the podcar. This small cabin operates on a fixed guideway directly above urban streets. Originally described as Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) and more recently as an Automated Transportation Network (ATN), this driverless, on-demand mode of transportation offers much faster and more convenient mobility than a bus, and it is far more efficient and safer than an automobile. Moreover, it is uniquely suited to being powered by solar energy (photovoltaics) directly within the system’s pathway. At that conference, and in subsequent discussions, proponents demonstrated the feasibility of powering this urban transportation system entirely with solar energy, achieving a “net zero” energy demand by selling to and buying from the existing electricity grid. Since 2011, the solar design has been refined through the Solar Skyways Challenge, an ongoing multidisciplinary initiative embraced by students from three universities: in the Netherlands, Sweden, and Silicon Valley, USA.Now in its third year, the Challenge continues with students at San Jose State University and other institutions forming multidisciplinary teams to design and build computer-controlled scale models and full-scale system components. Their ultimate goal is to create a full-scale test track that demonstrates the technical, environmental, and economic viability of Solar Skyways.
Keywords: Transportation; Podcars; Solar Skyways; Solarevolution; Capstone Project; Uppsala; SMSSV

Cairo has been described as a city of dualities, in the sense of its conflict between the traditions of the past and the modern values of the present. The city has witnessed rapid transformations in terms of its sociocultural aspects due to political, economic and religious changes. In his work, the acclaimed and legendary Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine portrayed such changes in his 1991 short semi-documentary Al-Qahira Munawwara bi Ahlaha (Cairo as Told by Youssef Chahine) in surrealistic and flâneurie ways. This article breaks down Chahine's visual interpretation of Cairo to reveal his sense of in-betweenness as a form of urban surrealism. The film offers fragmented episodes of Cairo that are assembled to reflect Chahine's imagination and collective memory. In filming Cairo, Chahine transformed his portrait of the city into a self-reflexive illustration of a filmmaker who expresses deep admiration for Cairo and its inhabitants.

Children enter school at the age of four. They do 2 years-nursery or kindergarten 4 years-primary (1 st to 4 th) 3 years-upper primary (5 th to 7 th) 3 years-secondary (8 th to 10 th) 2 years-higher secondary (11 th to 12 th) After that the students either take up general graduation (i.e. B.A., B.Sc. or B.Com) or enroll in professional courses (i.e. engineering, medicine, etc). Twelfth grade is normally a requirement for • 1795 •

Usme is a village and former municipality in the south of Bogotá. Urbanisation has transformed the social and spatial structure of the village deeply. Agrarian production and distribution has been affected strongly by the global trend of industrialisation of agriculture and changing agents in the field during the second half of the twentieth century, while at the same time a significant share of the area of the former municipality turned urban. Both processes are analysed in a parallel way with a focus on overlooked existing and changing relations and potentials of food cycles between rural and urban inhabitants and challenges regarding production and distribution of agrarian goods. The problems and solutions of food flows could represent alternative benchmarks for the sustainable future of the urban expansion area between the rural and the urban part of Usme. This analysis is developed in the framework of my PhD Thesis.

Metropolitan capitals and megacities epitomise urban development, offering immense potential for economic growth, cultural exchange, and technological advancement. These urban areas, home to millions, drive national and global economies through concentrated resources, talent, and infrastructure, fostering innovation and diverse cultural activities. However, rapid development also presents challenges like overpopulation, inadequate infrastructure, environmental degradation, and social inequality. Robust and sustainable planning is essential for housing, transportation, and public services. Addressing environmental and social issues is crucial for ensuring these cities' sustainability and fostering inclusive growth. The development of metropolitan capitals worldwide presents a mix of successful and unsuccessful stories, each offering valuable lessons in urban planning, policy-making, and governance. For instance, Tokyo's success can be attributed to its advanced infrastructure, strategic urban planning, efficient public transport, and sustainable development practices. On the other hand, cities like Lagos, Jakarta, and Dhaka struggle with challenges such as overpopulation, inadequate infrastructure, environmental degradation, and poor disaster preparedness, highlighting the need for more effective urban planning strategies.

Traffic Congestion is increasing in extensive manner globally as a result of inadequate road development, increasing number of vehicles, decreasing speed, increasing in accident rate, increasing fuel consumption rate etc. It increases the necessity for the concept of intelligence transportation system (ITS) for the conventional transportation system. ITS have a major role to play in developing countries economy, increasing driver’s safety, enhancing mobility and convenience, bring environmental benefit, increasing productive economic and employment growth. In this paper, comparative study of intelligent transportation system with conventional transportation system is done with the help of some analytical equations. And the impact analysis and sustainability of ITS and sustainable transportation system is done, in which different ITS is compared using some fraction unit in terms of value of time, emissions and safety values. By using urban mobility report calculations can be easily p...

Trends in short‐lived high‐temperature extremes record a different dimension of change than the extensively studied annual and seasonal mean daily temperatures. They also have important socioeconomic, environmental, and human health implications. Here, we present analysis of the highest temperature of the year for approximately 9000 stations globally, focusing on quantifying spatially explicit exceedance probabilities during the recent 50‐ and 30‐year periods. A global increase of 0.19°C per decade during the past 50 years (through 2015) accelerated to 0.25°C per decade during the last 30 years, a faster increase than in the mean annual temperature. Strong positive 30‐year trends are detected in large regions of Eurasia and Australia with rates higher than 0.60°C per decade. In cities with more than 5 million inhabitants, where most heat‐related fatalities occur, the average change is 0.33°C per decade, while some east Asia cities, Paris, Moscow, and Houston have experienced changes...

Megacities and rapidly urbanizing territories are contemporary issues which have now reached international attention and institutional recognition. Megacities and rapidly urbanizing territories in Southeast Asia especially are subject to both intensive and extensive patterns of growth that are reflected by the dynamics of densification in consolidated urban areas and loss of agricultural lands due to development in peri-urban areas. The New Urban Agenda and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide an international shared understanding of policies and knowledge to tackle, among other issues, loss of agricultural land, general land use management, segregation and inequalities within megacities and rapidly urbanizing regions. However, oftentimes, this international level of policy-making loses its strength when the urban issues are scaled down to local applications. Influenced by the presence of local private interests and global economic forces, the local urban processes of intensive and extensive growth appear to be detached from the general international policy framework and affected by site-specific dynamics. This article examines the level of this separation in Bangkok, especially in regards to a specific kind of the aforementioned intensive growth at the metropolitan scale, the development of the urban voids-terrain vague. I discuss how this separation is more evident in those empty, underused, and abandoned areas where possible intensive developments could happen. Furthermore, I evaluate this separation by reflecting on how it can affect the upcoming future of the megacity of Bangkok.

Flood is defined as overflow of water from banks of drainage system that can cause destruction of property and loss of life. It affects psychological, financial and health (Raphael et al., 2000). Floodwaters that initially flow in subcritical state can overnight turn violent and cause great destruction. Scientists around the world have tried to find methods and solutions to overcome floodings. Urbanization process which has been continuing, unknowingly has changed natural nature of land and resulted in reduction in percentage of water infiltrating into soil. Planning, land reclamation control and more emphasis should be given to flood control at the source (Kundzewicz, 1999). It aims to ensure that all human activities will not burden the river's natural system.

It seems to have become obligatory to introduce any article on 21 -century urbanization with a flood of milestones past or pending. They better reveal just how quickly the earth has and continues to urbanize. Common knowledge: in 2008 or thereabouts the planet reached the point where over half its population lived in urban areas. Less well known: at that point more of earth’s residents lived in built-up areas than there were people in the world forty years before.[ii] The United Nations (UN) reports that of the 512 worldwide cities with a population of one million or more in 2016, 31 were megacities (defined as having a population of at least ten million).[iii] By 2025 the 600 largest cities in the world are expected be home for a quarter of the world’s population and generate 25 percent of its GDP.[iv] The number of megacities will approach 40 that year.[v]

The year 2005 marks the beginning of the "International Decade for Action: Water for Life" and renewed effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce by half the proportion of the world's population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation by 2015. Currently, UNICEF and WHO estimate that 1.1 billion people lack access to improved water supplies and 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation. Providing safe water and basic sanitation to meet the MDGs will require substantial economic resources, sustainable technological solutions and courageous political will. We review five major challenges to providing safe water and sanitation on a global basis: (1) contamination of water in distribution systems, (2) growing water scarcity and the potential for water reuse and conservation, (3) implementing innovative low-cost sanitation systems, (4) providing sustainable water supplies and sanitation for megacities, and (5) reducing global and regional disparities in access to water and sanitation and developing financially sustainable water and sanitation services.

In the expanding megacities of Latin America and the Caribbean, providing essential services such as water, sanitation, energy, and transportation poses a significant challenge. This document presents insights derived from a 2023 survey conducted in five megacities, drawing comparisons with a 2013 survey to know the evolving perspectives of the residents. Influential factors, including the impact of the digital revolution, the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change, collectively shape residents' perceptions of these fundamental services.

The survey delves into various aspects, exploring citizen satisfaction with water, sanitation, energy, and transportation services, while also considering the affordability of these services. Additionally, the survey examines citizens' priorities regarding their overall quality of life and assesses the discernible effects of climate change on their daily lives. This comprehensive exploration provides a lucid understanding of the intricate dynamics that define the changing quality of life in the megacities of the region.

Cholera is a severe diarrhoeal disease affecting vulnerable communities. A long-term solution to cholera transmission is improved access to and uptake of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Climate change threatens WASH. A systematic review and meta-analysis determined five overarching WASH factors incorporating 17 specific WASH factors associated with cholera transmission, focussing upon community cases. Eight WASH factors showed lower odds and six showed higher odds for cholera transmission. These results were combined with findings in the climate change and WASH literature, to propose a health impact pathway illustrating potential routes through which climate change dynamics (e.g. drought, flooding) impact on WASH and cholera transmission. A causal process diagram visualising links between climate change dynamics, WASH factors, and cholera transmission was developed. Climate change dynamics can potentially affect multiple WASH factors (e.g. drought-induced reductions in handwas...

Bats are one of the least-studied vertebrate groups in Chile. We sampled six fruit farms in the Mediterranean-climate zone and three in a semiarid zone during 2015 and 2016, respectively. We assessed if activity (passes) and foraging (feeding buzzes) of bat species differed between cultivated and uncultivated intra-farm habitats. We found six bat species, all threatened and insectivorous. Tadarida brasiliensis was the most frequently recorded species. We found more activity and foraging in uncultivated than cultivated habitats in total, although the opposite trend was observed during springtime in semiarid region. More than a third of the bat passes were feeding buzzes in both habitats, suggesting the potential service to agriculture. Further investigation is needed to promote conservation of bats and their integration as biocontrols in agroecosystems in Chile.

Traffic Congestion is increasing in extensive manner globally as a result of inadequate road development, increasing number of vehicles, decreasing speed, increasing in accident rate, increasing fuel consumption rate etc. It increases the necessity for the concept of intelligence transportation system (ITS) for the conventional transportation system. ITS have a major role to play in developing countries economy, increasing driver’s safety, enhancing mobility and convenience, bring environmental benefit, increasing productive economic and employment growth. In this paper, comparative study of intelligent transportation system with conventional transportation system is done with the help of some analytical equations. And the impact analysis and sustainability of ITS and sustainable transportation system is done, in which different ITS is compared using some fraction unit in terms of value of time, emissions and safety values. By using urban mobility report calculations can be easily p...

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the actual knowledge on the atmospheric pollution sources, transport, transformation and levels in the East Mediterranean. It focuses both on the background atmosphere and on the similarities and differences between the urban areas that exhibited important urbanization the past Kanakidou et al revised for Atmos. Environ. Nov 17, 2010 2 years: the two megacities Istanbul, Cairo and the Athens extended area. Ground based observations are combined with satellite data and atmospheric modeling. The overall evaluation pointed out that long and regional range transport of natural and anthropogenic pollution sources have about similar importance with local sources for the background air pollution levels in the area.

The risk presented by pluvial flooding has emerged as a critical issue in urban water management. Pluvial flooding occurs when precipitation intensity exceeds the capacity of natural and engineered drainage systems, and it is expected to increase in frequency, severity and impact through the 21st century due to the combined effects of climate change and urbanization. Although there have been recent advances in approaches to assess the risk presented pluvial flooding and to enhance the resilience of cities to its impacts, they have not been broadly implemented and there are many opportunities for additional research. We provide case studies of pluvial flooding in six cities in the continental United States, which serve as examples of the current vulnerability of cities that have not developed comprehensive pluvial flood management plans and the challenges in conducting pluvial flood research in light of existing data gaps. We also identify key research challenges that should be prior...

Trends influencing parking 246 Digital disruptors 246 Spatial planning policies 250 Mobility preferences 252 Key tasks for parking research 253 Conclusion 255 Acknowledgments 256 References 256 Parking is an orphaned research field, resting at the intersection of the transportation, land-use planning, urban design, and urban economics disciplines. No well-established group has claimed ownership of parking research. Moreover, gaps in data limit in-depth examinations of parking in many cities. All too often, cities simply do not know how much of their space is taken up by parking. A number of contributors to this volume lament that only rough estimates are available of the total area blanketed by parking (see also Brown, 2015). Hence, it is impossible to determine where a particular city ranks in terms of parking supply. This is problematic because when parking supply is unknown, the private and public costs of parking also cannot be known. A few extreme examples circulated in academic and popular press publications suggesting that private parking spaces are more of a cost to owners than the motor vehicles themselves (Jakle and Sculle, 2004). Also, that parking spaces cost homeowners between 10% and 12.5% of their dwelling construction costs (Litman, 2016). Also, that the market value of a parking space can be as high as AU $120,000 in Sydney and US$660,000 in Hong Kong (Bianchi, 2015; McMillan, 2017). However, these reports remain anecdotal. With the cost of public parking remaining hidden, we do not know how much the public of 245 Parking: An International Perspective.

Péricles Alves Nogueira, minha mais profunda gratidão pela confiança e incentivo. Por ter me estimulado e orientado na trajetória inquieta da construção deste conhecimento. Meu registro de admiração pela enorme capacidade acadêmica e nobreza espiritual.

Au recensement de 2001, la population urbaine de l'Inde s'élevait officiellement à 286 120 000 habitants, soit l'équivalent de la population des Etats-Unis entiers. Cependant, comme le taux d'urbanisation reste faible (28%), il est généralement admis que l'Inde présente ...

Mega-urbanization is a major driving force of environmental changes and sustainability because of its speed, scale and worldwide connectivity. Megacities, due to their spatial extent, multicultural demographic structure and multifunctional land-uses, demand new sophisticated scientific approaches to meet the challenges posed by these socio-ecological complexities. Scientists studying megacities are always confronted with the challenge of stratifying their sampling sites for in-depth field investigations particularly in developing countries where the urban landscapes do not expand in line with any predetermined plans-nevertheless with paradigmatic phenomena. This challenge becomes more complicated when considering socio-ecological studies because of the complexity of coupled human-environmental systems where multifunctional composites of land-uses and respective land cover interplay. This paper presents a conceptual framework for developing an urban gradient model, adapted from a set of scientific postulates to systematically hypothesize the selection of research/sampling sites in the field in large urban agglomerations. This framework, due to its scientific legitimacy, is named the Theorized Urban Gradient (TUG). It is based on the assumption that it would allow examination of field/data samples from a variety of urban structures incorporating different functional characteristics. An application of the framework is presented for the megacity of Karachi, Pakistan, comparing the TUG with other standard sampling methods to test and to show the value and the advantages of it. A systematic selection of samples in a compact and informally growing urban landscape is justified. Results corroborate urban gradient, being supported by deductive scientific postulates, as an important research method rather than merely a modelling approach.

Cholera is a severe diarrhoeal disease affecting vulnerable communities. A long-term solution to cholera transmission is improved access to and uptake of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Climate change threatens WASH. A systematic review and meta-analysis determined five overarching WASH factors incorporating 17 specific WASH factors associated with cholera transmission, focussing upon community cases. Eight WASH factors showed lower odds and six showed higher odds for cholera transmission. These results were combined with findings in the climate change and WASH literature, to propose a health impact pathway illustrating potential routes through which climate change dynamics (e.g. drought, flooding) impact on WASH and cholera transmission. A causal process diagram visualising links between climate change dynamics, WASH factors, and cholera transmission was developed. Climate change dynamics can potentially affect multiple WASH factors (e.g. drought-induced reductions in handwashing and rainwater use). Multiple climate change dynamics can influence WASH factors (e.g. flooding and sea-level rise affect piped water usage). The influence of climate change dynamics on WASH factors can be negative or positive for cholera transmission (e.g. drought could increase pathogen desiccation but reduce rainwater harvesting). Identifying risk pathways helps policymakers focus on cholera risk mitigation, now and in the future.

Breuste J., Schnellinger J., Qureshi S., Faggi A.: Urban ecosystem services on the local level: Urban green spaces as providers. Ekologia (Bratislava), Vol. 32, No. 3, p. 209-304, 2013. Ecosystem services are provided at different spatial and service/functional scales. The local level is the basic unit for ecosystem services, especially when it comes to the human dimension of urban landscapes. These services are provided by green elements (patches) or basic complex ecosystems (green areas) which differ from their neighbourhoods through their structures and functions. This study reviews the generally available knowledge on urban green functions and services at the site level and explains them by using own studies in five different cities in three different continents related to distinct ecosystem services. This allows the development of a methodology to evaluate and compare ecosystem services at the site level. The methodology is based at two levels, patch and green space, and includ...

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the actual knowledge on the atmospheric pollution sources, transport, transformation and levels in the East Mediterranean. It focuses both on the background atmosphere and on the similarities and differences between the urban areas that exhibited important urbanization the past Kanakidou et al revised for Atmos. Environ. Nov 17, 2010 2 years: the two megacities Istanbul, Cairo and the Athens extended area. Ground based observations are combined with satellite data and atmospheric modeling. The overall evaluation pointed out that long and regional range transport of natural and anthropogenic pollution sources have about similar importance with local sources for the background air pollution levels in the area.

Sixteen years of hourly atmospheric pollutant data (1996-2011) in the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP), and seven years (2005-2011) of data measured in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro (MARJ), were analyzed in order to study the extreme pollution events and their return period. In addition, the objective was to compare the air quality between the two largest Brazilian urban areas and provide information for decision makers, government agencies and civil society. Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) and Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD) were applied to investigate the behavior of pollutants in these two regions. Although GEV and GPD are different approaches, they presented similar results. The probability of higher concentrations for CO, NO, NO 2, PM 10 and PM 2.5 was more frequent during the winter, and O 3 episodes occur most frequently during summer in the MASP. On the other hand, there is no seasonally defined behavior in MARJ for pollutants, with O 3 presenting the shortest return period for high concentrations. In general, Ibirapuera and Campos Elísios stations present the highest probabilities of extreme events with high concentrations in MASP and MARJ, respectively. When the regions are compared, MASP presented higher probabilities of extreme events for all analyzed pollutants, except for NO; while O 3 and PM 2.5 are those with most frequent probabilities of presenting extreme episodes, in comparison other pollutants.

this paper attempts to explore factors influencing car ownership and car use rates. through regression analysis, the effects of common urban transport policy measures on car ownership and car use rates are estimated. in addition, dynamics of the urban transport system through feedback loops diagram is examined at the macro-level. our analysis suggests that common policy measures intended to control motorization are effective through their effects more on car use rate than on car ownership rate. Likewise, Mass rapid transit (Mrt) can play a significant role in improving overall condition of urban transport. However, the impact of Mrt would be insignificant if the investment is committed too late. a simple index for Mrt timing has been proposed that could help policy makers from cities without Mrt systems to make judgments about the appropriate timing of Mrt investment. regression results, feedback loops diagram and proposed index for Mrt timing offer new insights for formulating policy measures for sustainable urban transport in East asian megacities.

Research Gap Currently, there is a knowledge gap in the literature about Airbnb's presence in the Philippines. Following the study of Mendoza et al., (2018) which determined the determinant factors of Airbnb occupancy rate in the province of Batangas, the study of Chua, Chiu & Bool, (2019) that determined the perceived behavior of individuals opting to engage in Airbnb and the most recent study of Tumbali & Ong, (2020) which compared the occupancy

As opposed to the traditional market model, which is based on possession, the ‘Sharing Economy’ is based on sharing and utilizing services and products among others. Airbnb founded by Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky in 2008, is one the best example of the Sharing Economy. The purpose of this paper was to determine and compare the market revenue and occupancy rates of the selected cities in the National Capital Region from 2016-2019. Secondary Data was from AirDNA - a paid service tool intentional for Airbnb researchers. One-way Anova was the statistical test used in this study, followed by an honestly significant difference (HSD) test. This research paper covered seven (7) selected cities in the National Capital Region. These are the City of Manila, Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasay, Parañaque, Pasig, and Quezon City. The results revealed that in the year 2016-2019 Manila appeared to have the highest percentage of occupancy rate, while Makati City gained the highest amount of Market Revenue.

Urbanization is a global process that has taken billions of people from the rural countryside to concentrated urban centers, adding pressure to existing water resources. Many cities are specifically reliant on renewable freshwater regularly refilled by precipitation, rather than fossil groundwater or desalination. A precipitationshed can be considered the "watershed of the sky" and identifies the origin of precipitation falling in a given region. In this paper, we use this concept to determine the sources of precipitation that supply renewable water in the watersheds of the largest cities of the world. We quantify the sources of precipitation for 29 megacities and analyze their differences between dry and wet years. Our results reveal that 19 of 29 megacities depend for more than a third of their water supply on evaporation from land. We also show that for many of the megacities, the terrestrial dependence is higher in dry years. This high dependence on terrestrial evaporation for their precipitation exposes these cities to potential land-use change that could reduce the evaporation that generates precipitation. Combining indicators of water stress, moisture recycling exposure, economic capacity, vegetation-regulated evaporation, land-use change, and dry-season moisture recycling sensitivity reveals four highly vulnerable megacities (Karachi, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Chongqing). A further six megacities were found to have medium vulnerability with regard to their water supply. We conclude that understanding how upwind landscapes affect downwind municipal water resources could be a key component for understanding the complexity of urban water security.

It is widely agreed that sustainable public transport is important for developing cities. However, there is a wide variation in definition of sustainable public transport. Thus, this article has an aim to explore the sustainability of urban public transport in the city of Medan, as one of the main cities in Indonesia. Based on rigorous literature, it can be deduced the red line of the definition of sustainable urban transport. Based on the data of urban transport and its social demographic of the city of Medan, it can be concluded that the urban transport in Medan is not sustainable in many facets. In addition, the comprehensive urban transport planning to reach and to shape the public transport in Medan has been proposed.